Gender Roles In The Invention Of Wings

In Breaking Tradition, paragraph two states, “People in “polite society” demanded that ladies live under the guidance and protection of their fathers, husbands, or other male relatives. Women could not vote or sign contracts. And under the law, husbands usually controlled their wives’ poverty, if they owned any, and wages, if they earned

In society today, men are often in a position of power over women. Sometimes it even gets to the point where women no longer have the power to decide their own future. However, in the Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, the female characters place themselves in positions of power. Puritan society was very strict in their time, and was very controlling. In a way, the Puritan Society’s strict rules prompted the women to rebel and gain power for themselves, breaking away from their social standards.

From 1865 to 1900 African Americans, despite being presumed free; blacks quickly realized they were only free from was the whippings, break-ups from their families, and sexual exploitation. (Experience History 457) African Americans were still force to live with the hostility of whites. It has taken blacks a long time to be freed from the hatred, and discrimination of white southerners, and after decades’ racism among whites still exist today.

Certainly, freedom was supposed to be “freer”” for those slaves that had fought for their rights after years of submissionn, but, unfortunately, many white Southern people continued to ignore the law by not showing any respect for Africans-Americans. Because of the radical reconstruction in the south, the African-Americans were a step closer from the same political

By the early 1800’s, sisters Angelina and Sarah Grimke had already made a name for themselves as anti-slavery abolitionist. Speaking in tents and at religious gatherings. They Used their Quaker faith to help instill an equal mindset. The sisters, who were educators, were also authors. Several of their publications were for the supplication of the rights of African Americans. Written in a pamphlet by Angelina entitled: “Appeal to the Christian Women of the South” she wrote:

The role of women in society was displayed quite clearly by the entrance of John’s sister. The woman writes, “There comes John’s sister. Such a dear girl as she is, and so careful of me! I must not let her find me writing. She is a perfectionist and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession. I verily believe she thinks it is the writing which makes me sick!” John’s sister is representative of the typical woman. A woman who is pleased with her life, and wishes for no more. John’s wife, however, is rebelling on her place in society by writing. This is why she includes the statement; “…I verily believe she thinks it is the writing which makes me sick!”

Sara faces a number of serious hindrances on her way to making a life of her own. One of them is her father, who she looks up to and starts to resent later on in life. Her father, Red Smolinsky wants his all daughters to fulfill their gender roles: maintain the household, take care of children, cook, etc. Women, in his opinion, do not exist without men and their own function is to serve men in all senses – sexual, psychological and spiritual. Red Smolinsky represents the Old World with its conservative view on the womanhood. She also starts to hate her father when she understands the ways he has denied his daughters, her older sisters, lives of their own. Sara tries to resist this “new” world and her

Fredrick Douglass explains in this excerpt from The Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglass that no matter how hard they try, a white person will never understand what its like living the life of a slave. Throughout the excerpt Fredrick Douglass talks about how freedom from slavery is not how he ever imagined it would be. He says that once free, he was lonely and could trust no one, which contradicts all the positive connotations of freedom. This excerpt, in addition to the whole narrative, is aimed at white intelligent people since Fredrick Douglass’s audience could only people who knew how to read and write in 1838. Fredrick Douglass conveys his point through his syntax, imagery, and figures of speech.

The oppression of women has occurred all throughout history across the world in the thousands of years that patriarchy has existed. During recent times as social standards have progressed, the voices of women are heard more often than long ago. Nonetheless, it is often overlooked that women of decades before used their voices in other ways in order to speak out against oppression. One of the ways these women did this was in their literary writing. Despite the progress made today to stand up against oppression of women, there is much that can be learned by looking back at problematic situations portrayed by women writers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Out of all of the texts written by women only three will be discussed; Rebecca Harding Davis’s Life in the Iron-Mills, Susan Glaspell’s A Jury of Her Peers and Flannery O’Connor’s Good Country People, in which specific symbols are used as representations of the ways in which women were oppressed and how important it is to study these texts today. By narrowing down the number of literary texts to three as well as discussing only one literary device from each, one can begin to understand the importance of learning about the American women’s literary tradition.

Sarah and Angelina Grimke were the first Southern women to become influential abolitionist, which spoke on the end of slavery; as well as social and political equality for freedmen and women as well. The Grimke sisters stretched the boundary of women’s public role, by giving speeches to audiences with men and women, and by speaking in front of a state legislature about African American rights. Sarah and Angelina broke many of the social and political boundaries subjected on women.

Over the course of many years, women have struggled to expand their roles and rights in society, hoping to one day achieve complete equality with their male counterparts. Two women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Judy (Syfers) Brady, both recognized the patriarchal society in which women had to endure. They despised the way it heaped inequality and servitude upon women, and decided to assert their opinion on the issue in order to change the perceptions and imposed limitations on women. In Stanton’s speech, “Declaration of Sentiments”, and in Brady’s article, “I Want a Wife”, both women attempt to convince their audiences that females deserve complete equality with men by stating the submissive situations and obligations women find themselves immersed in. This is done to get their female audiences to reevaluate how they have been treated and give them a second chance at attaining equality. Both women employ various rhetorical techniques in their arguments to strengthen, as well as compel other women to oppose the ‘domesticated’ image of women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Judy (Syfers) Brady expressed their views in pursuance of forging a path to a revamped lifestyle for women.

In the same year, Sarah had to answer the burning questions from ministers addressing why she stepping out of the woman’s proper place. To answer the questions Sarah created a paper titled, “Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Women”; “Woman, in all ages and countries, has been the scoff and the jest of her lordly master. If she attempted, like him, to approve her, she was ridiculed as pedantic, and driven from the temple of science and literature by coarse attacks and vulgar sarcasm,” (Grimké and Parker 66). This paper was the beginning of Sarah’s role in women’s rights; she would not get to see women rights grow as it did because Sarah passed way in 1873. Some people say that her letter and more paved the way for more women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, to help end slavery and start the women rights movement.

Furthermore, the society believes that “no married woman can represent the female world, for she belongs to her husband” (747). In this passage, Fuller explains how society feels that the woman is the unequal property of the husband, as she can no longer represent females. She views this as a huge inequality because she feels in a marriage no partner should have more power over the other, much less consider them property. Ultimately, Margaret Fuller tries to stop the inequalities within society by describes the various rights that society tries to keep women from obtaining.

Knowledge is a primary factor in the attainment of personal freedom. This includes not only scholarly education but also awareness of historical heritage and familial legacy. The fact that African-Americans were held in human bondage cannot

Sara T. Smith spoke because she wanted to talk about the anti-slavery movement, and also the rights of women to speak upon the subject. The speech was given on May 17th, 1838 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The occasion impacts the message because it gives her much more meaning to the speech because it is a relevant topic and she is passionate about it as well.