Feminizing Cultural Boundaries: Equality Within Society

708 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: gender inequality in culture

In the early 1900s, women possessed no social, economical or political equality. It was not until war broke out that women stepped up and began taking care of things. Though there were some changes, many of them did not come into effect until the 1940s and 50s. Modern day females however, are getting significantly more equality for themselves via the efforts of older and current generations. Tillie Olsen does a spectacular job depicting both the past and present lives of women in her story, I Stand Here Ironing. She does so by portraying a character who is a stereotypical woman, discussing the struggles of motherhood, and demonstrating how far women have now come using one of the story's main characters, Emily.
First comes the portrayal of the narrator of the story, whom the reader knows is Emily’s mother. Her husband leaves her during the Great Depression as if she was a mere object. Women during 1921-1940 had virtually no equality in society. They had a very stereotypical lifestyle, and were seen as “property of men” who “had to take care of the house and kids” (Gender Roles, 1). The mother is seen as a frail person struggling to keep up with the pressures of being a single-parent. Also, society during this time presented equality barriers, which means she would be mistreated and paid differently than men, making her life harder (Societal Roles, 1). Due to the males being paid more than females for the same work, women had to work much harder until about 1950 when major changes in society began (Societal Roles, 1). Often, society frowned upon this during the time because women were expected to remain at home (Burks, 1). Furthermore, the mother’s relationship with her daughter was unstable and difficult. This contradicts the po...

... middle of paper ...

...nda. "Why Teens Are So Self-Conscious." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 9 July 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .

"Gender Roles of the 1930's." Gender Roles of the 1930's. Google, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .

Smokler, Jill. "Scary Mommy: An honest look at motherhood." Scary Mommy An honest look at motherhood. Scary Mommy, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .

"Societal Roles and Expectations through the 1940's-50's." : Role of women during the 1940's. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .

"What Year Did Welfare Start?." - Ask.com. Ask, 12 June 2011. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • Oh Who Will Protect Poor Emily?

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    This passage displays a tone of the men’s respect and sense of protection toward Emily, which is very different from the other women’s reaction to her death. It also shows the reader that Emily was honorable in the eyes of the men of the town. We have seen this need to protect women throughout history, but in recent years there has been a great decline and it is sad.

    Read More

  • I Stand Here Ironing: The 1950s Woman

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tillie Olsen makes the narrator contradict the ideal housewife of the 1950s image for a reason. By doing this, she shows that even if you are a less than perfect mother and or housewife, it is not always your fault if things go wrong. For instance, if the narrator in this story exemplified the image of a 50s housewife, we, the readers, would not even consider blaming her for Emily's condition as well as for her relationship with Emily. However, the narrator does not exemplify the ideal image of a housewife. Thus, we, as the audience, are compelled to blame her imperfections. However, as the story goes on, it is realized that the narrator did the best that she could for Emily. She was a first time mother with no safety net. Her situation as a single mother and sole provider during Emily's early years left her with no choice. She did what she had to do.

    Read More

  • Isolation in a Rose for Emily

    561 Words  | 2 Pages

    Having been the only daughter of a noble family, Emily was overprotected by her father who had driven away all the young men wanting to be close to her. As a result of that, when she got to be thirty, she was still alone. It was Mr. Grierson who alienated his daughter from the normal life of a young woman. If she weren?t born in the Grierson, if she didn?t have an upper-class father, she could have many relationships with many young men in order to find herself an ideal lover. Then she might have a happy marriage life with a nice husband and children.

    Read More

  • The Mother Daughter Relationship in I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    'I stand here ironing,' a unique phrase uttered by a woman in her conquest of life. It may seem like an unwanted phrase to many, but it has deep meaning behind it. This phrase is almost whispered by the narrator of ?I Stand Here Ironing,? Tillie Olsen, and also by many other mothers going through an important stage in their lives. The stage in life that the mother in the story is going through is called child development, and within this complicated stage arise many new worlds of imagination, emotional journeys, and soothing memories. The whole story is based around a mother's view, and joy, of her child growing up in a world filled with barriers and hurdles that she must overcome. The entire point of view is that of the narrator, as a mother concerned with the way her child is being raised and the hardships she must overcome. She also witnesses her daughter?s happiness and the colorful meanings of life that she discovers herself. I believe this story is based around the hardships of growing up as a woman in the Nineteen-hundreds. It has all the symbolism of being a true feminist short story. As Elaine Orr expresses in her criticism, Tillie Olsen and a Feminist Spiritual Vision, about how ?Suddenly Emily is emblematic of all children, of the next generation??(EO 84) that the times were of the early feministic era. When feminists were about conquering oppression and rising above the rest of the doubt that society places upon them. She talks about how ?Emily will not survive. If she does not believe in future presence, in beginnings latent in her own life, all is lost: past, present, and future.?(EO 84) expressing once again how the times were differen...

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast I Stand Here Ironing And Everyday Use

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    Emily’s mother is just a teenager when she had Emily. She did not have the money or resources to take care of her, so she had to let Emily live with her grandparents for a couple of years before she could get Emily back. When Emily was two, her mother finally got her custody of her, but Emily is not the little girl she remembered. When the mother first had Emily, she described her as a beautiful baby (302), but it changed when Emily became sickly and got scars from chicken pox. The mother said, “When she finally came, I hardly knew her, walking quick and nervous like her father, looking like her father, thin, and dressed in a shoddy red that yellowed her skin and glared at the pockmarks. All the baby loveliness gone. (302)” Nevertheless, the mother is never there for Emily as she grew up. Emily tried to show her mother in different ways that she needed her, but she never seemed to catch the hint. For example, when Emily was two her mother sent her to a nursery school. The teacher of the nursery school was mistreating the children, and instead of telling her mother directly like the other kids told their parents, she told her in different ways. She always had a reason why we should stay home. Momma, you look sick. Momma, I feel sick. Momma, the teachers aren’t there today, they’re sick. Momma, we can’t go, there was a fire there last night. Momma, it’s a holiday

    Read More

  • Women In The 1950's

    1715 Words  | 4 Pages

    The social perception of women has drastically changed since the 1950’s. The social role of women during the 1950’s was restrictive and repressed in many ways. Society during that time placed high importance on expectations of behavior in the way women conducted themselves in home life as well as in public. At home the wife was tasked with the role of being an obedient wife, caring mother, and homemaker. Women publicly were expected to form groups and bond over tea with a slice of cake. All the while government was pushing this idealize roll for women in a society “dominated” by men. However, during this time a percentage of women were finding their way into the work force of men. “Women were searching their places in a society led by men;

    Read More

  • Michael Stewart's Bye Bye Birdie

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    A main theme in this small town’s culture is the issue of gender and the division of roles between the two. Not uncommon for the 1950’s, many women were taught from a young age to find a good man, who could provide for them and a family, settle down and have children – the ideal “happy family.” As Harry states after singing the showstopper “Kids,” “I have the All-American family: A great wife, 2 wonderful kids and a good job.”

    Read More

  • Reasons Why Women Couldn't Vote Before 1914

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 1900’s women were thought of as if there only respectable job was that, at home cooking, cleaning and looking after the welfare of the family. It was unthinkable that they should be allowed to vote and work as l...

    Read More

  • I Stand Here Ironing

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through this story, we follow Emily, the narrator’s daughter, from birth to the end of adolescence. We unfortunately only get her life in fragments, from her mother’s perspective, but this perspective enables the story to reveal how the circumstances of Emily’s upbringing have a profound effect on her personal development. The story would have completely changed if written in any other form, such as third-person omniscient. For example, it may have given us a more detailed description...

    Read More

  • Motherhood In Tillie Olsen's I Stand Here Ironing

    764 Words  | 2 Pages

    Motherhood in never guaranteed to by easy. Children definitely do not come with instruction manuals and even if they did there are so many variables, such as the national economy and unexpected single motherhood, that are beyond our control. The choices a mother has to make can cause numerous moments of second guessing and immense guilt. “I Stand Here Ironing” explores the perceived failures and gnawing guilt of a post- Depression era mother as she contemplates the childhood circumstances of her oldest, overlooked, and seemingly troubled child. Throughout the story Tillie Olsen takes us through the depths of a mother’s guilt due to pressures of the economy and society on parenting during her time and how much blame she puts on herself for her

    Read More

  • The New Women of 1920's

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Women Go to Work." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, Et Al. Vol. 3: 1920-1929. Detroit: Gale, 2001. U.S. History in Context. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.

    Read More

  • A 1920s Woman

    2068 Words  | 5 Pages

    Time flew by and as the war ended in 1918, the 1920’s decade of change soon approached. The year was famously known as “The Jazz Age” and “The Roaring 20’s” because of the newly found freedom, social and political changes, and the time of prohibition. Among these powerful new changes was the freedom that women were finally able to vote and enjoy what was about to come. Instead of being confined at home, the women joined labor forces, worked with wages, and experimented with different types of behavior that would have been unreasonable a few years back. Along with these dramatic changes were their fashion styles. This style changed their rights and relationships with others completely. With that change, a new woman was born. There were not many ways for women to stand up for themselves and what they believed in. They had no voice but in the 1920’s, women found a way of freely expressing themselves and changing their relationships with others all with the start of fashion.

    Read More

  • Women In The 70's Essay

    1385 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the 1960’s women were still seen as trophies and were beginning to be accepted into the work industry. They were still homemakers, raised the family, and made sure their husbands were happy. That was the social norms for women during that time period. They were not held to high work expectations like men were. But something amazing happened that would change women 's lives for centuries; it was the 1970’s. The 60’s put the equality movement in motion but 70’s was a time of reform where women were finally able to control their own paths. Not only was the 70’s a historical marker for the fiftieth anniversary for women suffrage, it was also a marker for the drastic change of different social norms, the changes of the American Dream, and the

    Read More

  • Examining Conflict in I Stand Here Ironing

    1415 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the short story "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen the conflict between a mother whose giving is limited by hardships is directly related to her daughter's wrinkled adjustment. Ironing, she reflects upon when she was raising her first-born daughter, Emily. The mother contemplates the consequences of her actions. The mother's life had been interrupted by childbirth, desertion, poverty, numerous jobs, childcare, remarriage, frequent relocations, and five children. Her struggling economic situation gave way to little or no opportunity to properly care for and nurture her first-born child. In spite of the attention and love Emily craved and never received, she still survived, and even made strengths, and talents, out of the deprivations she had endured.

    Read More

  • A Victim of Society in A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    Emily was kept confined from all that surrounded her. Her father had given the town folks a large amount of money which caused Emily and her father to feel superior to others. “Grierson’s held themselves a little too high for what they really were” (Faulkner). Emily’s attitude had developed as a stuck-up and stubborn girl and her father was to blame for this attitude. Emily was a normal girl with aspirations of growing up and finding a mate that she could soon marry and start a family, but this was all impossible because of her father. The father believed that, “none of the younger man were quite good enough for Miss Emily,” because of this Miss Emily was alone. Emily was in her father’s shadow for a very long time. She lived her li...

    Read More

More about Feminizing Cultural Boundaries: Equality Within Society

Open Document