Introduction
Women’s history in the United States involved different experiences and specific contributions that influenced and made women throughout American history. The earliest women living in the current United States were mainly native Americans. In the nineteenth century, primary roles were mainly restricted to different domestic roles to keep the protestant values. The adoption of the U.S. Constitution’s ninetieth amendments played a major role in culminating the suffrage of campaigns for women, specifically in 1920. During World War II, many women filled different roles vacated by men involved in overseas fighting. At the beginning of 1960, there was a change in the cultural perception of women through the second wave of the feminist movement. However, the movement was ineffective and successful in ensuring equal rights amendment. In the twenty-first century, different women achieved greater representations in some of the most prominent roles in American life.
Section 1
The role and achievements of women in American history were long ignored in most popular histories and textbooks. However, by the 1960s, there was a lot of presentation on women. Early feminist approaches play an important role in underscoring women’s victimization and inferior status, particularly in men’s hands. In the twenty-first century, most writers have emphasized significantly the distinctive strengths displayed in the general community of women, with a major focus on minorities among women (Piercy, 2010). Women’s experiences throughout American history have significant variance. The variance, in this case, can be related to the intersection of feminism, voting and, most importantly, work. Therefore, sexual orientations, class, and race are some of the most important themes of consideration concerning women’s history in American history.
Feminism
Feminism focuses on advocating for women’s rights on the ground of gender and sex equality. Logically, sex involved the characterization of people as either male or female. However, there are variances in biological attributes that comprise sex and, most importantly, how attributes are expressed. Gender, on the other hand, relates to socially constructed roles, expressions, behaviors, and identities of women and men. Gender plays a major role in minimizing women’s history and amplifying this history. Besides, gender not only recognizes women as historical agents but also, most importantly, revoking the assumption that men were mainly neuter beings whose sexuality and masculinity did not require to be noticed. Reconfiguring Gender and sex themes emphasizes adopting a broader perspective of women in American history. The perspective, in this case, presumes that all historical subjects were influenced and shaped by attributes related to gender and sex and, most importantly, by the existence of a gender binary. Events in the history of America are susceptible to the perception of gender and sex themes. As a result, focusing on this theme will play a major role in understanding more about women in American history. Gender and sex focus on power and how sexual differences were mainly contrasted in American history through both social behaviors, and in some cases, language. By focusing on feminism, it will be easy to understand how it influenced social relationships between men and women. The theme also plays a major role in understanding how gender and sex differences influenced feminist movements to change how communities viewed women and improve their lives (Few‐Demo et al. 2020).
Work
The theme of work can be related to patriarchy. Patriarchy is considered as the institutionalization and manifestation of male dominance. Dominance, in this case, is both over children and women. It also involves the extension of male dominance, particularly over women in any given community. The history of women was influenced significantly by patriarchy. Men had more power, particularly in most of the major institutions in society. As a result, women were mainly deprived of access to such power and participation (Kerber et al. 2016). However, this did not mean that women were deprived of their rights, resources, and influences, nor did it mean they were totally powerless. Patriarchy can be considered an important concept that influences the understanding of women in American culture and mainly on matters related to gender studies.
The primary goal of this theme is to understand how women’s rights in American history were limited and to what extent. As a result, it helps in understanding how the patriarchy system affected women’s experiences and, most importantly, how it shaped and contributed to some of the most important contributions made by women in American history.
Voting
Voting played a significant role in contributing to the oppression of women. Strict rules, regulations, and beliefs played a major role in affecting and contributing to how women were oppressed. Voting as a theme is important in understanding how women in American history were oppressed and specific factors that contributed to such issues. During America’s early history, most women were denied some of the most important and basic rights, like voting. Such denials contributed to actions, behaviors, and decisions that contributed to the oppression of women (DuBois, 2020). As a result, this theme plays a major role in highlighting and improving knowledge on specific oppressive experiences that women in American history went through and, most importantly, how these experiences influenced the development of different feminist movements that focused on the improvement of women’s rights.
Section 2
Several women played major and important roles that influenced women’s history and current societies not only in the United States but also globally. These women contributed significantly and in different ways in shaping how women are viewed and their relationships with the male. Some of these women include Eleanor Roosevelt, Gerda Lerner, Harriet Jacobs, Sojourner Truth, Florence Kelley, and Dorothea Dix.
Gerda Lerner
Lerner is believed to be the mother of the modern history of women. Lerner focused mainly on studies related to prehistory, with a primary aim of understanding the history of patriarchal dominance. As a result, Lerner’s studies play a major role in providing literary, historical, artistic, and archaeological evidence for the idea that patriarchy was mainly constructed culturally. According to Lerner, patriarchy is connected to the growth of private property and the agricultural revolution. Lerner’s studies, therefore, helps in understanding women’s history in America by focusing on how patriarchy was characterized by gender roles and, most importantly, behaviors expressed in social roles, values, and laws. Lerner also helps in understanding the role of marriage and slavery in treating the sexuality of women as a mere commodity (Gordon et al. 2014). Lerner believes that acknowledging patriarchy should not focus on blaming men because men are trapped in it. Therefore, Lerner is an important feminist who advocated and supported feminism with the primary aim of achieving equality between men and women.
Dorothea Dix
One of the most important activists in the nineteenth century was mainly Dorothea Dix. Dorothea’s role and impacts drastically change the medical field in consideration to her lifetime. Her primary focus is on championing the cause of the mentally ill and, most importantly, indigenous populations. Through this, Dorothea successfully and effectively opened the notion of reform and illness. The efforts she made in consideration to the mentally ill and prisoners played a major role in creating different and new institutions in both the United States and Europe. She also had a significant impact in changing people’s perceptions of these affected populations (Nelson, 2021). As a result, Dorothea’s achievements are considered to be some of the most important in consideration to women’s history in America.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s wife. Eleanor is the longest-serving first lady in the history of the United States. Although Eleanor came from a wealthy background, her min achievements can be related to a focus on the interest of the less powerful. Eleanor’s powerful influence played a significant role in favoring social justice and civil rights. Through these efforts, Eleanor effectively championed different issues like poverty alleviation, civil rights, and, most importantly, access to education. As a result, Eleanor’s achievements and contributions play a major role in understanding women in American history and their contributions to societies and people’s lives (Cullinane, 2021).
Florence Kelley
For over thirty years, Florence Kelley was the leader of the National Consumers League (NCL). Through her leadership, the organization was focused mainly on advocating for minimum wage legislation (Goldmark, 2020). Besides, Kelley also played a significant role in the formation of the federal children’s bureau. Kelley’s achievements as a woman can be related to the dedication of her life to social reform. She focused mainly on solving some common social issues that affected societies, like labor and racial discrimination.
Sojourner Truth
Sojourner was mainly an American women’s rights activist and an abolitionist in the nineteenth century. Sojourner played a critical role in encouraging African Americans to strive to achieve their universal right to liberty through the abolitionist movement. Besides, Sojourner was also successful in relocating some former slaves to western settlements, particularly from northern settlements. Another major achievement related to Sojourner is that she was the first black woman to sue a white man and win. Such impacts play an important role in women’s history in America (Prasetyawati, 2018).
Harriet Jacobs
Harriet Jacobs is considered the writer of one of the most important slave narratives to have ever been written by an African-American woman. Like Sojourner, Harriet Jacobs engaged actively in the abolition movements, particularly before the civil war was launched. During the war, she helps raise money for black refugees. After the way, she played a critical role in improving the conditions of slaves who had been freed (Prasetyawati, 2018). The achievements of these six women are important in the history of women. These achievements are related mainly to changes within societies focused on improving the lives of people, particularly women, and the poor and specific groups of people. As a result, their roles and impacts are important in American history (Walker, 2016).
Section 3
Homestead, abortions, and World War II are some of the issues and events in American history that could have been changed significantly with the inclusion of women alongside the traditional interpretations.
Abortion can be seen as a major part of a backlash against the growing birth control and suffrage movements. As a result, it can be seen as an effort used to control and confine women in consideration of their traditional childbearing role. Anti-abortion legislation was therefore supported mainly by men as an effective way to control women in different ways. Involving women in the traditional interpretation of abortion, particularly by men, would have influenced the need to end the need for abortion, which could have ensured effectiveness in achieving women’s equality and freedom. Prevention could have been achieved (Delay, 2018). Besides, prevention could have also been important than punishment and blamed instances, laws, and men who drove women into decisions that contributed to cases of abortions. The role of women, in this case, would have to ensure effectiveness and positive outcomes in protecting women and improving their lives and health.
Although homestead in American history allowed some women to become landowners, it also had limits, particularly on married women, as the act allowed heads of families (mainly men) to become landowners. If women were included alongside the traditional interpretation, one of the major changes of this act would have been the ability of all women to own land, including those who were married (Rall, 2021).
Based on the Second World War events, most American women were allowed to join and work in different closed positions before the war. If women were allowed and included in the traditional interpretation, more opportunities would have been provided for women even before the Second World War. The traditional interpretation limited women’s participation and contributions to the societies as men dominated most societies and institutions (Dawson, 2019). Working women could have been influenced by the inclusion of women in the transitional interpretation of societies dominated by men.
References
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