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More handpicked essays just for you.
Judith sargent murray’s “on the equality of the sexes” analysis
Virginia woolf as feminist writer
Views on women in the 17th century
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Have you ever encountered yourself in a position in which you felt diminished because others thought you were not of their equal? Even though this may not happen as often today, it did happen to many women back in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth century. Consequently, many women were thought poorly of because others believed they lacked knowledge and abilities to reason. Judith Sargent Murray’s “On the Equality of Sexes” and Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own” in each they argue that female’s discrimination is due to biased educational chances, thus they were not able to own anything of their own, which led to being underappreciated and undervalued. Society, did not give identical opportunities for men and women to get an education because of social constraints. Typically men were under the impression that males were the only ones that needed an education, because only they had the aptitude to develop in their professions and bring money home. Individuals rumored that women were only here to serve as a mistress, a wife or a
This phrase “a room of one’s own” was such a significant expression it became something many woman said as a saying. The thought was that woman were not able to create or write a good piece of literature because they were not qualified or educated. However, instead of giving women opportunities to educate themselves they are saddled with household duties. Society lived day by day believing that women do not deserve to be privileged enough to “have a room of their own” and people really did not care to give woman opportunities to demonstrate they were capable people. With this piece by Woolf many people realized that woman were very capable and began to see how society was truly harsh to them because they were denied opportunities that they as a person deserved, not as a female or male as simply a
Today, women and men have equal rights, however, not long ago men believed women were lower than them. During the late eighteenth century, men expected women to stay at home and raise children. Women were given very few opportunities to expand their education past high school because colleges and universities would not accept females. This was a loss for women everywhere because it took away positions of power for them. It was even frowned upon if a woman showed interest in medicine or law because that was a man’s place, not a woman’s, just like it was a man’s duty to vote and not a woman’s.
As mentioned above, women’s role were unjust to the roles and freedoms of the men, so an advanced education for women was a strongly debated subject at the beginning of the nineteenth century (McElligott 1). The thought of a higher chance of education for women was looked down upon, in the early decades of the nineteenth century (The American Pageant 327). It was established that a women’s role took part inside the household. “Training in needlecraft seemed more important than training in algebra” (327). Tending to a family and household chores brought out the opinion that education was not necessary for women (McElligott 1). Men were more physically and mentally intellectual than women so it was their duty to be the educated ones and the ones with the more important roles. Women were not allowed to go any further than grammar school in the early part of the 1800’s (Westward Expansion 1). If they wanted to further their education beyond grammar, it had to be done on their own time because women were said to be weak minded, academically challenged and could n...
Some men believe women are inferior to the male species; however, that is not the case. Both men and women are both capable of achieving greatness if given half the chance to do so, unfortunately, this means equality. In “From A Vindication of the Rights of Women”, Mary Wollstonecraft dispenses her thoughts on how unfairly women are treated in the 1700s, in addition to expressing her opinion on the issue in her essay. Wollstonecraft stated that “Men and women must be educated, in a great degree, by the opinions and manners of the society they live in.”, this statement is very true, no matter what times you are living in. Women are unique and equal creatures that can offer many things to society if given the same proper education and training
“There is a double standard here that shapes our perceptions of men and women in ways that support patriarchy as a system. What is culturally valued is associated with masculinity and maleness and what is devalued is associated with femininity and femaleness, regardless of the reality of men’s and women’s lives”,( Johnson 64). In the movie Mona Lisa Smile, Betty’s mother was pressurizing Betty to make her husband read a poem at the wedding not just to act like he enjoyed the marriage but mainly because it was a tradition for men. When Betty said she didn’t care about it, her mother refused and still insisted that she should do it. Women are looked down upon when it comes to the assignment of gender roles and this is because of labels that the society has placed on the female gender. In a home, the father is always the head of the home, providing food and clothing for every family member but there are some women who like to be independent and would also love to work and make money and cater for the family. In the 19th century, women were told they were home makers and were not allowed to endeavor further in higher educational studies. Wellesley College was a college built to raise future wives and not future leaders meaning that society had already placed women below the ladder without any intention or thoughts of them climbing back
A Room of One’s Own and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Aurora Leigh (Book I)”, the women’s voices are muted. Female characters are confined to the domestic spheres of their homes, and they are excluded from the elite literary world. They are expected to function as foils to the male figures in their lives. These women are “trained” to remain silent and passive, not only by the males around them, but also by their parents, their relatives, and their peers.
In the nineteenth century, there was a shift in the view of women. They were given more of an education in order to prepare their sons to become better citizens. The reason was because the men had realized that woman needed to be better educated to teach the values of a good member of society to their children. This took place during the Revolution period. “Woman, wrote Benjamin Rush, needed to have a “suitable education” to enable them to “instruct their sons in the principles of liberty and government.” (Foner 2014). Benjamin Rush supported the right for women to receive educational opportunities.
In “The Great Lawsuit”, Margaret Fuller tries to stop the great inequalities between men and women by describing great marriages where the husband and wife are equal, by stating how society constricts the women’s true inner genius, and by recording admirable women who stand up in an effort for equality. In her article, Fuller explains how the current society constricts women’s rights in an effort to show the inequalities between the men and women. For instance, she feels that “such woman as these, rich in genius, of most tender sympathies, and capable of high virtue, and a chastened harmony, ought not find themselves in a place so narrow” (Fuller 741). Margaret Fuller explains that all women, even those with “rich genius,” find themselves at a disadvantage because of the society’s inequality. She also feels that the women are just as “capable of high virtue” as the men, and do not deserve to be in “a place so narrow.”
Woolf, Virginia. A. A Room of One's Own.
In Mary Wollstonecraft’s The Wrongs of Woman, or Maria and Mary Robinson’s The Natural Daughter women are subject to many hardships economically, simply because they are women. Women are not given sufficient opportunity, as men are, to pursue a living. Even if she is a woman of taste and morals, she may be treated as though she is a criminal and given no means to protect herself. In order for a woman to be sustained, she must marry into slavery, dishonor herself through unsavory work, or be lucky enough to be properly educated and given proper reference.
Although women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries faced oppression and unequal treatment, some people strove to change common perspectives on the feminine sex. John Stuart Mill, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and Virginia Woolf were able to reach out to the world, through their literature, and help change the views that society held towards women and their roles within its structure. During the Victorian era, women were bound to domestic roles and were very seldom allowed to seek other positions. Most men and many women felt that if women were allowed to pursue interests, outside traditional areas of placement that they would be unable to be an attentive wife and mother. The conventional roles of women were kept in place by long standing values and beliefs that held to a presumption, in which, women were inferior to men in every way. In The Subjection of Women, The Lady of Shalott, and A Room of One's Own, respectively, these authors define their views on the roles women are forced to play in society, and why they are not permitted to step outside those predetermined boundaries.
Women today are still viewed as naturally inferior to men, despite the considerable progress done to close this gap. Females have made a huge difference in their standing from 200 years ago. Whether anyone is sexist or not, females have made considerable progress from where they started, but there is still a long journey ahead. Mary Wollstonecraft was an advocate of women 's rights, a philosopher, and an English writer. One of Wollstonecraft’s best works was “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” (1792). In her writing, she talks about how both men and women should be treated equal, and reasoning could create a social order between the two. In chapter nine of this novel, called “Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural Distinctions Established in Society,”
in the study "A Room of One's Own" (1929), where the existence of a private space, and of a private income, is seen as a prerequisite for the development of a woman writer's creativity.
It is implied that since the dawn of time, women have been inferior to thy fellow man. It was not until the Age of Enlightenment, which began around 1650 in Europe, that the first ideas of women being as competent as men, lacking only education and not intelligence, began to circulate (Online MBA). As the end of the 18th Century neared, women were regulars in salons and academic debates, though schooling for women would come late down the road (Online MBA). Prior to the birth of the Industrial Revolution, women did not work. Those who did work were from lower class families and many of those were minorities. It was the primary idea that a women’s role was of that at the home; cooking sewing, cleaning, and caring for the children. There were many duties required of them around the house and their focus was to be the supportive wife who dutifully waited for the husband to come home after a long day at work.
“Only the gold and silver flowed now, not from the coffers of the king, but from the purses of men who had made, say a fortune from industry, and returned, in their wills, a bounteous share of it to endow more chairs, more lectureships, more fellowships in the university where they had learnt their craft” (754). This is a quote from Virginia’s Woolf’s essay, “A Room of One’s Own”. Here she is making a point about universities and the funding that they received from men that had gone to school there. Woolf’s essay takes place during the early nineteen hundreds when most women did not attend a university. There was great inequality of those who attended school because men had control over all the money. The men in society either received money from inheritances, or from industrial occupations, as Woolf mentions in her quote. Woolf’s essay focuses on the inequality of female writers’ recognition compared to men’s. She points out the fact that women writers were not very recognized by society because of their gender. This is true for the time period, but the reason that these women were not recognized is because of educational reasons.
Many female writers see themselves as advocates for other creative females to help find their voice as a woman. Although this may be true, writer Virginia Woolf made her life mission to help women find their voice as a writer, with no gender attached. She believed women had the creativity and power to write, not better than men, but as equals. Yet throughout history, women have been neglected in a sense, and Woolf attempted to find them. In her essay, A Room of One’s Own, she focuses on what is meant by connecting the terms, women, and fiction.