Thi This Texas Law: Women's Husbands

In Breaking Tradition, paragraph two states, “People in “polite society” demanded that ladies live under the guidance and protection of their fathers, husbands, or other male relatives. Women could not vote or sign contracts. And under the law, husbands usually controlled their wives’ poverty, if they owned any, and wages, if they earned

The largest of his foundational chapters deals with sexual honor. Wyatt‐Brown paints a picture of a singularly depraved and sordid society. The essence of his argument centers on the dichotomy between women’s weakness and power. It would have been better argued from a different point of view about power and points of leverage instead of a stale discussion of women’s matriarchal power over hen‐pecked husbands balanced against the dependency of women and their requirement to marry to avoid barrenness and shame. He is particularly challenged by the ideal of a southern woman who is to be “not only ethereal but also hardworking, politically aware (though never ‘to mingle in discussion’), and prudent in household management” (p.35). I think he could have done a much better job in describing the black‐white sexual relations as well, while highlighting the differences and the social preeminence of the white classes over the black. This book is ultimately a one-dimensional study of a very complex society. I think it is written without objectivity. He never tells the story from the side of the white slave holders. Though most, if not all of his writing is true, this book only sheds light on one side of the topic and therefore cannot be taken as absolute

What would you feel like as a women if your husband was seen as more powerful than you? Or if it was considered okay for your husband to beat you and and sap you when ever you did something he didn’t approve of? In Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God, gender roles plays a huge responsibility in the lives of the citizens in Eatonville, as well as the muck. The concept of gender roles has a huge impact on Janie, and the mayor, Jody’s lives and marriage. Although Janie and Jody are married, because Jody is the man in the relationship, he feels that he is more powerful and stronger than Janie.

Masculinity didn’t do a good job of attaining the hoped-for standards, as they didn’t have other equally profound consequences for American middle-class culture at this time. It justified the exclusion of women from the world as acceptable to both women and men at this time, and it cultivated strong bonds around women as well. They in fact shared the biological experiences central to their definition as women and spoke the same language of virtue and piety, which essentially means that they instilled a awareness of a set of common goals for them and experiences present for them, which had values specific to women, and distinct from those of men. The key to this was the extensive networks of female friends that were present during this time period for these women. Since women were supposedly better than men during this time, it was feasible and easy to believe that women were obliged and privileged to work together and help other women, who were fallen, and poor, who were having some sort of trouble during this time period as a result of the society that they were present in during this time period. Southern white women during this time were aware of the ideology of domesticity during this time, and they would try to implement it and its teachings for their lives, but their expectations were frequently articulated during this time period. There was little industrialization, domestication, urbanization, immigration, and therefore, social dislocation present during

Before the 1840s women were deemed completely dependant throughout her life on men, first as daughters then as wives. They were known as the property of their husbands and

The narrative exhibits her awareness of the peculiar paternalism arising from the intertwinement of slavery and the cult of true womanhood/domesticity. She further notes that this form of bondage is not only enacted by husbands, fathers, and brothers, but it is also perpetuated by women themselves, who create the cage that holds them captive (Jacobs et al.,

In these times it was hard for African American women to stand up to their abusive husbands. Getting a divorce was not a very common thing to do. Most women endured the pain and troubles of

Slavery was a horrible institution that dehumanized a race of people. Female slave bondage was different from that of men. It wasn't less severe, but it was different. The sexual abuse, child bearing, and child care responsibilities affected the females's pattern of resistance and how they conducted their lives. Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, demonstrates the different role that women slaves had and the struggles that were caused from having to cope with sexual abuse.

Minrose Gwin‘s book, Black and White Women of the Old South, argues that history has problems with objectiveness. Her book brings to life interesting interpretations on the view of the women of the old south and chattel slavery in historical American fiction and autobiography. Gwin’s main arguments discussed how the white women of the south in no way wanted to display any kind of compassion for a fellow woman of African descent. Gwin described the "sisterhood" between black and white women as a "violent connection"(pg 4). Not only that, Gwin’s book discusses the idea that for most of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, a black woman usually got subjected to displacement of sexual and mental

There was a very different scene in the household of American families. During the early 1800s, a woman’s life consisted of many obligations and few choices. Women were pretty much controlled by the men in their life, their fathers, brothers, and husbands. The life would consist of finding a husband, reproducing, and then spending the rest of their lives helping the family in the house. In fact, when women became married, legally all of her inheritance and belongings would belong to her husband.

In a time period when women were considered inferior, as were blacks, it was unimaginable the horrors a black woman in the south had to endure during this period. African women were slaves and subject to the many horrors that come along with being in bondage, but because they were also women, they were subject to the cruelties of men who look down on women as inferior simply because of their sex. The sexual exploitation of these females often lead to the women fathering children of their white masters. Black women were also prohibited from defending themselves against any type of abuse, including sexual, at the hands of white men. If a slave attempted to defend herself she was often subjected to further beatings from the master. The black female was forced into sexual relationships for the slave master’s pleasure and profit. By doing this it was the slave owner ways of helping his slave population grow.

The period of the antebellum south was among the most burdensome times for African American slaves, especially females. During the early 1800s the lives of enslaved women were extremely demanding. The female slaves were expected to bear children, as well as were required to work just as hard as the male slaves on the plantation. Days were long and laborious for slave mothers, they had to make sure that all the work that needed to be done was completed, and also care for their children. Female slaves’ jobs varied from housework, to field work. Slave mothers knew that giving up on their work was not an option, they had to persevere for their families. Motherhood and work went hand in hand for female slaves, one was not able to do one and not the other.

She emphasizes that the life of a slave woman is incomparable to the life of a slave man, in the sense that a woman’s sufferings are not only physical but also extremely mental and emotional. Whether or not a slave woman is beaten, starved to death, or made to work in unbearable circumstances on the fields, she suffers from and endures horrible mental torments. Unlike slave men, these women have to deal with sexual harassment from white men, most often their slave owners, as well as the loss of their children in some cases. Men often dwell on their sufferings of bodily pain and physical endurance as slaves, where as women not only deal with that but also the mental and emotional aspect of it. Men claim that their manhood and masculinity are stripped from them, but women deal with their loss of dignity and morality. Females deal with the emotional agony as mothers who lose their children or have to watch them get beaten, as well as being sexually victimized by white men who may or may not be the father of their children. For these women, their experiences seem unimaginable and are just as difficult as any physical punishment, if not more so.

Then in society, men were portrayed as “dominant figures” and women were the “nurturers”. Men not only filled the fatherly role but they also usually earned the “breadwinning”, went to work all day, and financially provided for the wives and

The author’s white, female characters act as an example for her white, female readers to model themselves after. This argument is more than go out and vote or start protests, because those methods of change are not a reasonable expectation for a group of people whose role is to be polite, hospitable, and demure. Thus, the methods the women are expected to take are indirect by being more subtle and persuasive instead of direct and confrontational. Subtlety and persuasion are demonstrated by the female characters, Mrs. Emily Shelby and Mrs. Mary Bird. Mrs. Shelby used her subtlety to throw off the plans of the slave trader and allowing her slaves to escape. She slyly suggests to her slaves take their time in collecting the horses, before then offering her guest dinner and pushing back the time for eating, because the meal is supposedly not suitable enough for guests. Mrs. Bird discusses her opinion on slavery and fugitive slave laws with her husband in a very womanly manner, respectful and persuasive, in a successful attempt to convince him to take an abolitionist stance in his job as senator. Both Mrs. Shelby and Mrs. Bird are able to receive their desired results by working within their role as women. Even though they are not taking a direct action of fighting slavery, they are still making a difference just through different means. These fictional women are embracing their hidden power of their gender and acting as examples for the real life