Women’s roles and gender inequality has been a topic of discussion for several years. The roles of women in the 18th and 19th century slightly differed. Below is a conversation between Emily a woman who lived in the 18th century and Rebecca who lived in the 19th century. The discussion of the women aims to compare the roles of women during their time.
Emily : The 18th century was a very difficult time for women. First, the gender roles were divided directly between men and women. The men could work outside the home; however, the society expected women to be homemakers. By this, it means that women took care of all the domestic and household chores. They were supposed to ensure that everything at home functioned smoothly. Similarly, they were resigned to child rearing.
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Rebecca : How unfortunate it is that after a century, no significant changes concerning women's roles in the society and home have been made. Even in my 19th century, women are still resigned to gender roles. Families are still divided into classes (Clare, 2010). Just like your century Emily, mine is no different in that women still work only from home. We are not allowed to take any duties outside the home because our men consider it illegal and bad for the society. On the same note, the society has divided roles among men and women and have ensured that women remain behind to take care of their husband’s needs, children, and other household chores.
Emily: Another factor that influenced the lives of women during my lifetime was lack of education. Unlike men, women in the 18th century did not have the opportunity to go to school. For women who had access to education, the type of education was meant only to improve and attain an ideal womanhood. Women in the 18th century had access to “proper education,” which aimed to support social and domestic activities only (Clare, 2010). Any form of education that supported academic abilities of women was prohibited. In fact, men purported that if women received an education that supported their academic abilities, then it could be detrimental to their mental health. On the contrary, women in the lower class had the opportunity to indulge in literary activities because of the little education they received. This helped them write books that mainly talked about women’s issues, food, household chores, and other societal activities that affected the lives of women in the society.
Rebecca: This is quite similar to what women in my century have gone through. Education was still limited to men. In fact, most men viewed educating women as a waste of time and an activity that turned their attention from their household duties. In the nineteenth century, women had the ability to go to school (Clare, 2010). Those women who came from the middle and upper classes had access to proper education. Similarly, those who had literary skills penned different books to help air the issue that affected women in general. However, just like your period Rebecca, men thought that educating women was a bad idea; in fact, many people viewed the act of educating women as subversive and a pervasion of the right social order, an order that required women to be illiterate, subordinate, and only resign themselves to doing household chores.
Emily: The economic status of women in the 18th century was very bad. This was largely because women were not allowed to work outside their homes. On the same note, they did not have the opportunity to engage in commercial activities that could allow them to earn a living. The women relied on their men to provide everything in the house, hence, they were needed to work to earn a living. On the other hand, the only women who made a living and had some levels of financial contribution in their families were those who engaged in writing books about the different topics that directly helped other women such as cooking, house maintenance, piety, and submission (Clare, 2010). Such people had a large market for their books and hence improved their economical lives. Similarly, life was hard for married women because they could not work out of their homes. However, single women worked as washerwomen, tailoresses, milliners, and spinners, therefore, they had little money to support their activities. Many women in the 18th century were servants, milkmaids, and midwives.
Rebecca: Well, the economic lives of the women in my era were not as bad as the ones in your period. The nineteenth-century woman, though not very educated, had the opportunity to venture into the literary world like the ones in your era did. On the same note, some women helped their husbands in the running of their businesses with the main aim of improving the financial lives of the family members. Even in the 19th century, women performed menial jobs such as being servants, working in the mills, and tailoring among others to earn a living (Clare, 2010). The lives of the women in upper and middle classes changed compared to those in the lower classes.
Emily: How were the political and leadership activities in the 19th century? Did they involve women or did they live than out? The women in the 18th century were not allowed to participate in political and leadership activities (Clare, 2010). However, the tremendous changes in fashion and education paved way for women to voice their concerns. However, the community was not lenient to the women who took to the street to verbalize the issue that women faced. Most of them were exerted or beaten by their husbands for doing such things. I feel that women should be given leadership roles in the society. Current women have the ability to engage in economic and leadership activities.
Rebecca: Do not worry Emily; just like in your era, women in my era did not have the opportunity to take leadership responsibilities and political activities. In fact, these areas of leadership and politics were solely left to the men. I share your feelings ad sentiments for involving women in different activities in the society. In fact, current leaders should do a thorough job in empowering women in various capacities.
Reference
Clare, A. (2010). (Post) Colonialism, Citizenship and Domesticity: Intersectionality in Feminist Histories. Journal of Women's History. Vol. 22 Issue 4 , 315-325.
