Essay on Sex, Gender and Reform in the City

Women during the Antebellum Period we held to high expectations of how they were to behave. They had virtues that they adhered to. After the war broke out, the lives of women changed, and the roles they played significantly impacted the way women were viewed following the war. The Civil War was the result of decades worth of tensions amongst the northern and southern states that had ultimately ended with a war. The states had been feuding over many issues including expansion, slavery, and state’s rights (History.com Staff “American Civil War History”). The Civil war broke out in 1861 and continued until 1865. Prior to the war women stayed home and kept up things at the house, but after the war broke out, women felt they needed to help the

(Ulrich p. 5) Her research clearly establishes that despite the hierarchal and patriarchal nature of their society, women during this time contributed in essential and complex ways not only to their households and their communities, but the story of women is a central and crucial part of our American history. Ulrich supports her thesis by showing women adeptly performed any job necessary that benefited the family including that of deputy husband; “women played a central part in the communications network” which connected neighborhoods; women controlled sexual behavior; women engaged in and controlled significant trade; women exercised “considerable influence in the churches” and “enlarged the meaning of their own lives” as Christians; and women demonstrated heroic qualities “in the face of hardships of

During the Antebellum period, women were not seen as equal citizens compared to men. Social attitudes did change during this period and most women seemed to benefit from it. Women could receive a good education, and even find jobs although their pay was not equal to that of what men were getting ("Women in Antebellum America", 2017)

The slave owner’s exploitation of the black woman’s sexuality was one of the most significant factors differentiating the experience of slavery for males and females. The white man’s claim to the slave body, male as well as female, was inherent in the concept of the Slave Trade and was tangibly realized perhaps no where more than the auction block. Captive Africans were stripped of their clothing, oiled down, and poked and prodded by potential buyers. The erotic undertones of such scenes were particularly pronounced in the case of black women. Throughout the period of slavery in America, white society believed black women to be innately lustful beings. The perception of the African woman as hyper-sexual made her both the object of white man’s abhorrence and his fantasy. Within the bonds of slavery, masters often felt it was their right to engage in sexual activity with black women. Sometimes, female slaves made advances hoping that such relationships would increase the chances that they or their children would be liberated by the master. Most of the time, slave owners took slaves by force.

Although many women had moral obligations and duties in the home and families, church and community, they had very few political and legal rights in early american culture. From the dawn of american civilization into the present women's rights and economic positions as well has changed in many ways. Including these aremany turning points in which women have changed society today. Throught american history women were turned their back on and were considered unequals to mean, women didnt have the power for many things. For examples the point of bringing a suit, to make contracts, or own property, and vote. During the 1800's a women were seen as merely an way of enhancing and evolving the social status of her husband. During 1830s and the

Before the generation, American women as improved their educational standing , to secure additional legal rights, and acquired greater access the manufactured by the 1800’s. Women had participated outstanding in the religious revivals known the second Great Awakening and the swept across the floor. The result of the religion , american women mostly north became involved in numerous reforms efforts, including temperance, the abolition of slavery, the colonization of former slaves, and important of poisons. But majority of american women still led daily lives that to focused on their family, household, gardens and crops. The night before the war , most women in the U.S. lived in rural areas and regularly performed exhausting, physical work and around the homes.

The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era were times of great change for women in the United States, and women entered into a new standard of living. As times progressed and new advances were made in both society and technology, people had to learn how to adapt to those changes while still being an asset and following societal rules. The purpose of this paper is to acknowledge the reformations and changes brought to people and society by women during the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era. Regardless of where women may have moved to and lived during these times of expansion and industry, women were determined to not revert back to the roles they had been put in for so long. The purpose of these changes and new roles was to advance society and make everyone equal, but not every woman accepted the changes given to them or received the same kind of treatment due to various differences. Ultimately, the reformations made by women during this time would shape future movements fighting for the same cause.

After 1815, the female was viewed in a more respectful persona in society. Women’s rights were beginning to grow. They were helping more in religious growth, and helping in the abolition of slavery. “On every principle of natural justice, as well as by the nature of our institutions, she is as fully entitled as man to vote and to be eligible to office.” (Document F). Many females were involved in the growth of religion, including the Second Great Awakening. With the females being the ones who take the children to church, they were prone to having a deeper belief for their religion. And with that, they would try to inspire religious growth. The Second Great Awakening spurred reform, prison, church, temperance, abolition, women’s rights, and Christianizing Indians. With women fighting for what they believe in, the women were finding themselves to have a new found respect; from both themselves and men. Document E illustrates this by females walking down a street with a sense of confidence.

Many of the women fit into this category. Donna, a young worker, began her work at mustang ranch in order to care for her husband (age forty-one) and her two young children (pg.65). Her husband, due to his age, was unable to obtain a decent job and told Donna that she needed to get a job at the Brothel. Carrie, another worker in her early thirties, was working to care for her mother and Ivy whose mother-in-law- was tired of her freeloading attitude so she packed Ivy’s belongings and dropped her off at the ranch (pg.69). Many of the women would say that prostitution was just a “job” but the one thing that almost all of them had in common was “financial hardship” and turned to legalized sex workers to financially support their family or someone else. Although a number of women solicited sex in order to meet financial goals, countless of them greatly exceeded their goals but still found themselves working as at the ranch.

In the mid to late 1700's, the women of the United States of America had practically no rights. When they were married, the men represented the family, and the woman could not do anything without consulting the men. Women were expected to be housewives, to raise their children, and thinking of a job in a factory was a dream that was never thought impossible. But, as years passed, women such as Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Elizabeth Blackwell began to question why they were at home all day raising the children, and why they did not have jobs like the men. This happened between the years of 1776 and 1876, when the lives and status of Northern middle-class woman was changed forever. Women began to

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 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.

In those days, so many people were forced into prostitution to earn an income. The living conditions were very low. People were poor, homeless, enemployed. There was crime and desperation. Mostly people were forced into prostitution to survive.

In the 1800’s a women was suppose to have four things Piety, Purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. These principles shaped the “Cult of True Womanhood” an idea that women were to be seen but not heard. Women had no say when it came to politics, they couldn’t own property, they were not allowed to do many jobs, and they couldn’t even speak in front of men. They had the duty to be a mother and raise their children but even thought they had this responsibility it was the husband who had the complete control and guardianship of the children. Because of these ideas it was very difficult for change to happen. When women started to receive more education they began to ask questions about why they were being denied these rights, which began the

Prostitution has frequently been touted as the world's oldest profession, for the simple fact that it has been prevalent in society for quite some time. In order to properly discuss the many social ramifications of this particular crime and possible ways for dealing with them, it is first necessary to define prostitution and to explore the reason why it is a crime. Prostitution is the exchange of money or monetary assets for sexual favors and pleasure. It is the paying for sex in all of its myriad facets, from conventional coitus to a number of lewd and arcane acts from which people derive pleasure. Prostitution is part of the sex industry, which includes legal business such as strip clubs (Weitzer 7). There are a couple of different reasons as to why exchanging money for sex is deemed illegal. One principle reason is that if it were legalized, it would be exceedingly difficult for the government to tax and to capitalize off it, which is one of the reasons in which marijuana is widely considered illegal. More importantly, however, prostitution is illegal because it promotes the objectification of women and their bodies, and inherently reduces the degree of parity between men and women in which the latter are viewed as things simply for the fulfillment of men's sexual desires. Additionally, there are a variety of noxious activities that accompany prostitution such as trafficking in which the will of another is subjected to someone else's.