Analysis Of Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History

675 Words3 Pages

How grueling would this be for someone – a woman – to have her chance at making a difference taken away from her? It would be crushing. Now, think of Rosa Parks. She was the first woman to stand up – sit down, rather – for her rights as a black, female, was she not? According to Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s “Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History,” at least three women did the same thing before she did. Though Parks was not a man, she got the fame from this situation because she was previously “well-behaved.” This event marks a time that Parks was misbehaving. Since it was so out of character, she got the attention that none of the other women did. Ulrich goes into explain how multiple women changed their views on the world and made history by misbehaving. Three examples of these women include Mae West, Rosa Parks, and Ulrich herself. …show more content…

West started out as a pure, behaved young lady; however, after her days of “playing the saintly Little Eva in Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” that was certainly over (Ulrich 269). Though she started out as an innocent child actress, she became something entirely different as she got older and broke away from her roots. Ulrich goes onto explain how West became a sexual icon, “shimmying her way to fame” (269). West, accordingly, did not have to try to be sexy, she just simply was. This simple trait earned her even more attention and fame. Because West was such an angel in her early acting days, the fact that she went wild was a surprise, and this allowed her to claim her fame as the once good – now bad –