The Evolution of Women’s Portrayal in Literature It is time that we start to look at the changes women have made in the comparison to the events surrounding them. We do not expect the women of today to behave and act submissively as though they were the women of the Medieval Era. Rather than looking at the news or textbooks for the evolution answer, the women of century were depicted in works of literature. The opposition against using media comes from an article from The Journal of Social Psychology Department written by Leslie McArthur and Beth Resko about the selection of men and women for commercials where men were selected more often but women had a better connection with the audience. These sex differences proved highly unfavorable for …show more content…
First starting off the year with a world war success and a taste of the first Oreo, America was looking quite positive (Gascoigne, 2002). The 20’s started off very revolutionary with the illegal speakeasies and prohibition laws to a memorial success for women. In 1919, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed where women received the right to vote. The passage seemed necessary after years of the Women’s Rights Movement (Gascoigne, 2002). Before the century was half way over, America fell upon hard times and documented the first Great Depression lasting all the way until World War II and America gained wealth again. Throughout the rest of the century many inventions were created and many men became very wealthy but what about the women of the twentieth century? More occupations were opened to women during the 20th century like in 1910 the first policewoman was appointed in Los Angeles. In 1916 the first policewoman (with full powers) was appointed in Britain. The 1919 Sex Disqualification Removal Act allowed women to become lawyers, vets and civil servants. In 1917 the WRNS (Women's Royal Naval Service) and the WRAF (Women's Royal Air Force) were formed. In 1938 the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the female branch of the British army was formed (Gascoigne, 2002). In the early 20th century it was unusual for married women to work (except in wartime), however in the 1950s and 1960s it became common for them to do part-time. Before the 20th century housework was so time consuming married women did not have time to work. Manufacturing became less important and service industries grew creating more opportunities for women like secretaries and assistants. In 1963 in the USA an Equal Pay Act compelled employers to pay men and women the same amount for doing the same job. An Equal Pay Act was passed in Britain in 1970.This was another revolution in the 20th century, equality in the workplace. In 1973 in
Also in the 1930's women did not get to do much of anything, except be a housewife and mother. They did not get to vote on a president or anything for that matter. Women could nt even be on the jury in a trial. The only people that could serve on a jury were white men who owned property, but now almost anyone can serve on a jury. Today women can vote just like men can. Most women work outside of the home and some women make as much ,if not more, money than men do at their jobs.
The role of American women has changed significantly from the time the nation was born, to the modern era of the 1950s and 1960s. Many people, "... believed that women's talent and energies ... would be put to the better [use] in the new republic." (Clinton 3) Clearly showing that society has seen the importance of the women's talents and that their skills can be very useful, exploited this and thus, the change of the women's role was inevitable. Society has understood that the roles of women played an important role on all parts of life.
The changes that happened were women have taken on responsibilities instead of staying home and watching kids and doing laundry. Also having supper done for the husbands when they get home (some still do). But now women are half of the workers in the United States. When the nineteenth amendment was passed they were finally able to vote and started to take action as a republican or a democrat. The democratic and republican opened leadership jobs for women within their area(What
The 1920’s was a period of extremely economic growth and personal wealth. America was a striving nation and the American people had the potential to access products never manufactured before. Automobile were being made on an assembly line and were priced so that not just the rich had access to these vehicles, as well as, payment plans were made which gave the American people to purchase over time if they couldn't pay it all up front. Women during the First World War went to work in place of the men who went off to fight. When the men return the women did not give up their positions in the work force.
In the 1920's women's roles were soon starting to change. After World War One it was called the "Jazz Age", known for new music and dancing styles. It was also known as the "Golden Twenties" or "Roaring Twenties" and everyone seemed to have money. Both single and married women we earning higher- paying jobs. Women were much more than just staying home with their kids and doing house work. They become independent both financially and literally. Women also earned the right to vote in 1920 after the Nineteenth Amendment was adopted. They worked hard for the same or greater equality as men and while all this was going on they also brought out a new style known as the flapper. All this brought them much much closer to their goal.
It is no secret that no matter how much women continue to strive in the workplace, politics, etc., inequality will always persist. Throughout American history, the oppression of women has caused an adverse effect on humanity. Some men believed that embracing women as worthy of equal opportunities was a threat to them, as all the rules would be changing. However, the 1900s witnessed a change in that trend, as women started to fight and stand up for their rights. Women have stood on the frontline of this conflict, but at the end of the day they are only requesting “The power or privilege to which one is justly entitled” So, how did women’s role in society evolve from 1919 to 1941?
A gender role in the time when British literature was being written was very important to the women history. Women were subservient to men in most of the British literature. Some literature women had a little more power than in others. When women were asked to do something by a man there was no way they could say no. the way women were treated then is the equivalent to a housewife now in the Twenty-First century. When a man told them to do something they had to do it. Throughout the literature women started desiring more respect and power. A very good example of a woman that overcame gender roles is Susan B. Anthony. She was born on February 15, in 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts. Susan B. Anthony taught for fifteen years then she decided to be in the women’s rights movement. After that’s she was committed and devoted to be to omen suffrage. Susan B Anthony remained very active with anything that had anything to do with women until her death on March 13, 1906. Another example is Elizabeth Cady Stanton she was born on November 12, 1815 in Johnstown, New York. Throughout her life she stood behind women’s right with the Women’s rights movement as well as Susan B Anthony. She was the president of the National Women’s Suffrage Association (NWSA) for 20 years. She died a very respected and honorable woman on October 26, 1902. These women really changed the game for women back in the day. These women were very important representatives in the Women’s Rights Movement. They helped out a lot and put a lot of time throughout their life to make sure women got to where we are today. They were huge role models for women today. Although women had to fight for us to get rights, British literature consisted of women being subservient to men. I am go...
During the Great War and the huge amount of men that were deployed created the need to employ women in hospitals, factories, and offices. When the war ended the women would return home or do more traditional jobs such as teaching or shop work. “Also in the 1920s the number of women working raised by fifty percent.” They usually didn’t work if they were married because they were still sticking to the role of being stay at home moms while the husband worked and took care of the family financially. But among the single women there was a huge increase in employment. “Women were still not getting payed near as equally as men and were expected to quit their jobs if they married or pregnant.” Although women were still not getting payed as equally it was still a huge change for the women's
The 20th century brought a tidal wave of tolerance and equal rights for a diverse variety of people in the United States. When the century opened, women did not have an equal position with their male counter parts either in the public or private sectors of society. Women first received their right to vote with the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920, and the beginnings of an equal footing in the workplace during the obligatory utilization of American women as factory employees during the Second World War. Similarly, African Americans spent the 1950's and 60's fighting for their own basic civil rights that had been denied them, such as going to the school or restaurant of their choice. Or something as simple and unpretentious as where they were allowed to sit on a bus. However, by the end of the 20th Century, women, blacks, and other minorities could be found in the highest echelons of American Society. From the corporate offices of IBM, to the U.S. Supreme Court bench, an obvious ideological revolution bringing ...
After reading “Brooklyn” by Paule Marshall and “One Off the Short List” by Doris Lessing, I learned about the different ways in which someone can be viewed as a sex object. The first story “Brooklyn” was about a Jewish professor and an African American student’s interaction. The professor Max Berman was an older white Jewish man who attracted to a graduate student in his class. Ms. Williams is a African American woman who is also a graduate student who is registered in Max Berman’s class. Both of the characters have been alienated from their culture.
Bad habits are passed down, or learned by watching our elders. A habit does not have to be something like smoking or jay walking. A bad habit can be a way of thinking also. One bad habit our society has passed down for centuries is the thought that men are better than women and that women have a lesser place/value in this world. We see it in the media, in paychecks, and in jobs across the world. We even see it in literature. In Shakespeare’s Othello and J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace both men become violently obsessed with the women because they are both inherently misogynistic.
Gender equality, men and women having the same rights and obligations, and everyone having the same opportunities in society, has been a topic of discussion for man and women for centuries (Dorious and Firebaugh). For many centuries, women have used literature as a voice used to defend their rights as women. Female authors achieved extraordinary success in literature functioning in a culture that frowned upon female literary desire but men still dominated the profession (Dorious and Firebaugh). Until well into the nineteenth century, it was common for both male and female writers to publish under a pseudonym. Fiction was a genre that was frequently published anonymously. Fiction was considered a low genre of literature leading many authors to detach his or her name from the piece of fiction. For women especially, the cloak of anonymity was particularly essential (Dorious and Firebaugh). Female proclamation and self-revelation were viewed as unwomanly. Therefore, writing under the identity of a man’s name would protect a woman from criticism for unladylike thoughts. The male alias could potentially increase a female’s chances of receiving an unprejudiced review. Throughout history, women have had a weak voice in the literary world due to fear of the power women had and the lack of respect for female authors.
“Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.
The Portrayal of Women in American Literature Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different way than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may have represented his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays her as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, the main female character, Daisy Buchanan, is portrayed by, Nick, the narrator, only by her superficial qualities.
Many people think that boys in our culture today are brought up to define their identities through heroic individualism and competition, particularly through separation from home, friends, and family in an outdoors world of work and doing. Girls, on the other hand, are brought up to define their identities through connection, cooperation, self-sacrifice, domesticity, and community in an indoor world of love and caring. This view of different male and female roles can be seen throughout children’s literature. Treasure Island and The Secret Garden are two novels that are an excellent portrayal of the narrative pattern of “boy and girl” books.