Women: Now and Then
We, as women, especially those of us who live in liberal parts of the world, often take for granted the rights and benefits which we have. We forget that in other times, women were not considered to be equal to their male counterparts; they were considered to be helpless subordinates to the men with whom they lived. So how did society's ethics and values come to the present state where women in America supposedly have the same rights as men do? Where we can vote, work outside of the home, and be educated? Though we do not often consider it, we owe much of these everyday freedoms to women of the past, who struggled and pushed for equal rights and recognition. Their determination helped us gain increased education, economic status, and political rights, among other things. Women in previous centuries were expected to depend on their husbands or fathers for everything they needed, a
Other women of the past resolved to take over "men's work" though society thought they should not. Eliza Lucas, for instance ("Eliza Lucas Pinckney"), took over her father's plantation when he left for the West Indies and was perfectly capable of undertaking this task. Deborah Sampson ("Deborah Sampson, Continental Soldier") traveled about in men's clothing and enlisted in the 4th Massachusetts Regiment. After taking a bullet to the thigh, in fear of being discovered a woman, extracted the bullet herself with a silver probe. Other women in the Northern Colonies became self-reliant by selling things which they made, using their talents, and other things. All this resulted in women gaining economic status because they were able to support themselves, rather than relying on their male counterparts. Gradually, as women like these continued to insist on economic independence, the idea that women could have m
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Approximate Word count = 616
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)
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