Is it Really a "Man's Job"?

As we continued to study the social reform movements of the 19th century, it was only right to study the Woman's Reform movement that occurred in the mid-19th century. Gender equality between men and women has always been a leading issue from as far back as society can recall. Woman's rights is one of the most discussed topics and many people around the world have differing viewpoints about equality for all. Even though the Woman's reform was the last reform we discussed in class, it is certainly not the least important. In order to aide our understanding of the reform, my teacher provided many documents as well as photos for us to analyze. Most of the documents were primary source documents, which especially gave us a better understanding of how men viewed women during the 1800s. One of the documents in which we analyzed is known as The Rights of Woman: Laws and Practices. In this document, the way that women were viewed and the laws they had to follow are clear. The document covers all women's rights from divorce to voting. Additionally, woman were not allowed to speak in public, own property, attend school, go to school, take the children away from the mother in the event of a death , and it was even legal for men to beat their wives. Not only this, but women were expected to do al the cleaning, housework, cooking, and take care of the children with little help from their spouses.  These are only a few of the rights of woman, as there are many more that stand out to be irrational and immoral. To left, a photo of this document is shown.

Although there were many negative rights regarding women in the 1800s, there was also a movement that took place that aimed to support the rights of woman known as the Seneca Falls Convention. In response to this convention there were supportive and some negative opinions. It was through this movement that woman realized that they decided much more than they were getting. The Seneca Falls Convention took place in New York and was an abolitionist movement. A large amount of the reactions to the Seneca falls voiced how Woman's equality to men went against the bible and what was morally right. In an excerpt from The Mechanics Advocate, Female Department, there is a portion which directly discusses Adam and Eve and why woman should never be seen as equal to men. One being that Adam was born before eve, which some people believe justifies why women should not be considered equal. This article basically says that even the idea of women and men being equal is not only wrong but immoral as well.

In reaction to the Seneca Falls, although there were many unsupportive opinions regarding the women's fight for equality, there were also a select few of articles that supported the movement. On July 28th, 1848, The North Star, a newspaper article in response to the Seneca Falls Convention was written. However, instead of simply degrading the rights and privilege's of women, the article instead gave a different, more supportive input. Basically, this excerpt explains that every political right and right in general that man obtains, should be available to women as well. Both men and women are intelligent beings and both should be viewed that way. Women are entitled to everything that men are entitled to. All people should have equal opportunities, whether the opportunity is viewed as "manly". Unlike the article above , The North Star (to the left) supports women and their rights.

 

Because the 1800s was a few hundred years ago, it is important to evaluate society's view of women today. Is it different than  the 19th century? Is it the same? These are some of the toughest questions since there are thousands of different opinions regarding this topic. Personally, I believe that there is still gender inequality everywhere. Sadly, the world is not perfect and in many countries there are still recurring issues regarding the equality of men and women. There are still countless men who look down upon women for doing simple daily tasks that they believe are a "man's job". In some places, this topic is largely discussed, but for others its hardly mentioned. But just because it isn't talked about doesn't mean that it isn't a growing problem. Additionally, many women are scared to speak up for themselves in fear that they will be shamed or looked at differently. Everyday on the news, there are stories about inequality regarding ethnicity, skin color, and gender. Although sad, I believe that even if the world works hard to put an end to gender discrimination, there will always be people who don't agree. Below, I have provided a short video clip that depicts men and woman doing the same thing but being perceived differently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K2kfgW7708

Citations:
1.The Rights of Women: Laws and Practices. Seneca Falls. 1848
2. Tanner, John. Female Department- Women Out of Their Latitude. The Mechanics Advocate. American Treasures of the Library of Congress
3.The Rights of Women. The North Star. American Treasures of the Library of Congress.