The Past and Present Status of Women in America
The status of women in American society has made tremendous progress over the past decades. Initially, women’s roles and responsibilities revolved around the home, taking care of their children and husbands’ family needs. In the past, women were seen as inferior in society and worked under men supremacy dominance. Currently, women have taken up more responsibilities outside the home and fueled social, political, and economic changes which have improved the status and the role of women in American society. The colonial state of women in the nation has received a gradual change due to the day to day feminist movements powered by women to have better societal status today.
In the past, women were excluded from legal professions and civil services. The men as the head of families took the sole role of providing for their families financially. In the 16th -18th-century, industrialization grew at a slower rate and hence the low labor demand. Women, even in the present society, still face criticism on their concentration, which makes employers believe that men can produce a better performance at the workplace. The stereotype of men’s capability to perform better than women earned them the chance to dominate the limited legal professions and civil positions in the past (Waldfogel 1997). Years ago, most of the women worked in limited occupations such as childcare providers, nurses, teachers, and writers. By the 19th century, the fight of women to join well-paying jobs professions started to succeed, and more women joined better work sectors. The progress got facilitated by the fast-growing industrialization and shortage of labor, which demanded a new human workforce and acted as an opportunity for the female gender. Although the inequality for women at the workplace remains evident with the gender pay disparity and unequal working rights, the women now take up the same occupations as men and earn incomes that cover for their needs. Furthermore, women continue to comprise the majority of employees in low-wage sectors and still report a 40% in the general workplace.
The present American women’s participation in politics has contributed to the reported societal status change. Historically, women did not have a political voice in the formation of governmental structures and functions. None of the founders of the American democracy models were females, and this shows that women in the past had zero participation in the political world. Also, before 1920, women in America did not have the right to vote in political leaders, and before 1917, they did not hold any political position. Today, the percentage of women in political offices has significantly improved — the last presidential general election comprised of a female candidate willing to lead the United States. In America, women now have the right to run for all political offices. Apart from holding the political positions, in the present society, women in America stay in the front line to give their opinions concerning political affairs and participate in the change of the political formation (Mangan & Park 2013). Hence, throughout history, women show progress in the political setting, which has earned them a different view in society.
Another sector which shows women’s progress in society is the Educational system. For instance, according to a report by National Women’s History, the number of women attending colleges equaled only a quarter of the men population. Also, a small number of women participated at the private schools initially referred to as “dame schools,” and those who attended could not go to school a reasonable period of schooling; instead, their learning period used to be during the holidays (Thomas & Jackson 2007). During colonial times, women were not getting much of an education as they should. The claim that women were intellectually inferior supported the exclusion of women in the education system. The failure of preparing women educationally or giving them inadequate educational knowledge and skills also contributed to women occupying low-wage jobs like teaching. At the start of the 19th-century, women started earning equal education rights though African American women still struggled to obtain an education. But 20th century 19% of women earned higher education and registered a signification population in colleges. Currently, research on gender disparity in the education sector shows that the largest population of learners in college is women. Hence, the data has illustrated that more females are likely to get degrees than males. In today’s American society, women have the chance and permission to pursue their educational goals to any extent, and the stigma that they are intellectually inferior has faded over the years. However, despite the statistics showing the upward progress of women in the educational sector, not all women have the chance to make an unlimited change. The African American woman still faces challenges to pursue higher education. Nevertheless, generally, the female gender progression in educational attainment has earned them a more elevated status in society.
Women’s status in American society has taken a dramatic turn due to the transformation of family roles. Today the American woman has more power over the family responsibilities than she did a generation ago. In the past young females planned their adult lives to revolve around marriage and homemaking roles. Now, female’s participation in the family has changed from the responsibility of being only mothers and wives to also having the role to family head and breadwinners. In the present, women have the chance to delay their marriages and independently plan their achievements without waiting to base what they need to do on the husband’s interests and family need. Another factor enabling women to make modifications in family roles is their control over their fertility. In the past, the women single women were denied the right to purchase contraceptive pills, which means that any sexual relationship could lead to pregnancy. The early conceiving held women down to new responsibilities of taking care of their children before they could pursue their educational and financial goals. Now, women can control and plan when to have children that have, which have enabled most women to have the opportunity to get financially stable and assist their husbands in providing for the family. Others have opted to be single mothers. Therefore, now women have the chance to share significant family roles with their partners, and this opportunity means that the role and status of women shifted from the past position.
Women’s status in society has also shifted due to the change in property inheritance laws in the United States. Initially, women-only opened bank accounts and inherited property on specific terms different than men. The banks viewed women as risks to investment and enacted laws to discourage them from applying for bank accounts and having credit cards. In the past, single women did not have the opportunity to get loans without their father’s giving consent to the bank through signatures. Now women have the right to have control over their finances and define their banking terms. Also, families had a fear of entrusting family properties to their female relatives with the excuse that the woman will risk the property after marriage. In the present society, fathers decide who to assign the inheritance to base on the trust they have on their kid and not on the gender. The transformation has earned respect for women in society and resulted in today’s American women having a better place in society.
In conclusion, the status of women in American society has made tremendous progress over the past decades. The progression is contributed by the improvement of women’s performance in different sectors. First, in recent women were excluded from legal professions and civil services. Although the inequality for women at the workplace remains evident with the gender pay disparity and unequal working rights, the women now take up the same occupations as men and earn incomes that cover for their needs. Secondly, the present American women’s participation in politics has contributed to the reported societal status change. In America, women now have the right to run for all political offices. Another sector which shows women’s progress in society is the Educational system. Currently, research on gender disparity in the education sector shows that the largest population of learners in college is women. Hence, the data has illustrated that more females are likely to get degrees than males. Women’s status in American society has taken a dramatic turn due to the transformation of family roles. Therefore, now women have the chance to share significant family roles with their partners, and this opportunity means that the role and status of women shifted from the past position.
References
Mangan, J. A., & Park, R. J. (2013). From fair sex to feminism: Sport and the socialization of women In the industrial and post-industrial eras. Routledge.
Thomas, V. G., & Jackson, J. A. (2007). The education of African American girls and women : Past to present. The Journal of Negro Education, 357-372.
Tilly, L. A., & Scott, J. W. (2016). Women, work, and family. Routledge.
Waldfogel, J. (1997). The effect of children on women’s wages. American sociological review , 209-217.
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