Good Wives : Image And Reality

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.

This generation of women, may it be young or old, are fortunate to live in a country where you can be anything, do anything, and say anything that men can. Although in theory the playing fields are still not completely even, we as a nation have made some substantial progress in women’s rights. Just a few hundred years ago, women livered mundane lives and rarely got to speak up for themselves. In the book, The Midwife’s Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, it follows the life of Martha Ballard through the use of her own diary. Martha Ballard captures the lives of common women in the Early Republic Era by providing an authentic record of the role women played in their communities throughout the developmental years of the United States.

Throughout history men have been leading the battles, conquering worlds, discovering new lands, but behind every good man is a good woman! So, as I read this week, I learned an enormous amount of information about the diversity of the different roles women play according to where they might live or what era they grew up in. I will address the rights that women had, how they are viewed in society, the comparison between these women and the ones from the New Testament, the evidence to support my claim.

“Origins have therefore become important to some feminist scholars, especially those of faith, in a rather distinctive way, as they have sought to bring to light—and , in some cases, discover—evidence for the ways in which the Christian tradition has in at least some of its roots an equal place for women” (Shaw, 2004). The place of women—and, indeed, men—in the early Churches is a historical subject which is seen to have relevance to individuals and the Churches today: while Churches are still debating the validity of the ordination of women, and even the extent to which laywomen can participate in the worship and ministry of the Church, it is not possible to shy away from this.

Throughout most of history women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women's most significant professions. Since early times women have been uniquely viewed as a creative source of human life. Historically, however, they have been considered not only intellectually inferior to men but also a major source of temptation and evil. Colonial women faced the harsh realities of childbirth, housework, and serving their husbands because it was tradition. The ways of the ‘old country’ culture was forced upon a new one, disallowing any room for new ideals. Although constrained by society Colonial women have had their part in shaping America.

The economic “market revolution” and the religious “Second Great Awakening” shaped American society after 1815. Both of these developments affected women significantly, and contributed to their changing status both inside and outside the home. Throughout time, women’s roles and opportunities in the family, workplace, and society have greatly evolved.

The seventeenth century was full of challenges; political, social, and economical. Across the board individuals struggled to live, although the conditions had much improved from the beginning of the colonies. Women in particular had a difficult time fitting into this patriarchal this society. Women were defined by men and were seen as an accessory to men. In the colony of New England women were learning how to have a silent voice, while still maintaining the proper role of time. The way women were seen by men, who ran the colony, and the way men thought, not only about women, but also about the world would sculpt the society and the

During the time period from the end of the American Revolution to the Civil War, American womanhood changed greatly. Due to differing beliefs during the time the American women’s ideals became to change. At the time, main beliefs were the “republican motherhood”, or the thought that women had power in the country’s politics in the sense that they raised the next generation, and the “cult of domesticity”, or the thought that women should be submissive, moral, and take care of their husbands and family. These beliefs greatly limited the power of the women in the 18th century. Due to these ideas, such as the “republican motherhood” and “cult of domesticity” during the time period from the American Revolution to the Civil War, women

Masculinity didn’t do a good job of attaining the hoped-for standards, as they didn’t have other equally profound consequences for American middle-class culture at this time. It justified the exclusion of women from the world as acceptable to both women and men at this time, and it cultivated strong bonds around women as well. They in fact shared the biological experiences central to their definition as women and spoke the same language of virtue and piety, which essentially means that they instilled a awareness of a set of common goals for them and experiences present for them, which had values specific to women, and distinct from those of men. The key to this was the extensive networks of female friends that were present during this time period for these women. Since women were supposedly better than men during this time, it was feasible and easy to believe that women were obliged and privileged to work together and help other women, who were fallen, and poor, who were having some sort of trouble during this time period as a result of the society that they were present in during this time period. Southern white women during this time were aware of the ideology of domesticity during this time, and they would try to implement it and its teachings for their lives, but their expectations were frequently articulated during this time period. There was little industrialization, domestication, urbanization, immigration, and therefore, social dislocation present during

Some aspects of the lifestyle ancient civilizations lived almost seem appalling or intolerable when compared to the very developed and carefully shaped the world inhabited today. One of these characteristics of previous societies that prove to be rather challenging to conceive in current times consists of the lack of rights, privileges, and equity women had. Society maintained this assumption of a man’s superiority up until the women’s rights movement of the early twentieth century; yet with the two sexes essentially equal in America today, imagining a restricted life as a female proves unfathomable. Looking back at the history of human kind, men almost always subdued women and treated them as property. When focusing on the first

In the economy of 1709 there were a lot of women that had very bright futures as mothers and wives also the way the women impacted their communities, but there were some that didn’t get so lucky. In this time “the women are very fruitful; most houses are filled with little ones… They have very easy travail in their child-bearing, in which they are so happy, as seldom miscarry…” (Voices of Freedom 61). The readers can see that some women had a very joyous life but there are some that were called witches and burned or hung for it. In New England “most were women beyond child-bearing age who were outspoken, economically independent, or estranged from their husbands…” (An American History 89). It’s really amazing on the two points of view of

During the early 1800's women were stuck in the Cult of Domesticity. Women had been issued roles as the moral keepers for societies as well as the nonworking house-wives for families. Also, women were considered unequal to their male companions legally and socially. However, women’s efforts during the 1800’s were effective in challenging traditional intellectual, social, economical, and political attitudes about a women’s place in society.

In 1960, American women had limited rights in life such as in the workplace and in marriages. They were only allowed to "marry" young, start a family and devote her life to "homemaking" (Par. 1). Women had no rights to their husband's property or earnings. However, the women's husband would control their marriage, their property and earnings. Also, it was complicated for women to divorce their husband because women had to show evidence of their husband's injustice. Furthermore, as time progressed women became more independent, powerful and aggressive; supplying their own income and waiting to get married and have children. In “After the Death of the Father”, Mary Daly demonstrates women's freedom is challenging Christian views. I will discuss what Daly’s thesis is in the article, how she defends her thesis, what she is arguing and my evaluation of her argument.

Women seemed to obtain both domestic and public roles of leadership in early Christianity. It is noted in Paul work that women had a role in hosting Christianity, “It is not surprising then to see women taking leadership roles in house churches.” (Mitchell and Mitchell, 81). Women as leader in early domestic churchers support the idea of liberation of women. Before the superiority of Orthodoxy in Christianity women were able to lead churches in their own

In addition to the patriarchy, many Americans supported the notion that women were to be confined to the cult of domesticity. These domestic beliefs set strict social, religious, and political expectations for women. In “Notes on The Cult of Domesticity and True Womanhood”, Catherine Lavender describes “four characteristics [that] any good and proper young woman should cultivate: piety, purity, domesticity, and submissiveness” (Lavender 1). The religious expectations of women were heavily reinforced, ensuring