Stereotypes Of Women Before The Twenty-First Century

America is a nation composed of many, distinct traits. All of these different traits contribute to America’s identity. America’s identity today, however, is not the same as it always was. People’s perception of America is ever changing. This change in America’s identity has occurred in regards to women, men, racial groups and other aspects of America. These changes can also be viewed in more specific terms. Gender roles for women have changed drastically from housewife to independent women since the 1800’s.

Many women throughout the 18th and 19th century were discriminated against because of their sex. For white women like Clara Barton founder of the Red Cross Association, Charlotte Perkins Gilman an innovative writer and thinker , they had it a little easier breaking into the business world. The road was difficult for women to have their voices heard, however for black women they experienced horrific and animalistic treatment based on their sex and skin color. Many strong women that are not named in history because of hate pushed through these difficulties of societal acceptance to make great advances for women.

In the 1900’s it was a social accepted practice to believe one’s gender restricted what an individual was cable of doing. During this time period and going back further in the past the main ideology of society was males were there to lead, provide and protect the fairer sex. Susan Glaspell uses stereotypes to disprove the notion that women are less superior than their male counterparts by having the women solve the murder of Mr. John Wright.

During the 1950s and 1960s, there was a period of unhappiness that affected American housewives across the nation. For years leading up to this, women had been conditioned to find academic careers unfulfilling and were instead taught to find happiness in becoming committed housewives who were heavily involved in their community. If a woman had a problem, she assumed it had something to do with her marriage or herself. Women were told that they should be grateful and just accept their role as a submissive housewife. These women felt unfulfilled by their lives, which manifested in deep dissatisfaction.

Numbers of female employment increased: “An important one was the entrance of more women into the workforce; their numbers rose from 8.3 million (23.6 percent) in 1920 to 11 million (27 percent) in 1930” ( A Changing Society 79). As Women explains, “[t]he 1920s continued the historical trend of increasing labor force participation for women, but women continued to work long hours for poor pay, and they performed under-valued “women’s work” in whatever of sphere of the economy they worked”. Positions that women held were occupations “such as nursing, teaching, social work, and within medicine, pediatrics” (1-2). Single women had to perform a balancing act between hours or labor and the children.

During the World War 2, women defeated society’s stereotypes by working in professional and hard labor jobs while the men were away winning the war. As the men returned from war, majority of women returned home to face society’s standards and gender roles. Women were expected to be at home mothers that were practically slaves to their family and their appearance in society. Women were expected to be the perfect wife, having the perfect appearance, and have the ideal social life.

Although women were fighting to achieve equality in society in regards to men, they still cared dramatically about their appearance. One major cosmetic brand, Maybelline, emerged, allowing women to focus on their facial enhancement. As fashion trends began to change from a more conservative time, so did the use of cosmetics. While some believe that as time goes by, women become more superficial, others believe quite the opposite. Through the use of clothing (read more about this on page 4) women were able to make a statement so, who’s to say they were not taking the same approach when cosmetics emerged?

America, is the country of freedom, equality, opportunity, and success. America is seen as the place to make your home, and the place to create a life. Although that was not the case for most women in the 19th century. Ada’s differentiated thoughts from other women in her time did reflect on the 20th century. Women in the 19th century were not essentially free, and they were not able to differ from the stereotypes held up to females of that time.

On average, women are paid 21.7% less than men in the US for many of the same jobs. Women have been discriminated against since the beginning of time. Recently however, they have made several advances in the form of civil liberties towards a more equal society. Voting rights, the liberty to obtain and use birth control, and abortion rights are some of the forms of civil liberties and rights that women have made advances in. Women still face a gridlock in gender-based violence and in employment and pay.

The 1950s and the 1960s were a crucial stage for the feminist movement, a stage were women sought to find their rights and be whatever they wanted to be instead of what the society ought them to be. It is important we discuss the changes that have happened throughout time to see if we at all have improved, and how far we still have to go in this day and age. This topic is of special interest to me seeing as I love editorial and the printed media, whilst I am also a strong believer in equal rights and fair representation of the sexes.

Television sitcoms of the 1950’s through 1990’s limited women’s roles in the American workforce by reinforcing common gender stereotypes concerning women’s rightful sphere. Since television sets became mainstream and entered almost every American home, the content of American sitcoms has reflected the culture of the times. Thus, as the popular American sitcoms of the 1950’s suggest, women living in the 1950’s had very little economic opportunity and almost no role in the American workforce outside of the home. In the decade following World War II, society experienced a return to normalcy. Traditional ideals, such as republican motherhood, quickly abandoned during the wartime, returned with newfound vigor.

Women were expected to be housewives. However, during this time the traditional roles of women contradicted the new age woman of the 1920’s. More women were employed in the workforce but stopped working when they had children. Despite increasing opportunities in employment and education for women, they only worked until marriage as this still remained the goal of most young women.

A researcher named Alchin once explain, “The majority of women remained in the traditional role of housewife.” (Alchin 3). Women still maintained the household and cooked and clean but we're also given the right to work as well. Alchin also reported, “Roles of 1920's women in the workplace included factory workers, secretaries, salesclerks and telephone operators.” (Alchin 3).

In the 1970’s through to the 1980’s the main focus was the underachievement of girls. Starting from a young age before children were required to start primary school, conditioning and sex stereotyping had started. This involved the assumption that girls were supposed to play with dolls and role playing their role as a carer with their dolls and boys were expected to play with tool kits and more ‘manly’ toys. By girls playing with dolls their educational aspirations were becoming influenced through the play of these stereotypical toys of a girl. This also reinforced the stereotype of women as they were only seen as carers or mothers.

How often do you hear your friends, family, or acquaintances say they would like to go back to simpler times such as the 1950s - the era where you could wear fancy poodle skirts, drive big cars, eat at your favorite diner, or catch a movie at the drive in. Americans tend to think of the positive aspects of the 1950’s. Unfortunately during that era women were treated unfairly. Even though women had rights, they were still unequal to men. Fortunately feminism has progressed since then. Today, women comprise over 50% of the workforce. Nonetheless, men still cling to stereotypes that should have been destroyed long ago, whether in the workplace, at home, or in society.