New Opportunities for Women in Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

New Opportunities for Women in Society - Essay ExampleWomen withdraw been awarded bachelors degrees for centuries, have the vote, and are not slackly victimized in society. Women can today hold any position available to a man, take the same degree courses, and vote in the same elections as men, although there are settle down some inequalities present. This paper will look at the historic developments that have led to the status of women in society today, including the Seneca Falls convention and the provision of breeding for women. It will examine how these developments have led to new opportunities for women in the United States, so that now more women than ever have a career (Baker, 1984). It is these historical developments, amongst others, that have allowed women to move out of the domestic sphere and into the working world. 18th Century America and the Salem Witch Trials The situation for women in the late seventeenth and early 18th centuries is where the discussion of wome n in the United States will begin. Women at this time were expected to be confined to the domestic sphere and did not generally hold down jobs in the same way that men did. In some states, women did have the ability to vote but these rights were generally lost everywhere the coming years, in some cases because married women did not legally have ownership of anything and therefore were not considered as individuals (Matthaei, 1982). They were expected to run the household, and did not have any educational qualifications (Evans, 1997). Families were also generally larger in this era than they are today, and women were expected to care for their children as part of their homely role. Further than this, childbearing was also far more dangerous and many women did not survive pregnancy because of the poor health provisions (Rosen, 1973). Women of the time were often taught to read for playscript reading purposes, but there was no desire to teach women how to write and there was no form al education for females (Matthaei, 1982). Women were also viewed as being at a lower place the control of their father or their husband, or another male figure if these werent applicable, often being traded for furthering the family status. These problems were further compounded by the fact that the highly tight-laced society in some areas saw females as being more prone to sin than men, casting a shadow over the role of women in society. It was this view that led to the events of the Salem Witch Trials, in which 13 women were hanged. It must be noted here that men were also victim of the accusations, but they were aimed in the first place at women. This further highlights the status of women as inferior within the society, and provides a good starting point to show just how far women have locomote from this original starting point and how much has been gained for womens rights. It is also interesting to note the role of women in the Revolutionary War. Women were not permitted to fight (although one, Deborah Samson, did fight by disguising herself as a man) but they were permitted to have roles as nurses and cooks, as well as other secondary roles (Segal, 1981). Women were not permitted into the army until much later, but it is interesting that they were allowed to insert in some activities, which would be unheard of in many other countries at the time. It was this Revolution that brought about the idea of Republican Motherhood, placing women in the role of properly bringing up the children in order for society to