Abigail Adams Gender Roles

Throughout the span of history, gender is defined as the difference between masculinity and femininity of both male and female. By examining the context of history, ‘gender role” which consist of men and women shows us how society differentiate certain behaviors as proper or atypical for men and women. In the nineteenth century, gender was a big issue. Whether you are male or a female, just by being one or the other determines how you will live your life. It was the time when the impact of the industrial revolution caused a acute distinction between the two gender roles, mainly consist of the middle and upper classes. Both men and women were assumed to have two completely different personalities. Men believed they were much more suited to

the natures of functioning in the public world, and women to the private. In society, gender roles are ultimately considered the stereotypes that we have in order to correlate the basic lifestyle of the men to the basic lifestyle of the women.
In the 1800s, the only gender that had superior power over the other was men. Usually considered as the head of the house, they are the ones that are out either working or fighting wars. Men also had rights that normally women didn’t. Men were allowed to own property and work jobs women couldn’t. For example, many women weren't allowed to fight wars or work jobs that require masculine strength. Life of being a women in the 1800s was tough and often seen as a form of slavery. Women had different rights instead of sharing the same rights as men, they end up having less rights. It was expected from a women to marry a man and just spend the rest of her entire life serving him. Women that eventually stayed single often were ridicule or looked down upon by society just because they aren’t doing what normal women would do. After marriage, women lose all rights to her inheritance including their personal belongings to men. This was looked upon as a sort of slavery. Many women disagreed but had little to no power to fight against it.
Education is key in order for people to be able to contribute to society. However; not everyone has the luxury of receiving a proper education. School was only for those who could afford paying tuition. Aside from class differences, gender also contributed to the reason why most women weren’t educated. In the 1800s, most women weren’t able to obtain a normal education, it was more or less a privilege. For example, only higher class women would from time to time be given a basic education in reading, writing and arithmetic. People thought educating was irrelevant for woman simply because they were expect to stay home and take care of the childrens while the men are out working.
One of many significant females in the 1800s were Abigail Adams.

As the wife of the United States’ second president John Adams, she played a major role as a woman in her time. She wasn’t treated like any other ordinary women was treated, instead people like John Adams went to her for advice over matters of government politics. In the late 1770s, Abigail became

one of the first proponent of women rights and equal education. Adams strongly believes that women can be far more useful in making decisions other than serving their husbands. As a woman herself, she believed in education for all women regardless of class. In fact, she encourages all women to educate themselves and make use of their intellect to help manage the household affairs that men wouldn’t be able to.Figures such as Abigail are examples of women in power, she proves to society that women aren’t as useless as men think they are and that they can actually serve for the greater good of

society.
Aside from the early European American point of view of women, gender roles of American Indian women had much of a difference compared to what European American women live by. Jobs by Indian women were equally crucial to the jobs performed by men. The women are tasked with many different positions from planting crops, clearing fields, hoeing, harvesting, and even setting up and dismantling tipis or lodges. Essentially, women played a huge role as the caregivers to the village. While the men are out hunting, they provide most of the village’s food supplies through the collection of wild plants and berries.
Ownership of properties are are the opposite of the European American way of life. Indian women were allowed to own their own property and land, they can even own the lodge or tipi and its contents inside it. Women had their freedom of choice to make decision on trading their surplus crops. And on bison hunts, women are the main decision makers of the village while the men are out hunting. Not only women get to own property, but also women had the right to divorce in the relationship, and since they own the lodge they could evict the husband out of the house if anything happens.
At the dawn of the American Revolution, women devote the traditional skills they obtained as housewives to aid reconnaissance duties that men couldn’t pull off. Both the British and American armies drafted housewives and teenaged girls to work as maids and cooks with little to no knowledge about their potential. With almost total unrestricted access to the soldiers’ campsites, these women could overhear on conversations about battle plans, troop movements, change in officers, news about equipment shortages, and lastly deliveries without raising suspicion. In the time of importance, they are able to provided this critical intelligence data to military and civilian leaders virtually undetected. This helped turn the tide of the war in the favor of the Continental Army. At the time of war, women were looked upon as innocent and non-threatening. Away from the scandalous jobs women contributed, they also play a huge role in aiding both sides in medical aid. Female nurses at the time of the Revolutionary War risk putting their lives in danger staying in hospitals as caregivers despite the opportunity of food and pay. Diseases caused by infected and wounded soldiers resulted in a exceptionally high mortality rate for the nurses.
The Cult of Domesticity, monitored by a social system that was designed to limit middle class women’s sphere of influence at home and family.

This occurred at approximately around the nineteenth century through the years 1820-1860s. During this time in America, women were

forced to followed this code which limits them to only staying at home and would have the task to take on the obligations of raising good children, housekeeping and shaping her family’s home into a sanctuary of health, happiness and virtue. This type of a social system was solely introduced to the wives and daughters of the men who ultimately made up America’s newly formed middle class power structure.

To conclude with the history of women in gender role and how it affected them in the 1800s. We could start to understand that around the nineteenth century, women never had lived by equal rights. Only men had the luxury of owning properties or work. In fact women were treated like slaves with the expectation of marrying a man and spends the rest of her life

serving
no one but her husband. There were many woman activist like Abigail Adams who advocated for equal and educational rights which in the future affects us in a positive way.