The Nagging Mother Stereotype

"Upon marriage, woman became the legal wards of their husbands, as they previously had been of their fathers while still unmarried" (Martin, 68). It was common for a father to sell his young daughter into marriage and the young women had no say in her preference of her suitors (Mahaffy, 48). This was done while the girl was in her young teens while the groom was ten to fifteen years older (Martin, WEB2). As the father, or guardian, gave the young girl away he would repeat the phrase that expressed the primary aim of marriage: "I give you this women for the plowing [procreation] of legitimate children" (Martin, WEB2). The woman’s role was primarily in the home. "Households thus depended on women, whose wok permitted the family to economically self-reliant and the male citizens to participate in the public life of the polis" (Martin, WEB2).

Women had great social pressure on them to marry. Young girls were often married by the age of 13 or 14 . It was socially unacceptable if women were not married by the age of 25 . Marriage was mostly for economic benefits, not romantic situations. A wedding, rather than a religious ceremony, was a civil contract that set the responsibilities and duties of husband and wife . Once married, they legally became one with their husbands. Married women had no control of their earnings, inheritance, property, and also could not appear in court as a witness nor vote . Their husbands, therefore, were responsible for all aspects of their wife including discipline .

At this point in time, women were thought to be have belonged in the home and were inferior to men due to it just being the cultural norm. That was just the way of life and how it had always been. Sentimentalism came to the American society around the 1800’s. This then lead away from arranged marriages and gave men and women free will of marriage based off of feelings, attraction and affection. Companionate marriages were thought to have given men and women equality in the marriage, but in reality husbands still continued to dominate the marriage because “male authority was deeply ingrained in cultural mores and according to Abigail Adams complained, husbands had “sovereign authority” over the family’s property” (Henretta, 2012). During

After marriage, women were to take the husband's ancestors as hers. Thus, a marriage had a purpose of continuing the ancestral line and raising the status of the family.

Also, this type of marriage is chosen because of social status. A rich family will want their heir to marry into a family that is worth their status. And lastly, very religious and cultural son and daughters will just agree to an arranged marriage because of the way they have been brought up since childhood and they know that they will not have to worry about their parents of not approving or rejecting of their choice of spouse.

This emphasised the ideas of a patrilineal society because these families were coming directly from England and brought the same customs with them. These ideals also lead to marriages that were usually arranged by the betrotheds parents, and the woman's family would have to supply a

same article it quotes “Numerous research studies show that compared to men, women are less likely to be hired, particularly for high-wage jobs, or are likely to be offered lower salaries” (The wage gap). Studies have showed that men are socially preferred.

Arranged Marriages have been around since time can remember. An arranged marriage is a marital union between a man and a woman who were selected to be wedded together by a third party. Historically, arrange marriages were the main way to marry. In certain parts of the world, it is still the primary approach. There are two types of arrange marriages. The first is a traditional marriage where the children can, with strong objections, refuse to marry their soon to be spouse. In a forced marriage, the children have no say in the matter. Bread Givers shows an excellent representation of the pressures on children from their parents to be married against their will.

As a woman of the 19th century, the main goal in life is to get married. If a woman chose not to marry, then she would be seen as a joke and would be seen down

We notice that both the bride and groom did not make any arrangement. They did not have any choice but to follow their parents’ will. Once married, women had to serve their husband and their family. They often became a sort of servant to their mother-in-law, to whom they had the obligation to obey. Families were omnipresent in the marriage; it was a very strict marriage where women had no other choice but to listen to men of her family.

During the early 1800s, marriage was seen as a fortification of wealth and power through the unification of two families instead of a declaration of endearment, as reflected through the materialistic marriage customs in the Antebellum South. Generally, a man’s parents designated a future spouse for their son, based off of a woman’s familial ties and financial stature, due to the economic ramifications that the marriage had upon each party involved (O’Neil). Although financial characteristics of the bride’s family were primarily the deciding factor, men typically prefered to marry a compliant woman with “piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity” (Fontin), considering that the gender roles at the time denounced women with ambitious or assertive

Many people believe that marriage is important in this day and age, but it holds little significance compared to the importance of marriage in the Victorian era. In the Victorian era women were to get married to a man of the same or a better social status, be good wives, and be a mother to her husband's children. Very few marriages started with love, but a woman's life is not complete without being married. Over time, the role of married women has evolved a great deal and they now have rights and privileges. John Stuart Mill was one of the great thinkers of the Victorian era, and his essay The Subjection of Women tells how few privileges women had and that they were slaves to their husbands. He also says that women are their own people and

Those individuals who are proposed of the idea of arranged marriage ask the question “whether a parent can be trusted to find the right partner for a child” (Kolker, 62). These days parents and children argue about almost every single topic let alone finding a spouse for them. It sounds weird when a mother looks for brides for her grown son. But, marriage “as we understand it,

This essay will discuss the issue of arranged marriages. According to Webster, an arranged marriage is “a marriage planned and agreed to by the families or guardians of the bride and groom, who have little or no say in the matter themselves.” I will be discussing this according to the following ethical theories: Utilitarianism, Rights Theory, and W.D. Ross’ Theory. Under these theories I will discuss whether or not they would view arranged marriages as ethical or unethical and under what circumstances one would find an arranged marriage ethical or unethical.

It is often said that marriage is the extension of a family. Through marriage, one family is linked to another. In this regard, we have a third kind of women who are victims of the institution of marriage. In The Boarding House, Mrs. Mooney’s daughter Polly is the victim of the ingrained institution of marriage. After she learns of the affair between her daughter Polly and Mr. Doran, Mrs. Mooney forces him to marry her daughter in a rather tactful and cunning way: