In The Nineteenth Century, Middle Class White Men Had The

As men in the 1800's they were allowed to work, go to school, be politicians. Men were looked upon as a high class of society, they were strong, powerful, independent, and brave. Women were stereotyped as weak, timid, emotional, and fragile. Men disregarded women and so did society.

During the 1800s, the social structure changed due to the Industrial Revolution. The middle class expanded. Although not all the members of this class were of the same status, they all shared the same values. They all believed in the importance of hard work and morality. One very important value was family togetherness. During this time period, middle-class families worked to preserve this family togetherness, as well as their prosperity, which they did by raising their children well. Women were more involved in maintaining family unity and the raising of children than men.

Women in the 1920s started to earn more respect and equality in society, mostly the right to vote. During this time, women had the opportunity to access higher education, minimum wage, better domestic living, and better healthcare. But women are still coming across challenges where they are submissive to men. Fredrick Lewis Allen introduces women as“... the guardians of morality; they were made of finer stuff than men and were expected to act accordingly” (Allen 129). Clearly, women were expected of something, but men were able to do whatever they so please to do whether it would be to hang out late at night at bars, drinking with friends, or being the one to have a house under his name and making his own money. According to Allen,

The early twentieth century was a turning point in American history-especially in regards to the acquisition of women's rights. While the era was considered to be prosperous and later thought to be a happy-go-lucky time, in actuality, it was a time of grave social conflict and human suffering (Parish, 110). Among those who endured much suffering were women. As Margaret Sanger found out, women, especially those who were poor, had no choice regarding pregnancy. The only way not to get pregnant was by not having sex- a choice that was almost always the husband's. This was even more true in the case of lower-class men for whom, 'sex was the poor man's only luxury' (Douglas, 31). As a nurse who assisted in delivering

Premarital sex did not exist in America, and young girls were likely to still be virginal upon marriage and faithful afterwards, sadly that is just a traditional American myth. The reality is that sexual activity before and outside marriage was a common practice, among the Puritans, in the seventeenth century. Throughout the eighteenth-century in America, 30 to 40 percent of brides walked down the aisle pregnant. Premarital pregnancy was not just limited to the twentieth and twenty-first century. Today, families are not quite the same as what they use to be. They include a more diverse environment than in the past and are more probable to be formed away from marriage. Beginning with the family life in colonial America, we examine the household structure between the families and colonial communities, compared to the emergence of the modern family. We apply our attention to the shift from agriculture based to industrial economy and the consequences for family life that follow.

Before the 19th century women had no rights, no status and no voice. They were the property and identity of their husbands, and in a way women were barely seen as human beings, they were merely there to serve and bare children. Much started to change at the start of the 19th century in social and economic areas. These transformations changed the game and provided an opportunity for women to seize and finally raise their voices. Women started to take action in small ways by making choices, not to marry young or not to have children immediately after marrying; they had bigger and better things in mind.

The attitudes towards sex during the Antebellum period was surrounded with a variety of different opinions and beliefs, causing the subject to be wildly controversial during its time. The opinions people had about sex were strongly shaped by their beliefs towards marriage and family, leading to the arguments made by Americans promoting sex and childbirth, as well as limiting them. The argument over sex and reproduction during this period touches on multiple topics within the argument over sex, such as women’s rights during reproduction, parenting, the wellbeing of the offspring, the increase in population, and the ideas of preventing childbirth, explaining why the attitudes about sex were viewed as controversial and argumentative by most Americans.

Women in the nineteenth century lived in a time characterized by gender inequality. At the beginning of the century, women could not vote, could not be sued, were extremely limited over personal property after marriage, and were expected to remain obedient to their husbands and fathers.( women’s suffrage movement 1) In most situations, the men would have to go to work and bring home the money, and the women would have no choice but to stay home, clean the

Contrary to popular belief, ideas on femininity in the eighteenth century were not so much restrictive as in the nineteenth, at least not where sex was concerned. Catherine Clinton, a professor of American history, elaborates in her book, The Other Civil War: American Women in the Nineteenth Century, that it was even accepted for women to have a high sex drive. Clinton also reveals that it was not uncommon to see a pregnant bride (147). At the turn of the century, however, those free ideals morphed into strict guidelines. Society began to value a woman by her sexual purity and dependent behavior. During the nineteenth century, the type of woman who was most valued was a ‘trophy’ wife, much like Marian Forrester in A Lost Lady by Willa

American women’s expectations in the 19th century began to rapidly change because of the evolution of industrialism. Women and their children were becoming the main workers for piece work. The cult of the “True Womanhood” brought the idea of piety, purity, domesticity, and submissiveness was a part of who they were and their lifestyles as middle-class women. It provided ongoing training with advice through the “Godey’s Magazine.” The working class women could not hold themselves to these standards for several reasons. Industrialization and the rise of the middle class impacted expectations of American women by enabling them to contribute to a capitalist society. However, capitalism created distinct class divisions that prevented working class women from achieving the ideals of feminity. Working class women did not have the same privileges as the middle class because they would have to spend the majority of their daily lives working.

During nineteenth century, American society had undergone tremendous change due to the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War, including change of gender role expectations. In the book of the American Family: from Obligation to Freedom, Peterson del Mar (2011) argues that the status of white middle-class women became higher at the end of the nineteenth century compared to the beginning. Indeed, this assertion is supported by the three guides assigned this week. In fact, various components played crucial roles in this situation. Based on the descriptions from Peterson del Mar’s work and evidence from those three provided guides, it is not hard to find that white middle-class women status had increased overtime.

In the 19th century, a woman's place was in the home. Although a small numbers of women were attending university and creating a career for themselves. Still most women's lives were restricted to the home and the tiring physical work of maintaining a house and raising a family. Women were seen as emotional, weak and unable to make decisions.

A nineteenth century woman was very different than a woman now a days. They were not allowed to hold office or even vote! When a woman married, she gave up the few rights that she did have. Married women were not allowed to make contracts,

Men, in the 19th century did not have respect for women. After the marriage, the women was consider as a "toy" and as an "animal" to men. "Essentially, the wife "belonged" to her husband. He had a right to the person and prosperity of his wife; he could use gentle restraint upon her liberty to prevent improper conduct, he could beat her without fear of persecution. Thus, it was very clear that the wife is dead in law"-Barbara Welter, The American Woman. Women had to suffer all this treatment because it was their choice. They would get marry and be financially secured or they would be single and support themselves. Most of them choose the first choice because; working was worse then some

During the 1800-1900s men and women were viewed differently. Back then it was said that men were the ones who would work and women would stay home and take care of household needs. Men were viewed as the strong ones in the family. If men were to be weak they would be called a ‘good for nothing’. Women, on the other hand, were considered weak and more emotional. They were the one who stayed home to wash dishes, do laundry, cook food, babysit, and clean the whole household. If a women were not to have the