Change in Womens Ideals Essay Example for Free

Change in Womens Ideals Essay The United States woman between 1776 and the 1860’s varied greatly in the ways they went about achieving the ideals of their time. Both sought to better themselves and their families for the over-all betterment of their nation, but neither went about it in quite the same manner as the other. Also race was becoming less of a social barrier than it had been in the 1770’s, which is not to say, however, that it was not a significant stopping power at the time for non-whites and many immigrants from Europe, especially the women. The ideals were similar, but the ways of achieving them were very different in the 1860’s than in the 1770’s, and much more innovative for women’s status in society outside of the homestead. (Doc. C) In the aftermath of the American Revolution the idea of sexual spheres became known and widely accepted and valued. For with it came the idea of â€Å"republican motherhood†, which in essence was the idea that all males should be raised by their mother’s to be virtuous and heavily nationalistic and politically informed. While the daughters were raised to follow in their mother’s footsteps when they were eventually married away. (Doc. A) Republican motherhood also brought about the innovation of limited female education versus their previous status of no education. The general consensus was to give the females limited knowledge of how the male sphere worked so that they may better teach their son’s how to be politically correct on the subjects of their time. (Doc. B) Although the idea of republican motherhood may have opened many doors for women to make their move into society, it also helped to strengthen the idea that women are eternally inferior to men i n every way shape and form. (Doc. G) Approximately 75 years later the industrial revolution made its mark on the American economy and smashed the door wide open for females to once again wedge their foot inside the door of the male sphere of life. Women of all classes were finally given the chance to hold real jobs in society other than the responsibility of running a household or having servants run it for them. Jobs which generally included working in factories. This allowed women who weren’t married to make themselves useful for their families rather than waiting on a suitable man to ask for her hand. Most women hated working at first, but the more they did it the more pride they took in what they were doing. (Doc. D) The speed at which this transition took place is mind boggling and there were definitely some people that questioned the wiseness of putting women in mills instead of in the home to raise the children to be countrymen. (Doc. F) However, there were others that said let the gates of women’s rights be thrust open arbitrarily and let the women grow to be what they will be. It is said that there is no holier relationship than that of a mother, so if that is true then why do women not have equal rights as men (Doc. E) The lot of slaves in any time period before the WWII can be described as bleak and gruesome to the core. As they made their slow ascent to semi-equality they wreaked some of the benefits of the advance in women’s rights. As the women worked their jobs and brought more income to their families the slaves didn’t have to work in the heat of summer for as long as before. (Doc. I) However, there were some slaves that, due to the increased income to families, were purchased into families that contained lechers who would take advantage of the fact that the slaves couldn’t do anything to reciprocate the atrocities inflicted upon them. (Doc. H) As time goes by it can be observed that women’s ideals may change, but in the end they are always looking for the betterment of something else, and in this case that just so happened to be their own country. These advances in women’s lot in life helped to revolutionize the way men viewed women and more importantly how women viewed themselves. The lie that women are inferior to men had been alive so long that I think they had actually begun to believe it themselves. So their general ideals may not have changed but the way women were treated in society would never go back.