Character Strengths:
Devoted and determined, two words that describe physician and surgeon, Mary Babcock Atwater. From the very beginning, Mary appeared very dedicated to her work, showing her skills even from the age of sixteen, when she became a schoolteacher. She never became pregnant, due to the fact that she loved her work. Her desire to remain childless, did not stem
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from a dislike for children. She merely just did not want anything to interfere with her profession. During World War I, the war appeared short of doctors and nurses. Mary convinced herself that her duty included serving as a doctor in the war; this sacrifice exemplifies her passion for her job. Determined, another very appropriate adjective to describe
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Mary, as one of the first female physicians in the state of Montana. After graduating medical school, Mary had a very difficult time obtaining a job. She struggled to find a job in Salt Lake City for a long time until the Golden Leaf Mining Camp job came along. Although, Mary not only appeared determined about achieving a job as a woman physician but also in accomplishing women’s suffrage. Mary and the National American Woman Suffrage Association pushed the legislatures over and over again to advance the amendment for women’s suffrage through the government. The women failed time and time again but did not back down until they achieved their goal in 1920, with Tennessee the 36th state to ratify the amendment. Mary, as a physician and suffragist, always remained dedicated and strong-willed. Character Weaknesses: Mary Babcock Atwater’s main weakness remains the fact that she needs to have control over every situation.
Every action of Mary’s life has to have a purpose, she can never do something because of feelings or out of enjoyment. Furthermore, she needs to acquire control over Dorothy’s life, her daughter. Dorothy met a man named Hugh and, at first, Mary did not accept their relationship because he lived in the South during the Civil War. She feared for her daughter that Hugh’s family would not accept her because she had lived in the North. Dorothy’s profession, another situation Mary tried to control, by stating that she must attend the …show more content…
university Mance 6 and have the best dance instructors. Mary did not ask Dorothy what she wanted to do with her life, Mary always just declared what appeared best. Additionally, Mary felt astonished when Maria Dean told her the news that she became pregnant. Threatening what she loved most, Mary contemplated abortion but could not go through with it because she had taken an oath as a doctor. Her pregnancy ate away at her because she did not plan this action and had no control over it. Relationship of Importance: Frank Moore, a person that impacted Mary Babcock Atwater’s life in a positive and somewhat negative way, held a large importance in Mary’s life. Frank Moore, Mary’s ex husband, owned his own physician's office where Mary remained his assistant. After working in Frank’s office, Mary decided that she developed an appreciation for the job. Frank and Mary then moved to Chicago so she could pursue her interest of medicine at the Women’s Hospital Medical College of Chicago. Frank picked up and gave up his practice in order for Mary to follow her dream of being a physician. Yet after Mary received her degree, they moved back to Osage where Mary worked in Frank’s office as a physician, but not an independent physician, meaning all of Mary’s patients had to pay Frank. Mary relied on Frank for a while, for he controlled every move in Mary’s life. Suddenly, Mary became powerful women and left to fulfill her dreams as a doctor. Divorce remained a very frowned upon action, yet Mary got a divorce with Frank for her own good. Without Frank, Mary would not have became a physician and followed her dreams, but if she had not married Frank, she would not have had to go through the hardships of their failed marriage. Favorite Passage: “J. Henry rose as the receptionist ushered her into his office. ‘And where is your doctor friend?’ he asked, as he invited Mollie to take a seat. Mollie put on her most engaging smile. ‘There is no doctor friend, Mr. Longmaid. I must ask your forbearance with this little ruse, but it was necessary for me to have a private interview with you. I am the doctor who is applying for the position.’” This passage from Pioneer Doctor: The Story of a Woman’s Work, by Mari Graña remains my favorite for many reasons.
Mary broke so many boundaries with her work as a physician, and this passage exemplifies one of those boundaries. J. Henry, the owner of a mining company, would not believe that a woman could work as a doctor. Mary remained fearless as she entered J. Henry’s office, awaiting his disapproval, but that did not stop her. She had to lie to J. Henry in order to receive a job, not because of her qualifications, but because of her sex. Then when arriving in Bannack, at the mining camp, the miners did not accept Mary as their doctor. Yet she remained brave, she did not give up, she kept fighting until she gained the respect from the miners. Mary not only became a physician, but she overcame the discrimination due to something she could not change, her gender. Most women in the early 1900s faced discrimination, their “jobs” included caring for the children and cleaning the house, but Mary did not believe in this. Mary knew when she became a physician that she would face much hatred and would have a difficult time getting a job , but she stayed strong. Throughout her life, she remained hopeful through every situation that sprung upon
her.
As a young immigrant to London, Mary’s background contributed to the regression of her autonomy. Despite her idealization of London, Mary had an abrupt realization of the difficulty of independence when she arrived. Worth describes her situation, “Completely alone, talking to no one, sleeping in the Cuts at night” (165). Sadly, Mary’s first autonomous experience after fleeing Ireland was accompanied by isolation and vagrancy. It was not until Mary met a man, Zakir, that she felt
My career could really take off here’” (134-135). An additional example of Mary’s positive outlook on bad situations; Mary turns the unfortunate state of Welch into yet another coping device. Mary uses her new coping mechanism to fuel more positivity, which in turn makes her see her unsatisfactory life as a new adventure
In addition, Britain’s societal transformation augmented women’s role in society, and according to Braybon in “Women Workers in The First World War,” “A completely different pattern of life was established … for women” and that society had “prevailing attitudes towards women as workers” (Braybon 16). The newfangled life given to women gave most women an enormous surge in recognition throughout society, as people valued women a lot more after they became the backbone of the production of nearly all British goods. Concurrently, King underscores this point in her novel, as throughout the novel, Mary is never discriminated against simply for being a woman. In preceding years and throughout history, society typically perceived women as naturally inferior to men, and women’s occupations were limited to taking care of the family and domestic occupations. Nevertheless, the overarching effect of the augmentation of the number of women employed in the British workforce was the society’s realization that women could perform at a level equal to men, and this helped facilitate the women’s rights movement in Britain, a leading factor in Britain’s evolution to a gender equal society. In the novel, throughout Mary Russell’s journeys across Britain, there is not a single time when
Janie's outlook on life stems from the system of beliefs that her grandmother, Nanny instills in her during life. These beliefs include how women should act in a society and in a marriage. Nanny and her daughter, Janie's mother, were both raped and left with bastard children, this experience is the catalyst for Nanny’s desire to see Janie be married of to a well-to-do gentleman. She desires to see Janie married off to a well to do gentleman because she wants to see that Janie is well cared for throughout her life.
Clara Barton’s ‘The Women Who Went to the Field’ describes the work of women and the contribution they made on the civil war battlefield in 1861. Barton highlights the fact that when the American Civil War broke out women turned their attention to the conflict and played a key role throughout as nurses. Therefore, at first glance this poem could in fact be seen as a commemoration of the women who served in the American Civil War as its publications in newspapers and magazines in 1892 ensured that all Civil War veterans were honoured and remembered, including the women. However, when reading this poem from a feminist perspective it can be seen instead as a statement on the changing roles of women; gender roles became malleable as women had the
Early on the reader is aware that Mary Katherine thoughts are unusual and eccentric for a girl her age. Mary Katherine was brought up as upper class in a small village, living with her family until their sudden death. With only her Uncle and
Woolstoncraft, Mary. A Vindication of The Rights of Woman. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 3rd Ed. Volume D. Ed. Martin Puchner. New York: Norton, 2013. 134-136. Print.
Before she could get her little shop going a fire burnt down her business and her house with all of her belongings in 1871. Mary was having an awful time but managed to keep on trying. She finally got a job working with people who wanted to get decent wages and have their working environment improved. She also tried to stop child labor. Her work involved making speeches, recruiting members and organizing soup kitchens and women's auxiliary groups during strikes.
...as Mary Ann in the novel show that women can do so much more than sew and cook. Without women, all wars would have been a lot harder. Although men tend to keep a macho facade in order to calm others (such as the women in their lives), inside they may be like glass, easy to break. A society set on the ideal stoic, fearless warrior who acts ruthlessly and saves the damsel in distress (also showing that women are weak) obviously is one where doomed to sexism. Without the comfort and inspiration, men would have deteriorated in the face of death. All and all, women provided the needed comfort, nursing, “manpower”, and love that the soldiers of Vietnam need, something that helped them endure the havoc of war. O’Brien’s expert use of the feminist lens allows the reader to know that women indeed were a powerhouse in the Vietnam war, without whom, men would have perished.
Mary Anne used to be known for keeping a soldier sane like Martha. However, Mary Anne went to Vietnam and was changed by the war. O’Brien helps break the stereotype of women by having Mary Anne joining the war, showing women can do anything a man can do. If a man can become a hero, so can a women. If he can fight in the war, she can too.
This short story was written in 1892, at that time, there was only one women's suffrage law. Now, because of many determinant feminists, speakers, teachers, and writers, the women’s rights movement has grown increasingly large and is still in progress today. This quite recent movement took over more than a century to grant women the rights they deserve to allow them to be seen as equals to men. This story was a creative and moving way to really show how life may have been as a woman in the nineteenth century. Works Cited Eichelberger, Clayton.
He mentions how far women have come since his grandmother's day, but realizes the country as a whole has more room to grow. He mentions how tough it can be for women to juggle a demanding career while raising a family. Both text reference what honor motherhood is but they also admit the demanding workforce can determine how successful a mother they can be. Women today may not face slavery, but they face double standards that limit them to be successful professionals and parents.
In conclusion, most of the female character are often isolated, victimized and ultimately killed by the male characters. Furthermore, it is rather ironic how Mary Shelly, the daughter Mary Wollestonecraft who wrote the Vindication of the Right of Women chooses to portray women. In this novel, the female characters are the exact opposite of the male characters; they are passive, weak and extremely limited. Mary Shelly repeatedly shows women in a victimized position exhibiting to the audience how things should not be. In conclusion, Mary Shelly’s novel is a reflection of how women were treated in the 1800’s.
Mary Wollstonecraft was a self-educated, radical philosopher who wrote about liberation, and empowering women. She had a powerful voice on her views of the rights of women to get good education and career opportunities. She pioneered the debate for women’s rights inspiring many of the 19th and the 20th century’s writers and philosophers to fight for women’s rights, as well. She did not only criticize men for not giving women their rights, she also put a blame on women for being voiceless and subservient. Her life and, the surrounding events of her time, accompanied by the strong will of her, had surely affected the way she chose to live her life, and to form her own philosophies.
During the Civil War, women began to feel like part of the work force, but along with it, was the downfall of being considered "service workers", which is very similar to being a servant. Nurses had to suffer through much conformity, as they had to wait hand and foot on male patients, while at the same time being scrutinized by their male "overseers". These issues that nurses faced in the nineteenth century, continue even to this day, with a little more ease, but we are still driven by a patriarchal society that just isn't ready to let go. Through the works of Louisa May Alcott and Charlotte Perkins Gillman, one can see the hardships that Nineteenth century women were faced with when it came to working. These stories bring to light the fact that, by overcoming oppression, through the strength and desire that leads to resistance, women have been able to achieve self-reliance, which makes their "service work" considered to have with it, an achieved independence. These stories show us the struggles that women faced in the nin...