Recently in class we
learned about the women’s reform and how women were treated in mid-19th century
society. The essential questions for this topic are: How did mid-19th century
society react to women’s demands for equality? Does 21st century society still
react differently to men and women?
Women in the mid-19th
century were treated much different from men. Women were supposed to stay at
home, cook, clean and take care of the kids while the husband would go out and
work to get money for their family. Here is a picture of a woman taking care of
the children and doing other things that women were expected to do during this
time period.
http://www.edline.net/files/_AIGmX_/90f5674f15c6c9f63745a49013852ec4/Activity_8_-_Lesson_Notes.pdf
Some other things that
women were expected to do was to educate the girls and teach them how to read
because girls typically didn’t go to school because they believe that it is
useless to learn things that they wouldn’t actually do, so the girls would stay
at home and learn how to cook, clean, sew and many other things. Women would
also fix toys and clothes that were broken or ripped and take care of any pets
that they had. Women were also treated differently working at the same job as
men. If women were going to work really the only job they could get was as a
teacher. Women would be paid around 20-30% less than what men would be paid for
the same exact job. The mid-19th century did not like the idea of women getting
more rights and treated more equal to men because men like to feel superior
over women and they were worried that if women started getting more jobs there
would be no one at home to cook, clean and take care of the kids.
21st century society
does still react differently to men and women but definitely not as much as
people reacted back in the mid-19th century society. In the 21st century women
do have the same opportunities as men and they get paid the same amount, but a
women’s personality can be perceived differently from men which causes society
to label women differently than men. Here is a Pantene commercial that shows
how society labels women differently from men who both work and are going for
the same thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K2kfgW7708&feature=youtu.be
This Pantene commercial
does a good job of showing how men and women are perceived and labeled
differently today in society. Although 21st century society doesn’t react as
strongly to the equality of men and women as in mid-19th century society it is
still there and we can find a way to stop it.
