Society has perpetuated stereotypes of women, who are told to be subservient to men’s interests and desires, never being given a chance for independent thinking throughout the centuries. As a result, women are discouraged to enter careers and fields that men typically occupy. However, women such as novelist Virginia Woolf are seeking to reverse that trend. In her speech Professions For Women, she argues that women who are entering male-dominated professions should choose what employment they pursue without conforming to society’s pressures. Through language illustrating conflict, metaphor, and parallelism, Woolf inspires a call to action among women to make choices in professions that will define the female sex, that will continue the struggle for women’s employment.

Woolf achieves her purpose through language that suggests an ongoing battle between women and ideas that discourage women’s employment. For instance, while Woolf rhetorically asks what is easier than being an author living a luxurious life, she realizes that “if [she] were going to review books [she] should need to do battle with a certain phantom” (2). Woolf’s emphasis on the word “battle” suggests that if women are going to enter a profession, they will have to challenge ideas that oppose a female employee. It further cautions that women who enter professions cannot simply let ideas that suppress female empowerment to persist, and that they must actively resist those ideas to encourage other women to become a professional.

Woolf also highlights the struggle women will face by explaining that despite the lack of external, physical obstacles, women still have “many ghosts to fight, many prejudices to overcome” (5). The encouraging yet haunting tones of the words “fight” and “overcome” in conjunction with the “ghosts” and “prejudices” illustrates the internal conflict between women who have entered professions and their mental barriers about society’s stigma against women entering professions and forcing them to be submissive and selfless and ultimately conquer them. Woolf further urges these female professionals to face these overwhelming obstacles and overcome them, which would allow the women to excel in their disciplines and define who women truly are through their achievements and accomplishments.

Another way she accomplishes her goal of inspiring women in professions to continue the struggle is through metaphor. While Woolf describes her success as an employed woman in literature, she cites one cause: “the road [that] was cut many years ago by … many famous women, and many more unknown and forgotten, [who] have been before [Woolf], making the path smooth, and regulating [her] steps” (2). The image of Woolf on the path to success guided by women of the past suggests that entering a profession propagates the efforts of generations of women who have contributed to not only the profession but also have inspired Woolf to pursue these professions, and that if these women succeed in their professions, there will be more women who will be encouraged to join previously male-dominated professions. She further employs metaphor when she explains that even though women “have won rooms of [their] own in the house hitherto exclusively owned by men” (6), they have only just begun their struggle in the professions. The women’s rooms, representing their presence in the male-dominated professions, highlights that women have taken their first steps in entering the professions, but the struggle for women in professions is far from over. When comparing the size of a room to that of an entire house made up of many rooms dominated by men, Woolf demonstrates that women have to continue inspiring women to secure more rooms in these professions.

Furthermore, Woolf incorporates parallelism to emphasize that even though women may have succeeded in entering professions, they still need to make their mark in their professions. Although Woolf does not know the answers to questions regarding who women are, she commends the women “who are in process of showing [them] by [their] experiments what a woman is, who are in process of providing [them], by [their] failures and successes, with that extremely important piece of information” (4). Woolf emphasis on the phrase “who are in process of” indicates that the work of these women in professions is a continuing “process” that will always supplement women’s basic identity with more information. Through these advances in their professions, through these answers to previously unanswered questions, women will transform the selfless, subjugated image of women during their time to that of empowered females with independent thought and self-identity. In addition, when Woolf brings up the questions that she thinks are the most significant for women, she remarks that “for the first time in history [women] are able to ask [questions]; for the first time [women] are able to decide for [themselves] what the answers should be” (6). The “questions” and “answers” that women make in these professions complement each other, fulfilling a cycle of how women define themselves. These professional women not only should continue asking questions regarding who women are and what they are capable of, but also demonstrate their capabilities through their arduous efforts and diligence to provide the answers to those questions.

In summary, Woolf’s diction highlighting women’s struggle, metaphor, and parallelism contribute to her purpose of encouraging women to enter professions and make decisions that will characterize who women are. In a world where people still fight for women’s equality in many professions, from teaching to science fields, where women often still do not get equal treatment compared to their male counterparts in terms of pay and discrimination, the struggle for women in professions is a continuous process. Indeed, women will have to push through these obstacles so that they can progress further in exemplifying women’s capabilities.