Pioneer living conditions for women are definitely not easy. Being a woman, you are expected to take care of the children of the family, feed the family, clothe the family, clean the home, and cook for the family and hired hands. To me, this seems like a full time job for sure, especially when dealing with limited resources. Social events that were available to pioneer women and their families included barn raisings, corn husking, political meetings for the area, school functions, and more such as church meetings.
Being a woman in this time seems like it would be tough, just for the simple fact that you did not have the freedom that we have now. Even during your free time, you are constantly working for your family and community.
This reminds me of Antonia in the story My Antonia because of the situation that Antonia was put in after her father passed away. Antonia was left to care for her large family, and didn’t have much time for herself. If I was in this position, truthfully, I’m not sure what I would do. I definitely would give Antonia a lot of credit for being so strong and handling the situation the way that they did.
Modern day interpretations of pioneer women are mostly inaccurate and romanticized as easy, and luxurious in a new land however, that is far from the truth. Overall, pioneer women had many jobs that were underappreciated, they weren’t valued as men but without them many people in the West wouldn’t have survived and had to leave so much to go on a trip that took weeks and was no vacation, because women pioneers would have to cook and clean and take care of her children and husband, while on a wagon with having to adapt to the changing weather and climates, they did jobs that were considered as “men’s jobs” and worked as hard as men to survive in the west during the Manifest Destiny. Therefore, women pioneers were overlooked as an insignificant part of the Westward Expansion.
It amazes me how a few decades ago can seem like a whole different world. A course of time can impact our lives more than we know it. In the article, A Day Without Feminism by Jennifer Boumgoidnei and Amy Richntds, both of these authors created this piece to inform their audience that although women have gained more rights over time, there was still more progress to be made. These authors gave many examples of how life for women had been, the obstacles they had to overcome, and the laws women had to break for equality.
That being said, women were extremely limited in their role in society. First of all, women were expected to be homemakers. By homemaker, I mean the women w... ... middle of paper ... ...ay."
To understand the significant changes within the role of women, it’s important to look at the position women held in society prior to World War II. In a famously quoted ruling by the United States Supreme Court in a case denying a woman’s right to practice law, the following excerpt penned by the Honorable Joseph P. Bradley in 1873 sums up how women were perceived during that period of time by their male counterparts. Bradley declared, "The paramount destiny and mission of women are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother -- this is the law of the Creator" . While many women may agree that the role of wife and mother is a noble one, most would certainly not agree this position would define their destiny.
The roles that men and women were expected to live up to would be called oppressive and offensive by today’s standards, but it was a very different world than the one we have become accustomed to in our time.
“Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.” This was one of the famous quotes that the pioneers came up with because the baby would be the last one to take a bath. I don’t agree with the people who traveled the long and treacherous trail to Oregon because they just put themselves in danger. There were many dangerous conflicts that the pioneers did not think of before they went on their journey west. All of the conflicts could have been avoided if the pioneers decided to stay in their homes in the east and not traveled the Oregon Trail. The conflicts could not have been avoided because the pioneers that decided to travel where not prepared for the things that could happen to them.
The thought of freedom seldom enters the mind of an American woman today. Currently women can vote, hold office, ascertain any profession (if she so desires), and even run for the presidency! Women have far outstepped the boundaries of obedient housewife, they have discarded the restraints of domestic duties and strived for a greater goal, a common objective - to be equal to, or greater than, their virile counterpart. In a world where the gender role is becoming increasingly less defined, where men become “mannies” or assume the position of “househusband,” it is easy to overlook the past. One simply forgets the plights of her ancestors, when embracing the copious liberties available to the modern woman.
How would you feel if you were a Woman that lived in the HARSH 1930’s? Women back then worked for ages and didn’t even get payed a dollar. A women’s life was very hard and some people wanted it to change. Women in the Novel “to kill a Mockingbird” were treated like this every day. Women were expected to come home and do everything like cleaning and making dinner and if they had children take care of them after they finished working. They had to make sure that dinner was made for the whole family. They had to make sure that the house was clean. Women had many responsibilities at home and when they were working. Women were expected to be a housewife and after work. Women believed they were betting treated unfairly in many different ways from how much they get payed to what they can do in the “Real
Women spent majority of their day ironing, washing clothes, baking, sewing clothes and raising their children (page 17). Religion also added to women’s lesser status (page 18). Religion was at the core life of Americans, female submission was decreed to be part of God’s order (page 18). Lucretia Mott soon pointed out that many scriptures celebrated female strength and independence (page 18). As a young girl Elizabeth Cady Stanton learned about laws that limited rights of wives and as an adult found ways to reform marriage and divorce laws (page 23). Things were looking up for women, by 1850 female wage workers made up nearly a quarter of the manufacturing labor work force (page 30). Women were still excluded from occupations such as the military, ministry, law, medicine and jobs felt inappropriate for women (page 32). During this antebellum period women were starting to rise up and realize they deserved to have the same rights and privileges men received. This gave women hope that things could change. By the second quarter of the 19th century few positive changes for women pushed Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B Anthony, Lucy Stone and others to challenge injustices and reform efforts (page
In early America, socio-economic class, agriculture, religion and gender played four very important roles in regional distinctions of this newly developing country. Even though agriculture, religion, and gender were extremely important, the biggest factor was socio-economic life. A person’s socio economic class was what determined their life style from a wealth, treatment, and dress style and home, which are major aspects of human life. In Everyday Life in Early America, David Freeman Hawke explains how each of these four factors determined the life style of each early resident of America as well as the overall development of the country in its beginning years to emerge into a growing and improving nation (continue)
have changed. Today, in the USA women have the same rights or freedoms as men. Women can
As a man, I would focus more on hiding my emotions and keeping to myself. The reality of the life of a man varies from a woman because of the different social expectations required by people of different genders. In my current experience as a woman, I must remain slightly subordinate to men, but to still maintain enough confidence to hold my own. This is what I would do as a man, except I would be confidence in all actions and fearfully respect my elders and superiors. The overall reality of life would stray from that of female reality that historically has been focused on keeping the home, raising the children, and be a subsidiary in regards to the financial structure of a home. The patriarchal society
Women had an extremely difficult time during the 1800s, but after many centuries of hardships and misunderstandings a defining point was boiling down in the next 100 years. An evolution was starting, women were ready for change but only time will let it unfold. Women continued struggling and falling behind men in between the cracks, they have been taught to cook clean and be only homemakers, their lack of education narrowed their vision, they weren't able to see anything else in their peripheral sights. A women's life was set and planned from the day she was born, until her teenage years to seek out marriage, have kids, and teach her daughters to do the very exact same.
Since the early history and ancient civilizations, woman has played a secondary role, in which she was worth less than a man. Both in the Roman Empire and the old Greek Byzantine the role of a woman in the society, which was created and forced upon them by a man, was that a woman is only good for child rising and to be a housewife. Moreover, in most Asian countries even today, woman is stuck with the same stereotype. Also in the Arab countries, woman has been an inferior second class citizen: she was not allowed to participate in public life, also she could not be seen in any "man" place such a café, bar, or mosque. Furthermore, in Africa women is a housekeeper surrounded with her children, waiting for her husband to come home from hunting, to bring food for her and the children. Today importance and status of a woman has changed, it's modernized I would say. In recent years, women have gained greater control over their rights, thanks to the feminist movement. They are attending college and graduate schools in greater numbers than ever before. In the area of work, women have made great strides: the once unimaginable increase in the number of women in high-status, high-income professions such as US State Secretary Madeleine Albright or US First Lady Mrs.
The role women play in today’s society is a drastic change from the previous role. Women used to be confined to the superiority of the man. Physically, mentally, and emotionally abused, belittled, embarrassed, and silenced. These are just a few examples of the emotion from the isolated treatment of the past. A woman’s role in today’s society is more valued than ever before.