Weirding the War by Stephen Berry - Essay Example

? Weirding the war In his book ‘Weirding the war’, Stephen Berry provides his reflections on the antebellum period from his experiences and those of the people around him. He focuses on the prevailing attitudes which dominated people’s thinking during this era. He also addresses other pertinent issues like analyzing whether the civil war played a part in destroying or reinforcing the cult of domesticity in America. Finally, a review of other author’s books is done to see whether they can gladly be explained by Stephen’s ‘weirding’ the war ideology (Berry, 2011). The definition of gender roles provides a description of these roles as being, the different duties assigned to an individual based on their gender. Gender is a socially constructed term used to refer to an individual’s social or legal status. Its ascription is on the basis of the biological dispositions which differentiate men from women. The antebellum attitudes affected the gender roles as seen in the three different articles. A general background appraisal of the attitudes which existed during this era clearly shows the disparities present in the gender roles assigned to different people. These disparities influenced the day-to-day interactions of different people. The formation of attitudes is as a result of influence from different factors such as, political alliances, economic status or race. For example, race influenced people’s attitudes in a tremendous way. Historical reviews of the antebellum period show that race was a significant barrier which influenced the way people’s behaviors when around each other. Stephen’s review of the Southern states from which he hailed, explain the way slavery influenced the formation of people’s attitudes (Berry, 2011). The Black American slaves developed indifferent attitudes because of the harsh mistreatment they experienced at the hands of masters. They had to learn from childhood from their kinsmen about how to conceal their emotions or risk getting punished by their superiors. The fact that they were vehemently denied equal opportunities afforded to the White people made them resent their religion and political systems. They, therefore, found solidarity in embracing their own underground systems which they created on their own. The formation of political alliances also played a great role in the formation of people’s attitudes. The Southern states possessed different political ideologies from the Northern states which created tension and culminated in the start of the Civil war. One of these ideologies was; the Northern states advocated for the abolishment of the slave trade whereas the Southern states seemed to be profiting from slavery. “The Tale of the Three Kates” by LeeAnn Whites illustrates the way economic status also influenced the formation of people’s attitudes especially in relation to gender roles. The antebellum society's influence was from the male culture which affected all sectors of society. Meaning, men had the authority to own property, unlike women. Therefore, the roles assigned to men included those that allowed them to acquire property. In addition, the economic status ascribed to women depended on the status ascribed to their fathers or husbands (Berry, 2011). All the books also attempt to analyze whether the cult of domesticity experienced some effects by the civil war. This begs the question, what did the phrase ‘cult of domesticity mean’ in the first place. It referred to the pre-existing culture of the people living in the antebellum period. It confined women to play a domesticated role which included running the households and nurturing their children. On the other hand, the men worked tirelessly striving to make a living to support their families. It was, therefore, unheard of to find women working with the men in the different industries. However, this soon changed when the war started. It destroyed the cult of domesticity by redefining the roles ascribed to people based on their gender. The women had to fill in the vacant positions left in the working industry that became available when able-bodied men went to war. They took up the men’s shifts and worked tirelessly to ensure other financial sectors of the economy stayed afloat despite the warfare that ravaged the country. This shifted the dynamics within the family. Women became the breadwinners of their family, working towards sustaining their families while meeting their needs. The death of soldiers and the return of injured war veterans reinforced this change of roles because the men were unable to carry out their previous roles. The two articles; “Days of lightly-won and lightly-held hear” by Anya Jabour and “Tried to Love them” by Brian Craig Miller both attempt to describe the relationships which were in existence during the war. The soldiers went to war hoping to return to the women who had promised to love them. The letters they wrote helped to keep them motivated during the war. Those who managed to return received a loving welcome from their families through continuous support despite their psychological and physiological injuries sustained during the war (Berry, 2011). The article by Anya Jabour and Brian Miller both fit into Stephen’s conceptualization of the war because it describes the ease with which soldiers fell in love with women extremely fast. The opposite could be said about the women who fell in and out of love remarkably quickly. This is because the soldiers remained motivated by the promise of love as they faced the war. On the other hand, the women struggled with financial and physiological needs, which, predisposed them to promiscuous tendencies. The women’s behaviors qualify them as weird by Stephen when compared to his conceptualizations in his book. LeeAnn's book also describes the inequality which existed based on the gender differences and the implications of the prolonged Missouri warfare. This compares to Stephen’s descriptions of the factors that led to the warfare and their consequences. The inequality and prolonged war qualify her book to fit the weirding descriptions explained by Stephen (Berry, 2011). In conclusion, the three books articulately provide a description of the antebellum and civil war period. They account for the factors that might have led to the war and the impact they had on the people. The addressing of the issue on gender gives a perspective on what occurred during the trying times created by the Civil War (Berry, 2011). Reference Berry, S. (2011). Weirding the War. Georgia : University of Georgia Press. Read More