Women in early American society regardless of their culture faced many of the same gender roles. Native American, Black, and European women were the main keepers of the home. In spite the former occupation of African women as farmers, once slaves in America they too were molded to be in charge of the house keeping duties. Being inferior to men in a hierarchy was another gender characteristic they shared, indicating mostly men leaders. However there are exceptions to this, since Europeans did have female Queens who did rule. All three cultures also had women figures as Gods. Women did share many similar gender roles shaped by early American cultures, however there are distinct differences between how biology determined gender and the amount of power and influence that women had in the different cultures.
Even though European women did not have much power, they did have a major impact in the society. All of the
Gender roles were generally shaped by the dominant invading European cultures, which enforced their views upon other cultures. Trying to remove power of choice from Native American women, and also taking away black American women's identity were two major attempts to do so. They even interpreted gender differently in the biological sense. Native cultures thought very highly of hermaphrodites and men who had feminine qualities. In Native American myth a person of this biological configuration was a called a double woman dreamer. A Double Woman Dreamer was viewed as a person of high importance. Native Americans also tolerated and accepted a woman who was manly at heart and performed men's activities, as well as a woman who dressed as a women and performed female activities. Europeans had a radically different opinion of hermaphrodites. The case of T. Hall was a classic representation of European intolerance and ignorance
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