I read the book, Bound, written by Donna Jo Napoli. The book is about a young chinese woman, who is bound to her father’s second wife. This is because he passed away and, back in 17th century china, young woman had very little power or say in situations. Also woman were thought to less value of worth then their livestock. Throughout the day’s of dealing with her step mom she, loves to do poetry and calligraphy.
Mary Beth Norton is a historian who specializes in women’s history, her interview with Barker-Benfield uncovers her experiences and involvement in discovering the importance of female involvement in the late 17th, early 18th century history. Mary Beth and professor Peter Lapsion’s He Said, She Said article both explain why gender roles were so important in shaping and revealing todays gender morals in society. Mary Beth explains in her interview that in order to get a clear understanding of history, both women and men needed to be included to look at life in the 17th century. Norton clearly states that men and women had secret lives that were written in their dairies.
During the 1800s, women were supposed to adhere to the ideas of a patriarchal society. According to scholar Rula Quawas, womanhood during this time period consisted of “a sharp dichotomy between the home and the economic world outside that paralleled a sharp contrast between female and male nature; the designation of the home as the female's only proper sphere … and the idealization of her function as a mother and a wife” (Quawas 44). While men were expected to leave home and make money for their families, women were encourage to work in the house and take care of their children. These narrow expectations for women caused them to be economically and intellectually dependent on men. In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the character Jennie embodies this stereotypical function of a woman.
In her essay, Prazniak considered Ban Zhao as a feminist. Zhao’s writing on Lessons for Women was a way to make a statement about the treatment and status of women during the time of ancient China. Ban Zhao was also “undermining the classic Confucian texts at the same time she pretended to invoke and apply them.” Prazniak argues in her essay that Ban Zhao emphasized how woman’s role as a wife is what defines her virtue and the importance of women’s subservient duty towards her husband. She also included in her essay that “Ban Zhao argued forthrightly for equal treatment of boys and girls in education.”
In the nineteenth century, woman had no power over men in society. They were limited in their freedom, as their lives were controlled by their husbands. Some women did not mind this lifestyle, and remained obedient, while some rebelled and demanded their rights. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, are short stories that exposes the lifestyle women lived in the nineteenth century. The protagonists from both stories, Jane and Georgiana, similarly lived a male dominated lifestyle.
In colonial North America, the lives of women were distinct and described in the roles exhibited in their inscriptions. In this book, Good Wives the roles of woman were neither simple nor insignificant. Ulrich proves in her writing that these women did it all. They were considered housewives, deputy husbands, mistresses, consorts, mothers, friendly neighbors, and last but not least, heroines. These characteristics played an important role in defining what the reality of women’s lives consisted of.
With the popularization of the Confucian Four Books during Ming dynasty, female-authored writing achieved a new level of importance. Instructional texts written by female authors including Ban Zhao, Madam Cheng, Song Ruozhao and Empress Xu were compiled as the Four Books for Women as a parallel to the Confucian canon. Through writing, these female authors receive social recognition, discuss public affairs and elevate women’s social status within households. However, writing could only allow women to attain limited social power in pre-modern China, as popular female-authored texts are all written by women from privileged background, circulate with limited impact among a small group of audience and further exaggerate gender inequality.
The next chapter highlights the gendered division of labor and the difficulty to keep a family as a slave. Chapter six and seven moves on to the eighteenth century and shows how women have improved in areas such as more political participation and increasing social class of
Over the course of history, the role of women has changed numerous times. Before the Han Dynasty, there was little emphasis on women and their roles in society. During the Han, even though women were still considered inferior to men, there was a rise of women in society, including authors and historians, and to top it off some women even held powerful positions in the court like Empress Lu. Section 17 in the Ebrey textbook covers the topic of women’s virtues and vices. By using excerpts from the Biographies of Heroic Women and Admonitions for Women, Ebrey is providing detailed evidence and stories to show the audience the significance and position of women in these times.
During the 19th century, women were overshadowed by the men of their household, therefore they had no sense of independence nor dominance. In Mary Freeman’s short story, “The Revolt of Mother,” the author presents Sarah Penn, a woman who takes a stand against her husband. In the beginning, the reader learns that Sarah is a hardworking mother and wife. She maintains the household work and meets her children needs. She is suddenly confused of her husband’s actions concerning their future.
America in the nineteenth century was a time that many upper and middle class women were socialized to become the epitome of perfection and domesticity, with their identities deeply bound up in their relation to men. Rula Quawas discusses this point by presenting the four attributes of ‘the cult of true womanhood’ that governed the lives of these Victorian women: “’Piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity’. Put together they ‘spelled mother, daughter, sister, wife – woman” (35). These are the oppressive ideologies that the women protagonists in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899) and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s
Renowned psychologist and social experimenter Stanley Milgram once said that “obedience is the psychological mechanism that links individual action to political purpose. It is the dispositional cement that binds men to systems of authority.” In other words, man succumbs to authority because it is rooted in his obedience to jurisdiction. An example of this is the American judicial system, which man is obedient to because that is what’s known. His political or societal purpose however is a learned behavior, or one that he matriculates from the dynamic of his culture.
The journey of women through time has been treacherous and glorious. The women of the world have learned to adapt, accept and appeal to their given circumstances. Throughout history, the experiences of women in various societies have given significant insights into the dynamics of gender roles, social norms, and cultural values. The perspectives of women in Ancient Mesoamerica, China, and Rome offer comparisons and contrasts in their experiences and explore the factors that influenced their different statuses and gender roles in each society. The historical evidence is key to the understanding of the evolution of gender roles and social norms over time.
She has been brainwashed by the patriarchal society of her time to worship the man, her husband, and perform her duties and daily rituals as a means to please him. Welter outlines several characteristics that constitute the perfect or true woman; however, the most crucial and detrimental so-called “virtues” exhibited by Gilman`s the narrator are her submissiveness and domesticity. Although the artistic narrator clearly has her own desires to be free and write as she pleases, her desire to satisfy the patriarchal construct of the household by attending
The Unnamed Woman Up until the 1900’s woman had few rights, thus they relied heavily on men. Women could not vote, they could not own their own property, and very few worked. Women’s jobs were solely to care for children and take care of the home. Women during this time, typically accepted their roles in society and the economy ( “Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1909”).
