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American women enjoy more rights and freedom than any other women in the world. They have played an active role in shaping their history and ensure that suffering and discrimination of women does not take place in the current society. It is this freedom and equality enjoyed by women in America that serves as a perfect definition of the contemporary American culture. While this might be the case for the current society, women in the 1800's and the 1900's had to endure much suffering and tribulations in the American society due to their gender roles assigned to them by the society. They have played an active role in the history of America to ensure that they enjoy freedom, independence and the liberty to do what they want without having to undergo …show more content…
the form of discrimination experienced earlier in the 19th and 20th century. They suffered as a result of the patriarchy in the society that was dominant during the 1800's and the 1900's. Different scholars have addressed the issue of women in the American history by focusing on the sufferings they underwent during the stated period but none touch on the issue in a more comprehensive and laser-focused manner as Linda et al. in their work "America: Refocusing the Past". The book serves as a perfect reminder of the suffering women underwent due to the effects of patriarchy in the 1800's and 1900's. With slavery being rampant in the period of the 1800's in America, women were the biggest victims of the male-dominated society.
They were taken captive as salves in the country and made to work in the plantations. Women slaves were in back-breaking labor like working in the rice planting and harvesting (Judith A 74). This was a woman's job only. In addition, women were expected to take care of their families regardless of the fact that they were slaves. Some were taken as sex slaves for their white masters and with their rights limited; they had nowhere to turn to for help. It was a system that rendered them victims not only of the institution of slavery in America but also the discriminations within their homes. Chapter one of the book "Women's America: Refocusing the past" looks at the history of America during the past 150 years and point the discrimination women faced in America as slaves. They were taken captives, sexually abused and discriminated by all means by virtue of their sex. There were even documents on the laws of slavery which were specifically written and acted as a guide on how women should be discriminated (Little 67). The laws were discriminative and did not seek to emancipate women from slavery but only condemned them to the effects of male patriarchy in the American
society. A careful analysis of the history of the American woman in the period between 19th and 20th century points at a case of sexualized and objectified beings. Women were used as objects of sexually gratifying males in the society (Leila J 137). Objectification was not only done by the white slave masters but also by the black males in the society hence serving as an indication that women had no one to turn to at that period. For instance, in Chapter one of the text, Linda et al. point that women were not allowed to keep their family together. They were torn away from their spouses and children. Many women lost their children in childbirth due to the lack of health care (Boydston 135). When the children grew older, the women had to bear the pain of separation as children were sold off as slaves (Boydston 135). A perfect case is one in which Chapter two of the book "Women's America: Refocusing on the past" describes the testimonies of the women who expressed much pain at the separation from their children and the sexual
...re taken advantage of, put down, and stripped of their dignity after they were victimized and sexually abused. Jealous and enraged mistresses, who were dismayed at the fact that their husbands were living a life of infidelity, mistreated them. In some cases, they were deprived of their most prized possessions, their children. This kind of life for the female slaves was overwhelmingly painful. They dealt with many circumstances that were not a part of the lives of male slaves. For this reason, it is fair to say that the lives of female slaves were harsher than the lives of male slaves.
After the success of antislavery movement in the early nineteenth century, activist women in the United States took another step toward claiming themselves a voice in politics. They were known as the suffragists. It took those women a lot of efforts and some decades to seek for the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. In her essay “The Next Generation of Suffragists: Harriot Stanton Blatch and Grassroots Politics,” Ellen Carol Dubois notes some hardships American suffragists faced in order to achieve the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. Along with that essay, the film Iron-Jawed Angels somehow helps to paint a vivid image of the obstacles in the fight for women’s suffrage. In the essay “Gender at Work: The Sexual Division of Labor during World War II,” Ruth Milkman highlights the segregation between men and women at works during wartime some decades after the success of women suffrage movement. Similarly, women in the Glamour Girls of 1943 were segregated by men that they could only do the jobs temporarily and would not able to go back to work once the war over. In other words, many American women did help to claim themselves a voice by voting and giving hands in World War II but they were not fully great enough to change the public eyes about women.
Women, like black slaves, were treated unequally from the male before the nineteenth century. The role of the women played the part of their description, physically and emotionally weak, which during this time period all women did was took care of their household and husband, and followed their orders. Women were classified as the “weaker sex” or below the standards of men in the early part of the century. Soon after the decades unfolded, women gradually surfaced to breathe the air of freedom and self determination, when they were given specific freedoms such as the opportunity for an education, their voting rights, ownership of property, and being employed.
For over centuries, society had established the societal standard of the women. This societal standard pictured the ideal American woman running the household and taking care of the children while her husband provided for the family. However, between 1770 and 1860, this societal standard began to tear at the seams. Throughout this time period, women began to search for a new ideal of American womanhood by questioning and breaking the barriers society had placed upon them.
towards African Americans are presented in number of works of scholars from all types of divers
Women slaves were subject to unusually cruel treatment such as rape and mental abuse from their master’s, their unique experience must have been different from the experience men slaves had. While it is no secret that the horrors of the institution of slavery were terrible and unimaginable; those same horrors were no big deal for southern plantation owners. Many engaged in cruelty towards their slaves. Some slave owners took particular interest in their young female slaves. Once caught in the grips of a master’s desire it would have been next to impossible to escape. In terms of actual escape from a plantation most women slaves had no reason to travel and consequentially had no knowledge of the land. Women slaves had the most unfortunate of situations; there were no laws that would protect them against rape or any injustices. Often the slave that became the object of the master’s desires would also become a victim of the mistress of the household. Jealousy played a detrimental role in the dynamic the enslaved women were placed within. Regardless of how the slave felt she could have done little to nothing to ease her suffering.
The decade following the Reconstruction Era in American history is brilliantly and descriptively named; the Gilded Age was coated with superficial prosperity which buried its hardships that laid within its core. The rise of big business grabbed American’s attention---whether it was in a positive or negative notion--- and the United State’s focus on minorities declined. Women in the Gilded Age were continuous victims to inequality in contrast to their male counterparts, and the opportunity to pursue their own economic quickly turned into another element of inequality between the genders. On the other hand, the general working class quickly were slaves to big business and the new factory system. Working conditions and wages were unbearable,
To begin with, there are many events in United States history that have shaped our general understanding of women’s involvement in economics, politics, the debates of gender and sexuality, and so forth. Women for many centuries have not been seen as a significant part of history, however under thorough analyzation of certain events, there are many women and woman-based events responsible for the progressiveness we experience in our daily lives as men, women, children, and individuals altogether. Many of these events aid people today to reflect on the treatment of current individuals today and to raise awareness to significant issues that were not resolved or acknowledged in the past.
In conclusion, women throughout the decades have strived, from protesting to going on trials, to point out their rights. “Will women soon be treated equally as men?” A day when women and men having the same rights is still under way and has a far way to go as from the antebellum period. However, what makes women so unique, especially during this era is the numerous of contributions these respectful woman played a part of in order to see dramatic changes in America’s society. Some of the extraordinary ideas developed by them explains the success leading into what we call America today. Therefore, it is proven that women are certainly not helpless species, but are useful citizens who aroused much commitment for their “race” and nation.
The role of American women has changed significantly from the time the nation was born, to the modern era of the 1950s and 1960s. Many people, "... believed that women's talent and energies ... would be put to the better [use] in the new republic." (Clinton 3) Clearly showing that society has seen the importance of the women's talents and that their skills can be very useful, exploited this and thus, the change of the women's role was inevitable. Society has understood that the roles of women played an important role on all parts of life.
As we look around at our women in today’s era, we might ask how did she become so independent, successful, and confidant? Even when I look at my own my mom, she was hired as the first woman to work as a manager at a fortune 500 business, and then created her own business. As well as my friends’ mom, who also has her own business in psychology; accomplishments like these must have originated from somewhere. The answer lies in the 1920’s. A couple years earlier, World War I was waging havoc, killing many men, while allowing women more freedom. The effects of World War I gave birth to the new women, also known as the Flappers, and inspiration for the 19th amendment. The flappers stirred up traditions and launched a new way of living. It soon became very apparent that the new women of the 1920’s helped redefine the social norms of society.
During the 1800s, society believed there to be a defined difference in character among men and women. Women were viewed simply as passive wives and mothers, while men were viewed as individuals with many different roles and opportunities. For women, education was not expected past a certain point, and those who pushed the limits were looked down on for their ambition. Marriage was an absolute necessity, and a career that surpassed any duties as housewife was practically unheard of. Jane Austen, a female author of the time, lived and wrote within this particular period. Many of her novels centered around women, such as Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice, who were able to live independent lives while bravely defying the rules of society. The roles expected of women in the nineteenth century can be portrayed clearly by Jane Austen's female characters of Pride and Prejudice.
Women of the 1920's Women during the 1920's lifestyle, fashion, and morals were very different than women before the 1920's. Flappers became the new big thing after the 19th amendment was passed. Women's morals were loosened, clothing and haircuts got shorter, and fashion had a huge role in these young women. Women before the 1920's were very different from the women of the Roarin' 20's. Gwen Hoerr Jordan stated that the ladies before the 1920's wore dresses that covered up most of their skin, had pinned up long hair, were very modest, had chaperones and had men make all of their decisions (1).
The lives of female slaves were a little more trying than that of a male slave. This is partly due to the sexual harassment, which slave women must endure. Sexual relationships between masters and female slaves were very common on the plantation during the eighteenth century. These forced sexual relationships often began with cruel beatings before the slave would submit to savage rapes. Out of fear of pain or death, female slaves had no other alternative but to obey their masters. According to Lyerly, “As many historians of slavery have noted, slave women lived not only with slavery’s routine restraints upon their will; they also had to fight for control over their bodies. Victims of sexual abuse by whites, slave women were often subject to the will of others in the most intimate ways” (209).
During the 1930s women is not treated equally and they are very different in many way. Women were less likely to get jobs than men. Fashion is also very different. Women wore plain dresses while men wore blue denim jackets. Women during the Great Depression are actually depressed because they can not get jobs and their wages are half as much as men. Men get good jobs and amazing wages, but at least both still have their fashion.