War And Gender Roles In The 1920's

In the thoughts of Betty Friedan in her Feminine Mystique, “The key to the trap is, of course, education. The Feminine Mystique has made higher education for women seem suspect, unnecessary and even dangerous. But I think that education, and only education, has saved, and can continue to save, American women from the greater dangers of the feminine mystique”. Education had played a big part in opening up women’s roles outside of domesticity. She created a society in which women wanted to live in.

She once said, “Old-fashioned ways which no longer apply to changed conditions are a snare in which the feet of women have always become readily entangled” (JaneAddams). With this, Jane Addams shaped the progressive era by limiting/abolishing the amount of work hours people

A historian by the name of Ed Ayers once said “The exploitative natures of women’s work throughout history has been enormous.” I believe that this statement is true because after looking at history it shows that there were so many things that they had to overcome to get to the rights that they have today. Women during the 1700’s and 1800’s were challenged with expressing themselves in a social system that refused to grant women the right to express their views. Many events during these centuries which included things such as social and political movements that increased attention to women's issues like education reform. By the end of the 1800’s women were finally able to speak out against the injustices aimed at them. Despite the fact that

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), once known as the Lucretia Mott Amendment, was supposed to guarantee equal rights between men and women (The Learning Network). The ERA covered many issues that women faced during its time. Abortion rights were included so that women could choose whether or not they would have a child. The ERA included women in the military drafts as one of their topics to make sure that men and women both had the same obligations.When the Constitution was first being formed, it was stated that “All men are created equal”, but they forgot one vital piece of America —women (“Equal Rights Amendment”). This initial mistake made women feel like they did not have a place in the Constitution for hundreds of years.

This movement fought for the right for women to vote because women were denied the democratic rights that were given to men and were forced to focus on the cult of domesticity. The movement started in the late eighteenth century however it was renewed during the Second Great Awakening when reform movements started gaining popularity. The suffrage movement was aided by the abolition movement because slavery gave women a reason to unite for a separate cause. This was a new reform movement, unlike women’s suffrage and abolition, which both had roots that were as deep as those of the country’s, and was unique because of the unusually undemocratic responses that society and its people reacted with. Unlike abolition and women’s suffrage, the asylum and penitentiary reform movement did not gather popularity

“This movement was far from unified, however; strife and division often arose as activists faced the difficulties of meeting the diverse needs and priorities of the women of America” (Andreas et al. ).The WRM did start in the 1800’s which is long before Trifles came out, but the movement lasted until the twentieth century. Through the WRM, Trifles is able to suggest that Glaspell lives in a society of women gaining the ability to protect each other and themselves by fighting for their freedom and rights. Despite the stereotypes and restrictions placed on women based on their gender, they still united as one to gain equality. Trifles came out in the twentieth century and the story illustrates an abusive emotional relationship between a married couple to which Mrs. Wright becomes a suspect in killing Mr. Wright.

After the war ended, women were no longer needed in the workforce and were expected to return to pre-war beliefs and focus on marriage, housekeeping and child rearing. The image of the happy housewife became the image that many women strived to achieve and was on the more frequent depictions of women in television, magazines and advertisements. Television played a vital role in the postwar era in reflecting the changes in society as well as influencing the future. Women began to look at the lives of their mothers and saw the unhappiness and decided that was not the life that they wanted to live. Though with the stereotype of the spinster and old maid, many were still afraid to remain single.

In today society Feminists ought to disagree about what sexism consists in, and what exactly to be done about it. In addition, Feminism is the belief that women should be treated as potential equals and as social equals to men. A woman should have the right to vote, when an election is approaching, a women will declare that one thing is certain, they will vote. And not only this, the selected political woman must represent the real female values such as more women in senior positions, support of the poor and marginalized in society and openness and tolerance towards other races and religions. These circumstances are the reason why many political parties nowadays have women as presidents.

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). Educating women was the primary focus for many modern feminists, explaining that if women were educated the opportunities

Throughout history, women were always treated unfairly and were only allowed to have a career as a housewife. Since then, women have tried to make a difference in society to show that they are equal as men. This started when women were given the right to vote with the nineteenth amendment in the Bill of Rights. This was the first step to changing how society would view women in the future. They have also shown this through World War II by taking their husband jobs as their husband went to war.