synthesis essay

It is said that Western civilization had been primarily male dominated and as a result as diminished the feminine. Women’s roles in society have changed drastically over the past decades. While it took much time, progress for women’s rights has blossomed. Influences in civilization have affected view points of the commonly held mores, expectations, and stereotypes which define gender.

Throughout various decades, women have transitioned from the role of “house wife”, to hard working individuals. This trend is evident in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurtson. Janie’s first marriage gave her a taste of what it was like to work in the fields. After leaving Logan Hicks, Janie married Joe Starks. Her voice in society was frowned upon by her new husband. Janie was ordered around and forced to complete daily tasks around the house. While Joe did not want her doing grueling “manly” work outside. He believed her place was to look after the store, not to mention being at his beck and call for every meal. He forced her to wear a head wrap to conceal her beautiful long hair to detract attention at work. After the death of Joe Starks, Janie let her hair down once more, symbolizing her freedom and ability to be herself again. She shortly remarried once more, to a young man named Tea Cake. When she was with him, she no longer had to conceal who she really was, and joined her husband in the fields to work at her own free will. Tea Cake did not judge Janie or hold her back from the ambitions she had in life. Janie was finally able to be herself around the man that admired her the most.

As children grow up, they are exposed to the “perfect” fairy tale, portraying the roles of the perfect man and woman, according to Andrea...

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..., mended, replaced when need be, and who will see to it that my personal things are kept in their proper place…” Men see women as nothing more than their slave. If they say “Jump!” the woman is expected to say “How high?” Women are still assumed to follow the daily tasks of a house wife AND live the life of a modern day woman at the same time. “And I want a wife who understands that my sexual needs may entail more than strict adherence to monogamy.” If the man is not happy, he has every right to fix the “problem” at hand and adjust his life accordingly.

Over the years, women’s roles in our society have significantly changed with the times. While some still believe a woman’s place is in the kitchen, the female gender is striving to prove this stereotype wrong. From succeeding in school, to the work place, high ambitions are shown throughout by powerful women.