The Subtopics Summary

The fight against sexism is not a new fight. Women have been fighting for equal rights, as well as fighting for their lives, culture, and values to be just as important as men's. On August 18, 1920, women were granted the right to vote; but this was only the beginning. From then to now, the role of women in society has significantly changed due to women standing up for their rights at protests and rallies, as well as on social media. While “The Good Wife’s Guide” focused on the promotion of the traditional gender role of women and defined appropriate emotions for women, “The Revolt of ‘Mother,’” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, represents the start of the resistance of the traditional gender role of women that we see in society today.

Women of the 1950’s through the 1960’s are ridden with male oppression and self-esteem issues. The book Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates and an episode of Mad Men titled The Shoot have a lot in common. The differences and similarities between the leading women in both of these stories from the 1950’s show that times are different today. The women of the 1950’s had a dream for the future and their dream has finally become a reality for American women. From Mad Men, Betty Draper’s dream of becoming a model and in Revolutionary Road, April Wheeler’s dream of traveling the world are actual realities for women today. Their dreams show similarities, differences and the “American Dream” that every woman has.

While this book could be considered very academic, I considered it to be a leisurely read because it was so well written by Kerber. The passion behind the authors want to reveal this unknown historical event of what Kerber refers to as, “ The Womens’ War”, makes the book inspirational. The true meaning of the term “Republican Motherhood”, made the word radicalism come to live in this historical setting. In result of these women changing and breaking the wall of a traditional role, they are finally accepted not just as domestic creatures, but as capable partners to create virtuous citizens. It is an empowering book that opens the reader’s eyes to the one – sided history that previous to this book had been the only text by historians

Women have long been fighting for their right to be seen as equal to men. Even to this day, women continue to fight for their rights, things such as the right to non-gender discriminatory wages. While there may be some arguments over the state of gender equality in the modern world, it is undeniable that there have been great strides made toward recognizing the female 's worth in the workforce and as a human being. Despite these strides, however, things are still not yet ideal for women and many of the issues females face today are the very same issues that have been plaguing them for decades. While it is unfortunate the oppression of women has been so long-lived, the length of that exposure has thankfully enabled many talented writers to both lament over the fact and emphasize the need for gender equality.

The current counterculture and social upheavals of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war caused this new feminism to emerge, signaling the beginning of a transforming era in women’s history (TWE, 607). Women were tired of living in a man’s world where they

Throughout the decades, the feminist movement has been portrayed in numerous ways, from feminism being a liberating thing to feminism being deleterious towards men, or even being anti-government. Countless readers believe that the writer Bobbie Ann Mason writes solely about the changes that the females made to change their own world. Instead, Mason portrays the feminist movement in a much different light. In one of her many short stories, “Shiloh,” Mason shows the conflicting sides of the feminist movement and the end result of female liberation in many of these individual movements. “Shiloh” shows a married couple that has been forced into a new phase of their lives through the newfound disability

In the class psychology of women, the class viewed the film Makers Project: Women Who Make America. The film supplied background information about how women were treated prior to the Women’s Movement, as well as during the Women’s Movement, and after. As a result of the Women’s Movement there has been a vast amount of changes impacting society.

In 1963 there was the second wave of the women’s movement when Betty Friedan published her book The Feminine Mystique, which sole purpose was to point out the, “problem that has no name” (understanding feminism by peta Bowden). The context of the book described that women were being forced to live under their true

Andrea Dworkin, a prominent radical feminist, tries to explain why women fail to put themselves out from where they are: “Women have been taught that, for us, the earth is flat, and that if we venture out, we will fall off the edge.” Women are often conditioned by different factors in their life to stay in their position, especially from societal norms and expectations of them from the men in their lives. However, over time, this could be emotionally and mentally burdensome to a woman’s state of mind, leading them to nowhere. This theme of oppression is prevalent in the feminist short stories titled “A Jury of her Peers”, written by Susan Glaspell, and “Sweat”, written by Zora Neale Hurston. In these works, Glaspell and Hurston elaborate on how powerful female protagonists are able to decide for themselves, but explain their mentally-taxing processes and reasons in accomplishing such a feat. In these short stories, women are able to rise over oppression, but primarily to overcome a grief or insecurity that stems from within and after being pushed to their limits and accustomed to their roles by men.

Oppression against women was a harsh way of life in the early years around the 1950’s and 1960’s. This injustice was originally meant to hurt a women’s pride, or to keep them down so they do not believe they have the same authority as a man. The men treated women as they were nothing more than a piece of property in some cases. The women was to obey her husband, as well as cook, and clean, and do “women” jobs while he was away working during the day. Women were portrayed as weak, or incapable of doing a “mans” work, when women were actually made to endure more than a man.

Towards the end of the twentieth century, feminist women in America faced an underlying conflict to find their purpose and true meaning in life. “Is this all?” was often a question whose answer was sought after by numerous women reaching deeper into their minds and souls to find what was missing from their life. The ideal second-wave feminist was defined as a women who puts all of her time into cleaning her home, loving her husband, and caring for her children, but such a belief caused these women to not only lose their identity within her family but society as well. The emotions that feminist women were feeling at this time was the internal conflict that caused for social steps to be taken in hopes of

Throughout history, women have endured constant oppression brought on by men. Women in the United States today are able to work, go to college, vote, use birth control, and much more. However, women have not always had these rights; these rights come from the determination of a large following of women who stood their ground to make a difference in society in the 1920’s and 60’s. The women’s liberation movement of the 1960’s changed the face of American society. The Help by Kathryn Stockett presents us with a sought after viewpoint of what American culture was like in the 1960’s. The book entails short anecdotes of the lives of a few women from this time period. Skeeter, one of the main protagonists, attempts

Due to a set societal structure created by men throughout time, women have been oppressed and excluded from society. A perfect women in a patriarchy was accepting to a man’s role as a leader and protector. They were to have children and care for the home. While both men and women had gender roles and expectations, the women’s harsh standards established a feeling of resistance.

Inspired by Mary Jane Ward’s The Snake Pit, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath was released in 1963 and discusses a great deal of how difficult it was to be a woman in the 1960s. The 1960s was a struggling time for women; society set standards that women felt obligated to follow. Society told women that their only jobs were to get married, have children, and become homemakers, and if a woman did not fall under all of these categories, she was considered a social outcast. The main character, Esther Greenwood, fears that she will not make a good wife because she could not cook, she stood too tall, and danced poorly. Women also had many restrictions on what they could do. For example, they could not serve on a jury, get an Ivy League education, and they did not experience equality in the work place. Society expected women to follow these standards perfectly, without fault. How were women to live by all of these standards and still think of themselves as strong and independent? Alas, because society focused so much on what women should do, that they did not appreciate some of the other things that some women could do. Intelligence, determination, and understanding were not considered impressive or useful to women in this time. The character Esther Greenwood in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar reflects the struggle to maintain self-respect and personal motivation in a society that demands perfection.

Women in patriarchal societies are brought up to have certain values, like to have a desire to be good mothers and good wives. However, as much as they try to do these things, they find that their passions and instincts are put down and this leads to misery and insanity. Women have voiced their concerns about the problems of being a woman in a man's society for years. Feminist literature existed before feminism as a movement did. Finally, in the 20th century, this led to the second and third waves of feminism criticizing the limitations of patriarchal and sexist society for women. Doris Lessing in her story “To Room Nineteen” uses many symbols to explain how women in patriarchal society feel oppressed and unfulfilled.