Role Of Women During The 19th- Century South Africa

Women have fought throughout history in order to achieve different roles as well as to acquire recognition, independence, equality and respect. It has not been easy since they have had many barriers to overcome; their role in the family as wives, mothers and daughters; their role in society fighting for their rights, being heard and treated as men; their role as career women, not only receiving an education but also being able to work.

During the 18th century, women were treated like slaves. They had little authority regarding anything. Women didn’t have the right to vote or the right to own property. Only a spinster or widow woman could own and manage property until they married. Women were owned by the husband just as he owned material possessions. Many women were trapped in loveless marriages and those without families were seen as outcasts. The husband was legally entitled to beat his wife for disobedience. Divorces were rarely granted and women usually ran away from bad marriages. As you read, I will talk about

It is commonly taught in textbooks or shown in the media that colonial mothers are always taking part in childcare, but in reality the “modern working women” (1) spends more time taking care of their children. During the hours that modern women are not working, they are usually taking care of the children and doing household work to manage the household, in which the “traditional family” seems more fitting in categorizing the modern family, rather than the colonial family. The colonial women did not have to worry about taking care of the children, because they usually gave the task of caring for the children to the servants or older siblings. Moreover, the traditional family are usually perceived as a family where the husband and wife are role models of a loving, caring, and supportive relationship for their children. This leads the children to act in the same positive way with others by observing the relationship between their parents. Interestingly, the “traditional” families in the past were not traditional, as women and children were advised to be obedient to their husbands, otherwise they would be abused and

Throughout history, society has classified women and their roles and potential within a given society. There have been reasons in the past for this fact, which have included religious oppression and portraying of their role. The initial idea of a women’s place being in the home taking care of the children and looking after the home, this is still common in today’s society. Women now have a new found ability to fulfill their dreams and have achieved an independence that few would have perceived. Modern day society accepts the fact that sex should not determine your place within it, however, how did it get to this point? To find out, we will discuss some of the major events over time that have carved the modern day woman and the role

Women’s Suffrage issues became prominent in America’s culture when women began leaving their traditional roles as homemakers. Women became more involved in their communities by seeking jobs and fulfilling leadership roles in which they could improve society. In the 1830’s, thousands of women were involved in the movement to abolish slavery. The first organized gathering devoted to women’s rights in the United States was held in July of 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York. Elizabeth Stanton would draft a “Declaration of Sentiments, Grievances, and Resolutions,” based on the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming, “All men and women are created equal” (History.com).

For centuries, women have been labeled inferior to men and even in today’s society they are still not equally treated. During colonial times, women were expected to care for the children and tend to the household while men were looked at as the dominant figure in the family. In this short answer, it will discuss the positions of both females and males in the family and the roles of women in their community. Within each of the three colonial regions the roles of both genders had differed from one another and women’s responsibilities and interactions in each region varied. Women may have been looked at as powerless human beings, but in reality, they contributed to the growing population that was greatly needed during this period when the lack

I have to let the readers know how I stumbled upon this topic to introduce where I get my ideas from. It all started in the archive located on the second floor of the library in a dark corner behind a clear glass doors at the Hunter College. I have been attending Hunter College for four years and never have I stumbled on such an amazing place full of live history. I say live history because all the documents and books that are held in the archive are all preserved originals, which fascinated me. Thinking how people who lived more than century ago wrote and read the same things I’m writing and reading about excited me to my very soul. Archive research though fascinating is not an easy task that can be done in within fifteen minutes like how researches are done these days using convenient technologies at hand.

They were regarded as objects to give birth and take care of the family affairs including performing the farm work. They were subjects of their husbands. This was the origin of the patriarchal society in this continent. Africa has been dominated by male folk for since 1500 (Bonnie, 559). This domineering habit has brought with it other characters such as polygamy and society leadership by men only. This left woman without any significance in the political and economic development of the African society. Their place was in kitchen only. Men were the only leaders in the village, county and national level. There was no single women leader. It was regarded as a bad omen for a woman to participate in any political affair. Women had no voice in the society; they could not question the decisions of their husbands or their male grown up

Queen Victoria 's reign saw a great change in industrialisation alongside social change which affected a variety of people and classes.

of the expectations of women and how each woman has to fit a certain role as a

In the mid to late nineteenth century, America was full of potential. Settlers were cultivating the west, blacks that were once captive were no longer enslaved, and a woman’s role in society was undergoing a transformation. The reality of this all was, blacks were not considered equal status with whites, American Indians were being pushed out west and women were still considered second-class citizens.

At the end of the 18th century and during the 19th century, there were many changes to public ideology that affected the way that women perceived their roles in society. Prior to these changes, women had adopted the beliefs of separate “spheres” separating work into public life and their duties as mothers at home1. Women stayed at home to take care of the children and provide a warm, welcoming home for their husbands to take refuge from public life. Women became aware of their lack of legal and political power after the American Revolutionary War ended as they were denied the right to the same freedoms that granted the right to vote to the white, property-owning male population2. Despite granting women more liberty to run businesses, farms,

Gender roles were sharply defined in the 19th century. Women were expected to stay at home and carry out the domestic duties as well as taking care of the children and educate them and provide a peaceful home for their husband. Women were seen as loving and caring. On the other hand, men were expected to work and earn money for the family. They would fight wars and were seen as strong and powerful. Men had more freedom and rights, such as the right to vote, than women in the 19th century. Society had created two completely separate spheres. In the medical field, men were doctors. There were laws in many states, such as, that prohibited women from becoming doctors. Women, who decided to practice medicine in the 19th century had to struggle with much opposition because it went against prevailing ideas about women’s role in society. Women belonged in the private and domestic sphere. Men belonged to competitive and immoral public sphere of industry and commerce. The women in medicine would face accusations that they were abandoning their sphere and threatening society. Due to these arguments and the fear of economic competition from female practitioner, male medical schools and hospitals denied women access to institutions. However, Elizabeth Blackwell, changed this idea of separate spheres when she decided to take on the medical field and become a doctor. Although Elizabeth Black had a natural aversion to the medical field, her

Women and men have had certain roles in society that were understood amongst them to be specified for their particular gender. Males were known to have the leading role as head of the house hold and the bread winner while the woman’s duty was to stay at home and take care of the house and children. While many people years ago deemed this way of life and practice to be the right and ethical thing to do, times have changed and so this kind of treatment towards a woman’s equality must be questioned. Even though times have changed, this mindset of a woman’s ability to be as good as a man has not completely gone away. In today’s society a woman contributes to the economy and her family as equally as that of a man. Therefore, women should share equal rights and opportunities as their gender counterparts.

Throughout history, women have been seen in many different lights. From a woman’s perspective she is strong, smart, helpful and equal to men. In the eyes of men, she is seen as the weaker being, the housewife, and the caretaker. By looking at the following pieces of writing, one can see that through the centuries, women have struggled to break out of the mold that man had put her in and make themselves known in society as important.