ipl-logo

Summary Of Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's Vertuous Women

1000 Words4 Pages

“History is not just what happened in the past. It is what later generations choose to remember” (Ulrich 667). These words are extracted from an essay that can be found in the journal article written by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich titled, Vertuous Women Found: New England Ministerial Literature, 1668-1735. Ulrich never expected such a phrase to arise in the way that it did, which surprised her tremendously. A quick web search for the slogan, “well behaved women seldom (or rarely) make history” resulted in hundreds of pictures and links to online stores where individuals can purchase articles of clothing, such as t-shirts and sweatshirts, bumper stickers, and posters containing the slogan. For those individuals who purchase these items, the majority will for the purpose to join in the feminist movement that still occurs today. Among all of the pictures of clothing and mugs displaying the slogan, “well behaved women seldom make history”on them, a picture of a notecard containing the slogan displayed by Northern Sun Merchandising. Northern Sun is a company largely known for selling slogan-based items such as t-shirts and stickers that are popular and make meaningful statements in today 's world. The picture contained the slogan along with the photographs of twenty four women who have made …show more content…

Ulrich discusses that this slogan succeeded in today’s world so well because women have always had a specific stereotype. They are only known to be the caretakers to the real laborers, therefore women were easily forgotten. If women were seen out of the home doing something or trying to do a “man 's job”, individuals look poorly upon them ultimately leaving women’s history in the dust. “The problems with this argument is not only that it limits women. It also limits

Show More
Related

  • What Makes Rosie The Riveter's We Can Do It ! Campaign

    1120 Words  | 5 Pages

    The 1940’s was a time where American women stepped up to help their country in a time of war, "but most of these women -- the famous and the obscure -- had one thing in common: they did not think of themselves as heroes. They followed their consciences, saw something that needed to be done, and they did it…". Rosie the Riveter on the "We Can Do It!" poster was made by the War Production Co-Ordinating Committee to persuade women to work in factories and shipyards during World War II. From World War II till the present, the "We Can Do It!"

    Read More

  • The Roles Of Deborah Sampson And Elizabeth Van Lew's Expectations Of Women

    1209 Words  | 5 Pages

    Women are viewed as fragile and delicate, but strong enough to keep a house clean, kids in line and a happy husband. Women are expected to be stay at home moms and depend on their husbands for everything while having no opinions of their own. However, there are women who have overlooked those expectations and proved that women are capable of doing anything. Deborah Sampson and Elizabeth Van Lew are just two women who have helped break the norms of women’s roles in society. Sampson’s impressive braveness and loyalty to fight for her country against all odds have proved that women are capable to endure harsh horrors.

    Read More

  • How Does Harper Lee Present The Stereotypes In To Kill A Mockingbird

    447 Words  | 2 Pages

    This quote shows how women are viewed as people who don’t work and aren’t their own person because women are sought to do what society tells them to. With the 60’s does not only come with racism and sexism but, also comes with severe

    Read More

  • Betty Friedan's The Importance Of Work By Betty Friedan

    1088 Words  | 5 Pages

    In her essay, “The Importance of Work,” from The Feminine Mystique published in 1963, Betty Friedan confronts American women’s search for identity. Throughout the novel, Betty Friedan breaks new ground, concocting the idea that women can discover personal fulfillment by straying away from their original roles. Friedan ponders on the idea that The Feminine Mystique is the cause for a vast majority of women during that time period to feel confined by their occupations around the house; therefore, restricting them from discovering who they are as women. Friedan’s novel is well known for creating a different kind of feminism and rousing various women across the nation.

    Read More

  • How Did The Cold War Change In American Culture

    479 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Cold War was a time in history when there was a great political and military turmoil between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War shaped the world in these three ways, women’s rights, society,Cultural. These three changed people in positive and negative ways. Once again, women were called upon to fulfill a role in the defense of America on one hand to perpetuate the American population and on the other to promote American ideals abroad. Women had a chance to be equal to men.

    Read More

  • Why Do Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History

    363 Words  | 2 Pages

    Reading Response to The Slogan: “Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History” written by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. Is an article about the fame to a single line from a scholarly article that she published in 1976, In the opening paragraph of the article was the now famous quote “Well-behaved women seldom make history”? When I first read this quote, I felt it meant; if women want to make history they need to make a huge impression on people. It almost means to me that if you do not speak up, you will never be heard.

    Read More

  • One Foot In Eden Analysis

    766 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Since early times women have been uniquely viewed as a creative source of human life.” (Center "Women 's History in America"). This was never truer than in the mid 20 century in the southern United States.

    Read More

  • Womanhood In War Analysis

    822 Words  | 4 Pages

    This benevolence would pour over into other areas like park beautification, the introduction of patriotic symbols, health and safety campaigns, and assistance to young and old who were injured during wartime efforts. Ms. Jacoway again, stresses that “America’s women’s patriotic organizations are largely a history of its war moves […] a remote role in war, in which proud descendants engage that springs from an appreciative insight into lives which taken as a whole, set the star of our land in the ascendency. American women’s eyes no less than men’s remain fastened upon that star of liberty”. This in my opinion gives credence to the impact that women have on the ability of a nation to remember its history and to continue to learn from

    Read More

  • Juxtaposition In The Big Sleep

    649 Words  | 3 Pages

    I didn't know they still made them like that” furthers the view that women are mainly for their looks as well as suggesting that women are a possession. The treatment of women in the 1940’s American society shows the audience how women are treated differently becoming an item of the men's

    Read More

  • Summary Of Sexism In Updike's A & P

    797 Words  | 4 Pages

    As people tend to grow older and more mature, they learn the difference between right and wrong. Before they really mature, they tend to do things that they do not necessarily perceive as wrong, but what may be viewed as wrong by their peers. As people mature they learn this difference between what is really right and what is really wrong. Updike’s “A&P” exhibits how prevalent sexism was in the 1960’s through Sammy’s point of view, how people can be ignorant to what sexism is, and displays how sexism still exists today.

    Read More

  • Scott Russell Sanders's The Men We Carry In Our Minds

    837 Words  | 4 Pages

    In nearly all historical societies, sexism was prevalent. Power struggles between genders mostly ended in men being the dominant force in society, leaving women on a lower rung of the social ladder. However, this does not always mean that women have a harder existence in society. Scott Russell Sanders faces a moral dilemma in “The Men We Carry in Our Minds.” In the beginning, Sanders feels that women have a harder time in society today than men do.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Cleaning The Final Feminist Frontier, By Jessica Grose

    1218 Words  | 5 Pages

    A woman’s work is never done: many American women grow up with this saying and feel it to be true. One such woman, author Jessica Grose, wrote “Cleaning: The Final Feminist Frontier,” published in 2013 in the New Republic, and she argues that while the men in our lives recently started taking on more of the childcare and cooking, cleaning still falls unfairly on women. Grose begins building her credibility with personal facts and reputable sources, citing convincing facts and statistics, and successfully employing emotional appeals; however, toward the end of the article, her attempts to appeal to readers’ emotions weaken her credibility and ultimately, her argument.

    Read More

  • Looking Backward By Laura E. Foster: A Cartoon Analysis

    168 Words  | 1 Pages

    The cartoon titled “Looking Backward” by Laura E. Foster represents the opposition some Americans had to the changing role of women by using symbolism as a plea to women to abandon their hopes for women’s suffrage and return to their place in society that is safe. The cartoon shows a woman at the top of a staircase with steps labeled "Loneliness," "Anxiety," "Suffrage" and "Career", approaching a stand labeled "Fame," as she looks back at children holding out flowers standing on lower steps labeled "Home," "Children," "Marriage," and "Love." The lower stairs appear to be blooming with flowers, nature and life, while the further up the women goes, the starker, more desolate the stairs appear. This image implies that further away from a woman’s

    Read More

  • Industrial Revolution Gender Roles

    1383 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes from 1760 to sometime in between 1820 and 1840. It was a major turning point in history that influenced almost every aspect of daily life. Before the Industrial Revolution women and men had jobs inside of the household. Some men worked outside and were getting paid to do so. Many were self-employed farmers, craftsmen, and other occupations.

    Read More

  • Women And Their Rights In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

    791 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Summary Of Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's Vertuous Women

Open Document