Gender Equality

In mid-nineteenth century America, women did not have equality. Women were taken for granted and viewed as inferior to the man. Women were stereotyped by society to be stay at home mothers, that were in the shadows of their husband. In class, we viewed an image called “The Sphere of Women.” The image depicts a woman holding her baby whil

Sphere of Women

e she looks on her other children who are reading a book. The baby and the book are put in the image to represent it was the woman's job to take care of the children and to educate them. Also in the image there is a broken kite, the kite is there to depict that the women is there to help mend the broken things. This image demonstrates all the responsibilities the women were expected to do in the mid-nineteenth century. The Rights of Women: Law and Practices it states the laws and conditions that restricted women during this time period. Many laws state the difficulties women had to overcome. For instance one law states, “Until 1839, women were not allowed to own property in any state in the United States.” Women were not allowed to own their own property, which demonstrates the male dominance during this time period. A practice that was stated was, “it was considered improper for women to speak in public.” Women became tired of being treated this way and became involved in the Seneca Falls Convention, which resulted in the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. The declaration stated all the laws men had placed upon women and how they were resolved. The responses were both positive and negative. One article, the Oneida Whig article had a negative response. It states, “If our ladies will insist on voting and legislating, where, gentlemen, will be our dinners and elbows?” Men thought they were superior to women and this quote shows how women were not as equal to them. Not all responses were negative, the National Reform had many positive comments. The National Reform said that “their standard is now unfurled by their own hands. the convention of Seneca Falls has appealed to the country.” The mid-nineteenth century society reacted to the woman's demands for equality in many different ways. Some acknowledged that the women wanted gender equality while others still viewed women as less than them.

In the twenty-first century, I believe the society still reacts differently men and women. It has improved greatly since the nineteenth century, but society still reacts differently. Men are seen as more dominant than females. The men are known to be stronger, and paid more than females. In the Philippines Pantene Commercial, it shows how society views men and women differently. OUr society has made significant improvement in gender equality and their are still much more progress to be made.