Article Review Gill, Valerie. "Catharine Beecher and Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Architects of Female Power." Journal of American Culture (Summer 1998).

In First Generations Women in Colonial America, Carol Berkin demonstrates the social, political, and economic circumstances that shaped and influenced the lives of women during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the colonies. In exploring these women’s lives and circumstances it becomes clear that geography, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, and other factors less fixed such as war each influenced a woman’s experience differently and to varying degrees. In doing this, Berkin first showcases the life of a specific woman and then transposes that life onto the general historical framework and provides a context in which this woman would have lived. The lives of these women exemplified is also explored and demonstrated through the use of comparison to highlight their different experiences. Moreover, this analysis also seeks to identify the varied sources of these women’s power, albeit for many this power was limited. The analysis is broken up primarily by geography, then by race, and lastly by time and war. While these factors provide the overarching context of analysis, more specific factors are also introduced.

Historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich provides a glimpse of America post Revolutionary war through her critically acclaimed book, A Midwife’s Tale, which is the interpretation of Martha Ballard’s seemingly humble diary—a record of her life as a midwife, mother, wife, and caregiver from 1785 through 1812. The book features Ballard’s account of her average day’s activities, which, in turn, serves to represent the tasks of women in her society; however, Ulrich cross-references the diary with documents such as court transcripts, land records, maps, and other diaries in order to piece together a more detailed account than one gathered solely from Ballard’s words. While popular belief envisions women in this timeframe as being constrained to the home and a litter of children, it is Ballard’s diary that reveals that women played a major role in other aspects of society, including the market economy, medicine and childbirth, versus just being mothers and homemakers.

The mid 19th century in American history was one of changing perceptions and tides. As anti-abolitionist movements and causes grew in scope and significance, so too, did the first ideas of feminism and of women's rights. Of course, as with any social movement, there is always pushback, whether from people who are afraid of change or progress, or people that don't agree with that particular social movement.

The article “Catharine Beecher and Charlotte Perking Gilman: Architects of female power” attempts to give readers two different perspectives of a woman’s role in her home and how this affects her presence in society. Readers are given a multitude of supporting facts from both women’s interpretations on the topic. This fact, in certain circumstances, proves to be not only a strength of the article but also a weakness. Regardless of how each woman author interpreted these ideals, the simple fact remains clear that each assumed the role and presence of a woman becomes

As you know many things have changed since the 1960s and 1970s. For instance, women’s rights. Women rights have come a long way in education, work, family life, politics, and sports. But I am writing to remind you the importance in women’s work force. Women have always in a general manner…been under appreciated. It seemed however that sometimes needs made men realize or potential. You see during world war 2, nearly all women worked…this was directly related to the fact that men where away at war. Women worked both hard labor, and intelligent jobs. After they returned; women gave up their jobs and let men take over. Most women enjoyed the thought of a house life, but I don’t think most knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. Women

Women, therefore, took jobs outside the household in increasing numbers to share the breadwinning role. The joint economic responsibility of the husband and wife thus “challenged the patriarchal ordering of the family” (Vander Wel, 213). Although this was not without controversy, Bailey’s interview shows the increasing changes. Although she did abide by her gender role as the primary caregiver and as a wholesome woman—she recounted her first time seeing a woman smoking as shocking and horrifying (Dunning, 5)—she also convinced her husband to make the move to California in May of

The Progressive Era of the 1890’s was a period of immense political debate and economic struggle with the movement of various women seeking reform. The excerpt from Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s essay,“women must free themselves from the home to achieve genuine freedom,” presented the argument that an essential piece to the improvement of marriage, motherhood, and individual freedom was independence. Further, the argument Gilman presents supports the transformation of marriage, family, and home by exercising economic interdependence.

Barbara Gaston was an old family/friend, who I didn’t have much history on. She grew up in Cincinnati, OH. She married at age 23 and defined herself primarily as a wife and mother for the next 20 years. She was a young mother and wife, which was not untypical during this time. She was the first born of four children, and later lived in a blended household. Her father worked in copper mines, logging, and road construction. While her mother on the other hand was a stay at home mom who took care of the children and did housekeeping. They lived on what her father earned, as credit was not yet established as a way to obtain personal object and things. She explained that if a woman were to work outside of the home at this time in history, they would have held traditional gender roles such as a school teacher, nurse or secretary. She came from a traditional religious background, as religious beliefs held their own expectations of being a woman, and how a woman ought to be, including sexuality. Her grandmother was also a stay at home mother, choosing not to go into the workforce.

The dissimilar race, class, and decade of birth formed the lives of Davis and Gilbreth differently. Gilbreth was a white woman, which meant she was socially accepted in America. Her opportunity would be limited by her gender rather than the pigmentation of her skin. Gilbreth also grew up in a prosperous family, so they could endure the financial burden of higher education. Gilbreth’s wealth is a substantial contributor to her success as a psychologist and engineer. The time period she lived in did not see full equality for women, however women’s rights were much more prevalent

In antebellum America there was little tolerance for autonomous women. Usually females, spanning all classes, were attached to households, dependent on males for status and wealth. Society demanded that domesticity be the woman’s domain, any deviations from this constricting edict was met with disdain. The cultural myth of the model genteel women permeated the fabric of 19th century life. However, with the advent of the Civil

Women’s role in society was to behave and shape themselves to fit into men’s ideals. Peggy upon getting her new job

In the 1800’s to the 1900’s, times were especially tough for women. Typically, women were not seen doing men’s work and had the important role of staying inside cooking, cleaning, and making sure their husbands were happy and pleased. In some cases, women were discouraged from doing any housework because of these roles; even writing, to express themselves, was forbidden. For Charlotte Perkins Gilman, that was not the case. Gilman was a lecturer, feminist, writer and social critic. Some of her most famous works of literature are, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, “To the Indifferent Women”, “The Crux”, and many more. Gilman found her love for literature as a child and the events of her early life inspired her to pursue a career in writing. As Gilman grew in her work, she had a few great poets to look up to which were her aunts, Isabella Beecher Hooker and Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Feminism has played a big part in American history. For the more than seven thousand years of human history since settled agriculture and early states emerged, male dominance has controlled the world. Feminism has decreased over the years, but women around the world still struggle with it. Within Harper Lee’s fictional novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the audience is subjected to the harsh impact of Women rights in Maycomb, Alabama through two women, Aunt Alexandra and Calpurnia, live with the unfair laws for women. By analyzing major female characters in the novel such as Aunt Alexandra and Calpurnia, one can evaluate the gradual change of female roles and expectations from the 1930s to current day.

Unfamiliar with Gilman or her work, it wasn’t until after reading the story and then researching the author, that I came to appreciate and understand the story’s full message. I had been taken aback by the comments and actions of the narrator’s domineering and sexist husband but reminded myself of the historical context, the piece was written 125 years ago. At that time in the U.S., gender equality was in its infancy if that. Many states still did not allow married women to retain their earnings or own property (Milligan, 2017).

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Early in her life her parents divorced, so her father could remarry.(Wladaver) Despite family problems, she loved an intellectual environment. She studied art at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she met her first husband.” ( Wladaver) During her life she suffered from and was diagnosed with varieties of depression disorders. She lived in an era that was dominated by males and women held a more domestic/submissive