Gender Discrimination In Colonial America

Women have been downgraded and mistreated because of their gender. From birth, Women and Men grew up with very different rules to follow. Men were raised to be the head of the house and do work for a living. Growing up as little girls, women were taught to raise their kids and make food for their families. “Strong family structures were necessary because the family was the basis for all other institutions. The government, church, and community all worked through the nuclear family unit.”(“Gender and

Have you or anyone close to you ever been discriminated before? Multiple types of gender discrimination has always been an issue and it’s time for it all to come to an end. Gender discrimination is discrimination that is based on someone’s gender or sex. Many people have faced it in different ways. I am researching the harm that is caused to different genders, the way women don’t get paid the same as men, and how LGBT people are discriminated in the workplace.

Over the past five hundred years or so in america as the overall majority in Mankind, women comprise of the largest group in the world, but they are a vital asset in every aspect of our society. Woman and women's rights are tied hand in hand with american culture, which entails in these rights that they're dependent of social status, race, and geography in america like civil rights in the south. There were different types of economic changes for the different types of ethiniticities in America in which there were different of turning point that women won over their sufferage through their racial discrimination, these included the native american women, hispanic american, african americans and the chinese american women of the united states.

Today, women are believed to be equal to men however this was not always the case. During colonial times, women did not have the same roles as women do today; men and women had fixed roles in society. Roles between men and women do not exchange due to strict gender roles. Additionally, married women were not exactly considered as companions instead, as the husband’s property. Although gender roles were a significant issue among women in early America, another issue was the background of these women. Factors such as race, religion, geography/region, and social class were substantial to the extent of control a woman had over her own life. These factors significantly shaped the lives of these women. For instance, white women had differences

Gender wage discrimination still exists in the United States after having many acts established to prevent it. The Equal Pay Act of 1963, signed by John F. Kennedy on

Society believed women inferior to men. They were considered property of their fathers until marriage and once married, all her personal possessions became her husband. Women often married young to men significantly older then themselves and bore children very soon after marriage. Carol Berkin explains in her book “First Generations:

Women were bought to America deeply rooted convictions about the inferiority of women. Minister would stress that women are weak creatures, not endowed with like strength and constancy of mines. It’s said that the role of a woman is to obey and serve their husband, nurture their children and endure the tax labor required to maintain their household. Women in the colonies didn’t have many rights they couldn’t vote, preach, hold office, attend public schools or colleges, bring lawsuits, make contracts, or own property. The Biblical passages were the reason why people believed that the women in colonial society should obey and serve their husband, nurture their children and endure the tax labor required to maintain their household, Puritans cited

The structure of Colonial America was a fearful system of judgmental men and women who had to label an individual before they acknowledged their rights or lack thereof. A man is based on physical aspects and were dominant in colonial times, while women were meant to be submissive with no rights along with the slaves and Native Americans. Colonial males controlled the household and could not be questioned whereas married colonial females’ held no rights or words as her husband now spoke for her. This was one of the many sole ideals of the European countries that crossed the waters with the initial pioneers. The labor system were also based on gender as women were seen to remain indoors and adhere to the needs of her husband and family while the fields and physical labor were meant for the men.

In the early 1800’s, the disparate treatment of men and women was drastic. Women had a very limited amount of rights and not much of a chance to exercise them either. Voting, suing others, and testifying in court were all strictly verboten (Hill 1). In marriage, all their formerly owned property was surrendered to their husbands or given back to their fathers. Women were also forbidden to call a divorce and were forced down into staying in the marriage. In the rare case of a divorce, women could not claim custody over their children or any other possessions that, prior to the marriage belonged to them (“Women in the Nineteenth Century: Introduction”). Women were expected to always be subservient to their husbands and listen to their every order

There are many different ways in which women are discriminated against in the workplace. The exclusion of women altogether solely due to their gender is a now rare example of how women are discriminated against. Although women have gained overall access to the workplace, sex

As a consequence of gender discrimination, women as human beings aren 't getting the same respect as men instead they were seen as commodities. Consequently, living with gender expectation causes harm to either one of the gender.

Gender inequality has been the main focus for many centuries through the use of discrimination and oppression women were exploited. Where women had very little rights of their own or a voice in society but made many sacrifices to achieve equal rights whether it be in employment or other areas of inequality. As men were seen as masculine breadwinners and women as more feminine by looking after the family and raring of children.

“Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam” (Hosseini 7).

Gender discrimination is not something that we can see in our home but also when we look into our society, we can see many types of discrimination. It can be in school, workplace, bus or even in train. The main problem with our society is that people consider women as powerless or someone to be in home to look after the kids. People think that some works can be done by only men so they just hire male workers by thinking that female workers can't do heavy works. Also, there will be unequal wages between male and female workers by just looking into their gender. Sometimes men get higher wages because the boss think that males are the one who take care of the family. In some cases, if woman is pregnant, some employers do not even like to interview or hire them just because they are pregnant. So, in most cases, women have to hide their pregnancy because of the fire they get fired. These kinds of gender discrimination

In colonial America, certain groups of people, specifically women and people of color, had to face societal struggles, such as discrimination. Discrimination can be based on many different characteristics—age, gender, weight, ethnicity, religion, or even politics. For example, prejudice and discrimination based on race is called racism. Oftentimes, gender prejudice or discrimination is referred to as sexism. Discrimination is often the outcome of prejudice, a preformed negative judgment or attitude. General well-being, self-esteem, self-worth, and social relations can be severely impacted in a negative way as a result of discrimination. Unfortunately, this obstacle still exists in our society today, but it is definitely not as severe as it was back in colonial American times. This idea that many times, certain groups in society are discriminated against due to their race, gender, appearance, etc. is a theme that is expressed in the early American texts, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, and “On Being Brought from Africa to America” by Phillis Wheatley.