Enlightenment Era: Challenging Traditional Gender Roles

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In the eighteenth century, John Locke’s rejection of innate ideas proved most fruitful concerning the abilities and rights of women. There was little force for change in these traditional gender roles during the Enlightenment period, during the Enlightenment, philosophers in the 18th century began developing ideas based on the use of logic and reason, rather than the accepted truth of contemporary religion. Logic and reason contradicted the very basis on which traditional gender roles were constituted. Voices, such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Jean-Jacques Rousseau began to rise up. Mary argued for greater educational opportunities for women to become more intelligent and intellectual companions to their husbands, in addition to performing traditional duties. Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote multiple times about the gross inequalities between the genders and while he recognized the separation of traditional gender roles, he strongly encouraged his readers that they were necessary. He viewed the most important contributions of women in society were to be wives and mothers he often stated …show more content…

It does not afford them the rights they deserve through both direct and indirect means. Marginalized groups may be dismissed to a secondary position or made to feel less important than those who hold more power or privilege in society. It also sets certain limits in which an individual can attain. Women are still being marginalized today. For example, women in the workplace have been marginalized in managerial and executive positions in large corporations. Society still has a belief that men are better prepared as managers and executive officers. Marginalization has a negative effect on some younger female students causing anger, fear, hopelessness and frustration. These fears may cause them not to speak up for things they feel are

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