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Gender Roles In A Midwife's Tale

490 Words2 Pages

Around the late 18th to early 19th century, colonial American New England life was centered on living independently and being finally free from the British Empire after the Revolutionary War. Establishing control of a newly founded government with set functions and a first president, there were progressive changes that America had to act upon post-war. However, behind the political aspects that are greatly highlighted in American history, the roles of women in society, particularly midwives shouldn’t be cast aside. Although women were largely marginalized in early New England life because of their gender, nevertheless Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s A Midwife’s Tale is instructive because it demonstrates the privilege of men’s authority in society …show more content…

This shows the absurdity that lies in blaming one gender of the equation since it requires male and female to create new life. However, it was very common to engage in premarital sex and when no charges were made, some people married out of wedlock. From then on, women were sought out to only raise children and their capabilities were limited to do housework. Besides physical strength, the main difference between a man and woman’s genetic makeup is the ability for women to be pregnant which doesn’t correlate to one’s intelligence. In early American life, married women were basically subjected to their husbands with no rights to own land, any amount of income they would make, would be given to their husbands. The so-called “American Dream” to be more individualistic rather than a collectivistic community like the British Empire didn’t follow through with women’s rights. Martha Ballard’s profession is then reduced by William Smellie as “he explained the importance of reassuring both the patient and her “friends”,” (65). This shows that males couldn’t conceive the idea of respecting women’s work and treating them as professionals. However, this also shows the apparent disconnect between male physicians and their patients.

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A Midwife's Tale Summary

572 Words | 3 Pages

Laurel Ulrich’s A Midwifes Tale is a book over Marth Ballard who was a New England women living in America. Ulrich uses Marth Ballard diary entries along with other historical documents from the eighteenth century to show her audience the life of women specifically a midwife in the American society, and the sexual standards that were present during the eighteenth century. Martha Ballard the wife of Ephraim Ballard was midwife during the eighteenth century in Hallowell, who not only played the role of a midwife in the society, but also the role of a wife and a mother. Ulrich starts to book by talking about scarlet fever epidemic that had taken places in Hallowell during the summer of 1787. During the time of the fever and after the epidemic had ended, Martha played the role of an important member in the community, even though the social structure in Hallowell was giving more importance to male doctors.

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778 Words | 4 Pages

“What a man can be, he must be,” is a quote by Dr. Abraham Maslow in the book Motivation and Personality, which talked about a hierarchical pyramid of human needs. It means, such as, if a girl wants to be a midwife, she must be a midwife, like in the book The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman. The main character, Alyce, wants to find a place in the world by becoming a midwife, and it is the most important thing to her. However, her age and gender affect the conflict.

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328 Words | 2 Pages

Who runs the world? Girls. Laurel Thatcher wrote that “Martha Ballard was as independent as an eighteenth-century housewife could be” In her essay she analyzes the diary of Martha Ballard; a midwife in the 18th century, who recorded her experiences and work on a daily basis in her diary. Laurel Thatcher proves that Martha Ballard was an exceptional independent woman who was also constrained by the expectations put on midwifes. Thatcher portrayed the quality of women’s lives through the life of Martha Ballard and the women around her.

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