Equality for Women in Education

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Before the 21st century, women have faced many obstacles when trying to gain equality. They were seen as the “weaker sex” and were seen as not as educated or not as capable as men. Even when some women tried proving these statements to be wrong and showed that they were just as capable as men and assert any sort of opinions they were ostracized and dismissed. They were seen as un-ladylike and were not respected. Women were not given a chance to prove that they were equal to men during this time. Any opinions they raised were quickly dismissed. Many women writers and thinkers were not taken seriously at this time (many having to create pseudonyms to hide their gender when they wished to not only be published but to be taken seriously), and even the very “influential” women of the salons had very little to no credibility in the male dominated political and social sector. They were seen as inferior to men, especially when it came to education and being able to spread their ideas to the public. Education for women was very different from the education men received. Also most women of this time were not encouraged to pursue higher education. It is very interesting how women were said to be uneducated when they weren’t even given the opportunity to become educated.

One woman however, challenged a lot of these social “norms” and expectations of women. She was Emilie du Chatelet. Emilie du Chatelet was one of the most educated women of her time. She was the exception to the rule. Of course there were a lot of factors that made it possible for Emilie du Chatelet to become the educated mathematician and scientist she was. She was given a lot of opportunities to express herself such as: (1) her early life/ education, (2) salons/Dressi...

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...oke a lot of rules and challenged many of the social norms that women of the day were expected to uphold, such as (1) being not only an educated woman but was a highly intellectual woman, (2) was able to attend
I. She challenged the social norms of women in her time.
II. Emilie du Chatelet did things that most women of her time could not do. She still was not respected as men were but she is remembered in history.

http://womeninscience.history.msu.edu/Object/C-46-1/institutions-de-physique-1740--/. Women in Science (Institutions de Physique) Women and the Paris Academy of Science. Vesna Petrovich. http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/30053914?uid=3739832&uid=2134&uid=2477106767&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3&uid=2477106757&uid=3739256&uid=60&sid=21103078775477 http://www.math.wichita.edu/history/women/chatelet.html Women and the Paris Academy of Science. Vesna Petrovich.

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