#for my fellow historian and one of the most powerful women i know❤️

[needahugfromesme]

When do you think was the first time Esme went to University and how do you think it went for her?? 🥹

Thanks for this! @stregoni-benefici🥹💕❤️I LOVE this question！

Here are some of my thoughts:

I think Esme went to university as early as the 1930s for an art/art history degree. Although the official guide says Esme has degrees in architecture and art, I don't think the first one she got was an architecture degree. I do think one of the fandom's headcanons that the reason Esme wasn't working as a teacher was that she didn't want to risk her children's lives makes a lot of sense. Her caution made her choose to give up teaching art after decades of wrestling with the desire to drink blood, but she still loved art so she went to college to refine it. Even though the guide doesn't mention art history I think it opened up Esme's interest in ancient architecture (and of course the 17th century Carlisle) and decided to pursue ancient building restoration as a career. So immediately after earning a degree in art/art history, Esme chose to pursue another degree in architecture. And it makes perfect sense that she would earn these degrees in the 1930s. During the Great Depression, the New Deal funded and facilitated numerous archaeological expeditions and projects, including collecting folklife records and restoring early American architecture. Key agencies included the WPA, CCC and Historic American Buildings Survey.

I think Esme's college life was rewarding but difficult - not academically challenging, but in terms of being a woman in a misogynistic, elite institution. She faced stereotypes about her intellectual capabilities and discouragement from male professors, as well as strict rules and restrictions placed specifically on women's behaviour and coursework options. The university excluded women architecture students from mentorships and work/apprenticeship opportunities that developed technical skills. The university rarely allowed women students to take site visits or hands-on design assignments from conception to construction. She was steered only towards "suitable" decoration projects. She had to be careful of her reputation if attending sessions too late into the evenings or being the only female. So I think it's quite possible that during the same time period, Carlisle was also attending the university to do a degree/find a teaching job (New Moon does mention the tradition that Carlisle would return to the university from time to time), for Esme's sake, and also to be exposed to the latest research. Moreover, financial difficulties, theoretically should not be hard since her husband was rich, but I've always felt that for Esme her past of being controlled and abused made her value all aspects of freedom and independence (nothing personal about Carlisle, of course). Carlisle could give her lavish gifts, but it was her degree, her choice, and she would pay for it. Unfortunately, most scholarship funding and paid jobs went to male students at the time. She had to sell some of her paintings anonymously to pay for her tuition and she continued to confront immense sexism and lack of career opportunity postgraduation.

I feel college was an important milestone in Esme’s "humanization" process. Not only did she finally overcome her fear of slipping in the crowd, but she was finally able to achieve something as a woman, as herself. She didn't have to be anyone's mother or wife in order to survive with her head held high.

#stregoni-benefici #every time i see your ask in my inbox💕🥹 #for my fellow historian and one of the most powerful women i know❤️ #twilight #esme cullen #my headcanon #twilight historical context