Example Of The Role Of Women Research Paper

The society has always made decisions based on the women’s idea and the impact towards a challenging situation. It is in their place that women have an influence in the activities and daily routines in the society. This paper will cover on the role of women in the colonial times, revolutionary times, middle-class reform times (early 1800s), turn-of-the-century times (late1800s), 1920s and 1960s. It will also cover on the comparison and similarities during this period.

Colonial Times

At the colonial times, the role of women was tiresome, and nobody appreciated the efforts they made during this period( Moris 5). For the humble families, the role of women was to ensure that their home is kept clean, and the responsibilities in the trends on household chores were all covered. The poor homemakers were obliged to prepare meals for their husbands and children, making sure that each member of the family is satisfied with the work they always do. The women had a role of making clothes and preparing their husbands before going to the farms of the colonialists. They ensured that the household goods made for selling were appropriately attended to with vigor and the utilization power of the handwork. The animals in the homestead needed attention in terms of ensuring the milking done on time, and the dairy products are kept in the right place. These responsibilities targeted women to handle. The kitchen situated in the garden zone was for women to make sure that it is handled well with the consideration of arranging for a pleasant fireplace. Women were medicinal and traditional doctors to their families and the communities at large( Reiter 45).
For the women who had the abilities to employ people who ensured that the house chores are handled with proper care and attention, they were financially stable to cater for the wages of these servants. Young girls and the colonial times had pressure to get married from the age of thirteen, should they fail to be married by the age of twenty-five, it was regarded as humiliation in the social class. The community judged the behaviors of women based on their marital status and the married people earned respect more than the women who were yet to be married. The essence of marriage was based on the economic pressure to share cost responsibilities that came with the development and growth of children. As there are assumptions that marriage is purposed for romantic issues, this was an opposite situation during the colonial period. Women were viewed as objects of the societal developmental programs based on the ideas they gave men and men implemented ( Lewis 7). A man was regarded inferior if he were unmarried. In case a husband passes on, the widow was forced to remarry to protect the image of her family.
Marriage was a paramount role for the women as it portrayed hard work and responsibilities of the people who were around the community. Some states allowed for the implementation of laws that ensured winows are married with an ultimate of seven years, failure to which they are excommunicated in the society ( The Roles 38). Such issues were critical, and the pressure from the community triggered widows to get married after a span of one year. Most cases reported were the intermarriages that prompted high birth rates. After the marriage process, women were declared as one with their husbands, and the eternity deal sealed. In marriages, women had no say over the earnings, from both parties. It was not in place of a woman to question any financial situation or income from the husband. The decision-making process was also controlled by the man, and the women would practice whatever verdict coming from the man ( Women 12). The inheritance process was never a place for a woman to question, and all the properties belonged to the man, and the woman was an object of nature that prompted the family. The court process had its limits as well concerning women appearing as witnesses during a case, the woman had a right to be silent and make her house, welcome the husbands from work and mind the businesses within the house. Once married, they legally became one with their husbands. Married women would remain obedient and respectful towards their husbands, failure to which the husbands had a right to punish them in any way possible.
The widows acquired control over their property was with them, and under their authority, because of the children who depended on the property for the rest of their life. Schooling and other domestic responsibilities were left at the hands of a woman to ensure that the task is completed at the right time. The widows had no full control over their earning, and they received up to one-third of their husbands’ property and the rest left to the in-laws for inheritance purposes. A widow could also participate in the voting process and express their views on the matters affecting the society.
As for the married women, the husbands were legally approved to batter them whenever they lose patience or disobey the orders from their husbands. It was, therefore, an obligation to the woman to be in support of everything the husband does concern the household chores, and do not object for the same, as long as they are under one roof. Their husbands, therefore, were responsible for all aspects of life in their wife including discipline. In fact, beating the wives was a legal obligation and the community men questioned the steps in case the man failed to apply the discipline. Another law stated that, in case of murder from husband to wife, the man would be hung while alive, and whenever the same act occurred to the husband, the woman was automatically burned to ashes. The two actions were biased depending on the act the woman conducted. The Revolutionary War that occurred during the 1700s influenced women with different purposes. The organizations did not involve the political dilemma until in the mid-1700s. The daughters that supported liberty made their appearances based on the freedom of speech rights that the women lacked( Stephenson 89).
During the United States boycott from the British resources and clothing, the organizations that specified in the Women’s’ rights came up with the spun clothing in the society. During the taxation of tea, women, through their organizations, arranged or mobilization and took the streets on the ways to prevent the law from being passed. They formed the leagues that were against the taxation of the tea. In January of 1770, some Boston women made a proposal for the signing of an agreement that aimed at anti-tea taxation, and the formalization prompted the society to view women in a different way. As people who have authority and contribute to the decisions of the society. The clothing industry played a role in ensuring that the soldiers who were pronounced as patriots dressed properly for the occasion. The women sew and spin presentable uniforms for the occasion. The role of women was to write newspapers that covered the issues in the society, especially he local events ( PBS 30).
The newspaper covered the wars that took place during this time. They were responsible for handling the scrap metals industries and were available for making of cartridges. There was a daughter to a patriot known as Sybil Ludington, who commanded the militia of patriots and walked for over 45miles in the night to ensure that the minute men. Some of the women who were loyal in the service played the same role and the satisfaction experienced at the point was diverse. A particular event of a woman who was loyal to the duties of the counties organized for the fundraiser activities in order to purchase a ship for the sake of fighting the battles that rose to be common in the era (Hallett 67 ). The woman, however, aimed at fighting against the Patriots. This triggered impatience and untrustworthiness in the organization. The woman mobilized most of the women, and the ones who agreed to participate in the forum played spies for the loyal women in other organizations. Most of the organizations formed by women were inactive after a period due to lack of transparency and respect for each other.
The wars that involved violence and other fights between the France and the Europeans, and Americans provided an opportunity for the women to be trained so that they are protected from such situations in future. The women during the colonial period were aware of how to initiate a defense force process and conduct killings in case of any incident that triggered such. The killings took place with the knives and axes since few women owned and had acknowledged on using the guns. At the later stage of the wars, women began training on the constitution implementation and writing (Burkhauser 56). The main purpose of involvement with the implementation process was to eliminate the notion that assumed men as the only superiors in the society and advocate or the freedom of women and their position in the same society.
One colonial woman, Abigail Adams, presented a letter to her husband who represented the citizens in the Congress and the content of the letter was an appeal to organize the women remembrances in the congress house and have an opinion concerning the issues affecting the state. Abigail targeted the period in which the new constitution was about to be implemented in the congress house, and the husband gave an assurance that the women would be catered for and that she should not be worried. However, the common law would still not be changed, especially for the reason that Abigail stated. After the war, there were more openings for the educational opportunities and the people were satisfied as most citizens were women who strived to be in the top rankings. The opportunities in the upper-class involved education on the readings, especially in the contemporary issues. Other subjects included math and geometry. The foreign languages were also taught due to the period of colonial rule that prompted people to studying the languages for the better of effective communication skills. Some of the languages taught included Greek and Latin. These roles in the colonial times were adopted to help the organizations and the society to experience transformation for the sake of other changes.

Middle-class reform times (1800s)

During this time, women had gained many motives that drove their actions in the society. Some of the roles that the women were obligated to perform was take being of their homes and ensure that the husbands were ready for work with an appropriate and presentable dressing code. The women had the right to suggest issues in the homes, unlike the colonial periods. These involved the decisions based on the business opportunities and the assurance on the knowledge for the children. This was an assurance of the bonding in the homes that encouraged proper sensitization programs and the purpose of opportunities in the society. Children would relate more with their mothers because of the platform this century created and the ideas in school brought by children were assured of the better performance and their upcoming examinations.
Some of the educational roles in the women’s organization were assured of the responsible efforts made by the society to ensure young girls attend schools. It was an advantage if the women attended such education since they impacted more on the societal issues compared to men. This was an indication of a bright future presented by the young girls with an optimistic mind of creating a changed society with the advanced upper-class knowledge. The women would take part in the decision-making process even during the congress meetings, and the campaigns on involving women to have an open mind in the society was an important stage that was a success. Such contemporary issues made women responsible people in the society, and they gained the respect they had lost during the early colonial period. It is vital to have in consideration some of the issues affecting the development processes for women who strived to be in the top position in the 1900s. Most of the roles in the 1800s were reduced, and the women were assured of confidentiality in case they had some ideas to express.

The 1920s and 1960s

The women in the period had an opportunity to arise from the Congress house in making decisions that affected the society with an advanced technology that brought focus on the groups that they created. It was a vital opportunity for the industrial revolution to take place, and the sensitization process caused the people to have an awareness on the issues that affected the society. The women were still responsible for keeping their homes in track and added responsibilities such as knowledge in the community development process. It was an effective period because the world was taking another trail on the technology assurance and development process through analyzing issues that affected the society through the internet. Most individuals began to gain respect for the women because of the educational background and the respect earned the society provided an opportunity to express their views concerning issues that were inappropriately addressed. It was an actualization process that ensured the rights and responsibilities of women catered for due to the intelligence they presented in the appropriate knowledge presented by the expectations in the society( Socolow 38). Women had the authority to address some of the issues that were unpleasant from the authorities. The inheritance rights were guaranteed, and the effectiveness for the same included voting for the leaders they thought were appropriate to address the society and present the citizens in the decision-making process. It is an effective process to create relationship because the public were proud of the women who represented other citizens and the issues of sexual and domestic violence were addressed during this period. Initiating in programs for the collaborations on women’s rights were effective and the leaders at the time promoted assurance that the women will be considered as humans with important focus and decisions in the society. The technological effects helped with the analysis of the ways that prompted the decisions of women.
The advancement of the women’s groups made it easy for the issues to be aired in peace without the guarantee of being arrested or imprisoned and the assurance for the same promoted trust with the people around the community. The relationship building process was an effective move at this time because the mobilization against wife battery and some issues that were unpleasant as safe through the relationships with the women leaders to the societal ability for the same.

Comparison and contrast

As the decades elapsed, people began to see the ability in women and the roles were roles changed ,improving the relationship of the women in the process. It is clear that the colonial times were difficult, or the women as there was no mouthpiece in the society and the process of mobilization was affected even more. Colonial times did not have internet and technology possession or interventions and as the decades came to a closer range of the intervention. T s appropriate that the decision made in the society be analyzed properly through the media platform.

Conclusion

Women are great people in the society and the respect that they should be given will ensure the roles are performed with accuracy and obedience. It is normal for women’s group to be formed because there are still challenges in the 21st century affecting women and the only platform to highlight such issues is through the groups. People should earn respect in the society and advance the techniques of communication for an effective approach and the successful ways on the long term strategies.

Works Cited

Burkhauser, Richard V., and Karen C. Holden, eds. A challenge to Social Security: The changing roles of women and men in American society. Elsevier, 2013.
Hallett, Judith P. Fathers and daughters in Roman society: Women and the elite family. Princeton University Press, 2014.
Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Women's History - Biographies, Quotes, Events, More." N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
Morris, Susana. "Women's Issues on About.com: News and Perspectives." N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
Reiter, Rayna. "Toward an anthropology of women." (2012).
Socolow, Susan Migden. The women of colonial Latin America. Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Stephenson, Jill. Women in Nazi society. Vol. 35. Routledge, 2012.
"The Roles for Women." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
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