The question of a woman’s role in society is one that has grown increasingly prominent in the modern world. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when this question began to arise – one could say during the second Great Awakening, when women became increasingly more involved in religion, or at the women’s rights convention in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York (Bailey, 208). For several centuries as a result of ignorance and misunderstanding, women were seen as inferior to men. They were expected to marry, obey their husbands without hesitation, and to live a quiet life in the confines of their home, rearing children and supporting their husbands. However, during the nineteenth century, the movement for women’s rights began to spread across …show more content…
Consequently, women do not have an equal value to men, who, on account of their apparent superiority, should rule over them. If feminism is about the promotion of a woman’s equality and worth, then feminism cannot be good for women because it encourages them to reject what God has told them to do, that is, to accept their inferiority and live in submission to their …show more content…
More indirectly, it concerns the parts of social life where women are discriminated against or disadvantaged for simply being a woman. These situations are unjust because discrimination of human persons undermines their dignity and comes out of sin. Additionally, whenever a man is responsible for offending a woman’s personal dignity he acts contrary to his own personal dignity because by failing to acknowledge the dignity of another human being, he also fails to acknowledge their creation in the image and likeness of God. Each human person derives their dignity from their creation in God’s likeness and image. Injurious and unjust situations are evidently wrong because they undermine this dignity. The Bible confirms the existence of these situations and emphasizes the need to overcome sin and evil by fully recognizing the dignity in each human person. Therefore, Genesis 3:16 addresses the problem of discrimination that comes as a result of original sin and in fact serves to highlight the injustice and wrongness of undermining a person’ dignity. Moreover, this passage helps to provide further evidence that feminism is good for women because it advocates women’s
Besides English settlers there were numerous other representatives of the European countries settling in the new land. And as the Puritans came to practice their own believes so did other nationalities, as explained in the study material. In my own interpretation America represents change and the believe system as well as the way religion was previously practiced was now changing. This change was greatly influenced by the intellectual movement called Enlightenment, which started in Europe and this influence had bearing on the Great Awakening. Besides Puritans now there were Catholics in Maryland, Quakers in Pennsylvania and the Episcopal Church in the southern states.
For many years, the suffrage of women was debated, as equality seemed far from the minds of men. Women were trained to believe their place was in the home caring for the children, cooking, cleaning and guiding. In Rev. John Todd D.D.’s, paper , Women’s Rights, the only area Dr. Todd allows a woman to have rights is within marriage, and only in the caring of the home and children along with helping to control the character of her husband. This concept alone is flawed as Gail Hamilton points out in her paper, Women’s Wrongs, which debates Dr. Todd’s writings. Hamilton finds his many errors in his thought process of separate spheres.
Dubois describes women originals created moral reform societies that expanded the sense of true womanhood (264). These were concerned with topics such as the sexual rights of women and were put in to place to protect virtue many of the time. The different moral reform societies set the ground floor for various movements such as the Women’s Temperance Movement in 1852, which asserted women’s power to protect their homes and livelihood, when their husbands were participating in troublesome behavior, like drinking (Dubois, 265-266). When this movement and others took hold, women became involved movements, like the abolitionist movement, which brought the women in direct conflict with the political and religious institutions during this time. The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society in 1833, was not only important because of trying to end slavery, but it was essential ground work that pushed women in the direction of obtaining their rights (271).
The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions Women’s place in society has been studied for several years, even today in 2018 it is still relevant. The history of the 19th century is when the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions has proven that women are just as equal as men. This Declaration has managed to make changes and thoughts about the roles women play in society. Women- regarded as particularly susceptible to religious and moral influences- were increasingly confined to the domestic circle, but they became more important within it (Pearson).
Always being told the men in the bibles and the biblical stories were the heroes or the good people, while she was also always told that the more inferior and weaker ones were the women such as Eve, who bit into the apple, who was the “first sinner”. In Society around that time and even many years ago, It was extremely common practice in the church and society that the belief was that men were on the top, the strongest, wisest and smartest. And that women were in second place, inferiors, weaker and submissive to all. Almost all feminine figures in the church were seen as inferior to the men, seen as whores, seen as only mothers and wives. So to only see and hear these kinds of things keeps you in this place where all you believe is that you as a woman are inferior to men and others, that you have no place besides being a wife and mother.
In the article “Traditions Subordinating Women”, Bonnie S. Anderson and Judith P. Zinsser explore the very strong opinions, theories and beliefs of female subordination within the eyes of various origin cultures through stories, passages and history itself. This article gives a vast understanding of a woman’s role, the purpose of her body, what is expected of her, society’s double standards and how literature and poems portray women. Before Christianity, there existed many old cultures such as the Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, Germanics and Celtics, who all came in agreement to preserving the subordination of women. A woman’s main duties were to remain faithful to her husband, to be fruitful and to preserve and nurture her home. A woman was incapable
The evangelical development of the Second Great Awakening, and the progress of the Market revolution swept the nation during the first half of the nineteenth century. During the same decades, the role of women in America changed. The Market Revolution indicated the downturn of subsistence farming and the commercialization of economic life as the everyday life of Americans. For the first time, factories arose, as textiles were progressively manufactured in mills like those in Lowell, Massachusetts. Although still treated lesser to men, women attained new opportunities in the working profession as teachers, nurses, and domestic service providers as a result of the Second Great Awakening, and the Market Revolution.
1849 to 1910 was an important time for America. Reforms were happening all across the board, affecting workers, African Americans, and children. It was also very crucial for women’s rights – voting rights in particular. This period saw the beginning of the women’s suffrage movement; however, it also marked the start of anti-suffrage. During this time, society was divided with one of the simplest and most complicated questions of the era: what is the proper role of women?
In American civil war was triggered by many different reasons, but mainly because of the enslavement of African Americans. The northerners were anti-slavery, while the southerners were pro-slavery. It is known to be the deadliest war known, the war started in 1861 and ended in 1865, won by the North and president Lincoln abolished slavery after the war. The north outnumbered the south in many different ways; like men, guns, technology, and money. The ratio was about 4:1, but the south had one great advantage.
Published at the turn of the century in 1899, women had limited writes and privileges in the traditional, patriarchal society, leaving many feeling limited in personal pursuits. A woman’s place was in the home and there would be no arguing about that. The story takes place in Louisiana where the families depicted were financially well to do, especially those on the scenes set on Grand Isle. Women in The Awakening seemed to truly embrace their roles of wives and mothers, finding these responsibilities to be fulfilling, even exciting. Edna was the quintessence of domestic achievement for a woman in the late 1800s, yet despite her advantages she became dissatisfied with her role as wife and mother.
She interprets Genesis 3:16 and the deceit of the serpent as the woman’s attempt to control her husband by having him eat from the Tree of Knowledge. In Foh’s words, “The woman sinned against her husband by helping him… into sin” (393). Since an example of a woman exercising control results in punishment from God, she uses it as evidence that disturbing the roles of inequality in the male-female relationship will lead to chaos. In keeping with the complementarian perspective, she aims to argue that submission or subordination of the woman is God’s intention. Foh specifically analyzes roles for men and women in the church and in marriage.
The First and Second Great Awakening brought forth religious and social movements that impacted the American culture, appealing to the individual. Occurring in the early 18th century, the First Great Awakening was born within the 13 British Colonies with the Revolutionary War on the horizon. Decades later, the Second Great Awakening flourished under revivals and reforms, impacting the 19th century and years to follow. Despite being born out of different climates, The First and Second Great Awakening was characterized by the rejection of rational thinking for emotional preaching that reached the heart and soul, inspiring change in the negative perception of reason and positive perception of emotion and individualism in religion as well as the
The overarching theme of abuse towards women regarding their comparable experiences is what makes these women’s stories unique in both the bible and Song of Solomon (SparkNotes
Women in England during the 1800s faced restrictions to participate in movements and were limited in their political speaking and voting capabilities. Although many women accepted their fate, some fought for a different social role. (“The Women 's Rights Movement”) Women such Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, and Mary Shelley inspired a new way of radical thinking towards human rights, specifically the rights of women (Surgis). Thanks to these inspiring individuals, there was a change in women’s attitude regarding their options to become part of the work force, gain an education, and have equal rights in marriage (Surgis).
During the 1890’s until today, the roles of women and their rights have severely changed. They have been inferior, submissive, and trapped by their marriage. Women have slowly evolved into individuals that have rights and can represent “feminine individuality”. The fact that they be intended to be house-caring women has changed.