The book Revolutionary Mothers by Carol Berkin describes the women’s struggle and participation for independence. The book views different aspects of the practical participation of women in the war, how they influenced the war and how they got affected by the war (Berkin 56). Berkin describes a woman away from the usual social courses. Berkin identifies a new world of strong women who outstand social pressures in defense of their rights and that of the society as mothers. She unifies the identity of all women in America without any exception through the vision of patriots, whether rich or poor. Above all, Berkin in her book stays away from any chance of discrimination on war and any views of black versus white or good versus evil. She rather allows the reader to look at the war as a struggle to deliver the women and their families in the social political and economic oppressions …show more content…
It is clear from the writers thoughts expressed in words that she admired the women with whom she talks about in the book.
She shows this through her tone and adjectival expression as she describes the women as being physically strong, mentally tough, courageous, and intelligent and resourceful. At some point in the book, her descriptions of the war woman is more like as what might be termed a she-male in the perception of roles and not gender. However, social discrimination based on gender was a bigger challenge to women efforts in the war. No matter how hard they participated in the war and fought to secure changes in leadership of the nation after the war as purported in the constitution. Berkin explains that with an exception of the Indian women, the other women’s effort only worked to supplement and support men leadership, a point that worries her. She thinks that women’s role and full participation would be best shown in their admission into political leadership roles, much better than women being assumed for social and family roles as
mothers. Berkin says we should remember the women as they did with the law. Women made the law both in legal amendment and role (Berkin 67). She believes that involvement of female in the revolutionary war did more for female role in the society. The war attacked the attitude and mentality of women. They then identified themselves with the situation at hand and thought to participate in war. However, Berkin gives a unique interpretation of her concept within the conclusion. She brings it out that women fought two different wars. First case became physical war that provoked their participation and the second was an internal war. The internal war is that which was fought within the hearts and minds of women. They fought to liberate themselves from all diversities of human oppressions. This was the real revolution as ought to have been according to the author. The revolution that saw women take up political and development roles in American history as did the Indian women. The war then molded women to be stronger than they were before it. Women began to fight for their space in the society. Revolutionary mothers also explores the bylaws that the women followed in their liberation. By the end of the war, the strong and courageous women had no option but to resume their family roles and social responsibility. This has been criticized as a withdrawal act of women from social leadership but was not. They anticipated their roles as mothers, a very strong trait for a purposeful leader.
Within Megan H. Mackenzie’s essay, “Let Women Fight” she points out many facts about women serving in the U.S. military. She emphasizes the three central arguments that people have brought up about women fighting in the military. The arguments she states are that women cannot meet the physical requirements necessary to fight, they simply don’t belong in combat, and that their inclusion in fighting units would disrupt those units’ cohesion and battle readiness. The 1948 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act built a permanent corps of women in all the military departments, which was a big step forward at that time. Although there were many restrictions that were put on women, an increase of women in the U.S. armed forces happened during
...ven our notice.’ Although this demonstrates how society’s views attempted to revert back after the war, this does show that females had had a sacramental role in Bexley. The fact that the women were used to train the men, shows that women clearly did a good deal of work during the war that was useful.
Carol Berkin was a talented woman; she was born in Mobile, Alabama. She earned bachelor 's certificate at Barnard College. Also, at Columbia University, she got M.A and PhD; she achieved the Bancroft Dissertation Award. She was chosen with her book: Jonathan Sewall: Odyssey of An American Loyalist by Carol Berkin (1974). Right now, Baruch College is where she becomes Presidential Professor of History; she is a member of history staff at CUNY Graduate Center. In addition, she is the writer, good editor; she has written many textbooks. They are published like A brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution (2002) that was translated into Chinese and Polish, Women of America: A History (1979), Clio in the classroom: Guide for Teaching
The film titled, “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter”, looks at the roles of women during and after World War II within the U.S. The film interviews five women who had experienced the World War II effects in the U.S, two who were Caucasian and three who were African American. These five women, who were among the millions of women recruited into skilled male-oriented jobs during World War II, shared insight into how women were treated, viewed and mainly controlled. Along with the interviews are clips from U.S. government propaganda films, news reports from the media, March of Time films, and newspaper stories, all depicting how women are to take "the men’s" places to keep up with industrial production, while reassured that their duties were fulfilling the patriotic and feminine role. After the war the government and media had changed their message as women were to resume the role of the housewife, maid and mother to stay out of the way of returning soldiers. Thus the patriotic and feminine role was nothing but a mystified tactic the government used to maintain the American economic structure during the world war period. It is the contention of this paper to explore how several groups of women were treated as mindless individuals that could be controlled and disposed of through the government arranging social institutions, media manipulation and propaganda, and assumptions behind women’s tendencies which forced “Rosie the Riveter” to become a male dominated concept.
Most of their work became invisible and the women were referred to as amateurs. Many historians consider this time after the war as gender amnesia because everyone after the war forgot all the women did. Women were credited for their contributions. This amnesia caused the women to lose the little inclusion that they had and not many fought this because of the urge to go back to normalcy (Berkin). If the need to become a strong and steady nation had not meant a push back to normalcy, the women may not have been set back as much in terms of inclusion.
In the book Women in the Civil War, by Mary Massey, the author tells about how American women had an impact on the Civil War. She mentioned quite a few famous and well-known women such as, Dorothea Dix and Clara Barton, who were nurses, and Pauline Cushman and Belle Boyd, who were spies. She also mentioned black abolitionists, Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth, feminist Susan B. Anthony, and many more women. Massey talks about how the concept of women changed as a result of the war. She informed the readers about the many accomplishments made by those women. Because of the war, women were able to achieve things, which caused for them to be viewed differently in the end as a result.
Cokie Roberts’ Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation examines women's role in the establishment and development of the United States of America. Throughout the book, Roberts attempts to prove that women have natural characteristics in which they use to their advantage to build a foundation for the future of all women. She examines the lives of some of the most important women in U.S. history, such as Abigail Smith Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Sarah Livingston Jay, Martha Washington and Mary White Morris. Roberts researched all of the women who “had the ears of the Founding Fathers,”. She believes that since these women lived in such a strange and wonderful time period that they must have strange and wonderful stories to tell. The book
...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.
"From Home Front to Front Line." Women in War. Ed. Cecilia Lee and Paul Edward Strong. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. The Churchill Centre. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
The role of women in the Early Republic is a topic mostly overlooked by historians when dealing with this era of American history. The triumphs of the Revolution and the early events of the new nation were done solely by men. However, women had their own political societies and even participated in the Revolution. Women's roles began to take a major turn after the war with Great Britain. This was due in part to their involvement in the war and female patriotism. Others believed it was due to the easier access to formal education for young women. Whatever the reason, it inspired women to challenge the social structure of the Early Republic. The roles of women were changing in the Early Republic. However, progress was slow and little change followed after the Revolution. This change in social structure elicited two questions. What caused this social change and what was the major setback for the progression of women's rights? These were the questions Linda Kreber's Women In The Republic: Intellect And Ideology In Revolutionary America, Caroline Robbins' review of Mary Norton's Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, and Sheila Skemp's review of Lucia McMahon's Mere Equals: The Paradox of Educated Women in the Early American Republic attempted to answer. Each of the pieces of literature agreed that the social equality of women was changing, but each offer a unique aspect of what changed it, and what slowed progression of equality.
The term, scarcity, mentioned by Carol Berkin in Revolutionary Mothers refers to the lack of fundamental resources, and the term inflation means that the prices for goods rapidly increase and the currency power falls. Since it was a home-front war, Women got affected during the war because their husbands left homes in poor circumstances, and the wives had to perform their routine life chores and the responsibilities of their husbands as well (27). They were demanded to deal with the farm and to protect their children and homes (27). The women and their children also dealing with the increase in prices for services, and the lack of essential needs of life such as pins and medicines, and most importantly their family members who usually cultivated the fields (31). The women improvised wherever and whenever they could to deal with scarcity and inflation (31). They used thorns for pins, herbs
The late nineteenth century was a critical time in reshaping the rights of women. Commonly this era is considered to be the beginning of what is know to western feminists as “first-wave feminism.” First-wave feminism predominately fought for legal rights such as suffrage, and property rights. A major hallmark of first-wave feminism is the concept of the “New Woman.” The phrase New Woman described educated, independent, career oriented women who stood in response to the idea of the “Cult of Domesticity,” that is the idea that women are meant to be domestic and submissive (Stevens 27). Though the concept of the New Woman was empowering to many, some women did not want to give up their roles as housewives. These women felt there was a great dignity in the lifestyle of the housewife, and that raising children was not a job to scoff at. Mary Freeman's short story “The Revolt of 'Mother',” tells the story of such a domestic woman, Sarah, who has no interest in leaving her position as mother, but still wishes to have her voice heard in the private sphere of her home. Freeman's “Revolt of Mother,” illustrates an alternative means of resistance for women who rejected the oppression of patriarchy without a withdrawal from the domestic lifestyle.
Women were not only separated by class, but also by their gender. No woman was equal to a man and didn’t matter how rich or poor they were. They were not equal to men. Women couldn’t vote own business or property and were not allowed to have custody of their children unless they had permission from their husband first. Women’s roles changed instantly because of the war. They had to pick up all the jobs that the men had no choice but to leave behind. They were expected to work and take care of their homes and children as well. Working outside the home was a challenge for these women even though the women probably appreciated being able to provide for their families. “They faced shortages of basic goods, lack of childcare and medical care, little training, and resistance from men who felt they should stay home.” (p 434)
In “Breaking Tradition” by Kathleen Ernst, the Civil War and the Absence from home of so many men, brought profound challenges and opportunities to all women; however in “A Family Affair” by Gina DeAngelis and Lisa Ballinger, many American women realized that the war had changed not only the world, it changed them as well.
During this time there was a general uprising for the idea that women deserved the same rights as men instead of viewing women solely as their husband’s property. Women wanted complete equality and rejected the social standards of sexism. After the war, when the feeling of empowerment was stripped away from women, women 's roles went back to the status quo from before the war, restricting them to household activities. The nation that needed women’s help in a time of crisis proved it was not yet ready for the greater social equality that women would slowly gain in the following