In a recent New York magazine cover story, journalist Rebecca Traister notes that many more US women are embracing â??that itâ??s okay for them not to be married.â? She calls the decline of marriage â??the most radical of feminist ideas.â? But in fact, many women throughout history chose to be single not out of feminist commitments but out of Christian faith.
One such woman was Lilias Trotter, an English missionary who remains surprisingly obscure, even among missionary-loving evangelicals. Born to a well-to-do London family in 1853, Trotter showed an early aptitude for watercolor painting and in her teens became a protege of John Ruskin. She challenged the influential art criticâ??s assumptions about women artists (namely, that they shouldnâ??t be), and he promised her a life of fame under his guidance.
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