WOMEN'S ROLE IN HISTORY FROM 1700 THROUGH PRESENT, THEIR SOCIAL CHANGE TO SOCIETY - Essay Example

That is, defying the traditional gender roles which are unanimously acknowledged by a patriarchal society, women have entered into male spheres and performed those male activities quite successfully. A critical analysis of the history of the changes in women’s role will necessarily reveal that these changes were, for the first time, induced during the Enlightenment Period in Europe. During that age, women were considered as mentally and physically weak. They were thought to be fit for indoor jobs such childrearing, maintaining house and hearth, cooking, washing, etc.

Though women were excluded from public affairs and outdoor activities, Enlightenment scholars like Mary Wollstonecraft called for changes in the prejudiced view about women (Kreis, 2012, pars. 3). But during the early 18th century, public awareness about women’s education began to increase in the metropolitan areas of England and France. They started to participate in French Salons increasingly (Goodman, 1994, p. 43). In public affairs, they appeared most as singers, though not professionals.

But during the late 18th century, the epoch-making event, Industrial Revolution, seemed to change the whole scenario about women’s traditional role as a wife and a mother. Before the Industrial Revolution, men’s and women’s social role were highly distinctive. In a family, men were mainly considered as the breadwinner and women were dependent on their male counterparts for their bread and butter. But the Revolution, technology-based industries began to burgeon at a rapid rate, creating more opportunities for women to be involved in earning activities, as Hudson (2011) notes, “Many young people, especially young women, migrated to towns and cities in search of work as the possibilities of agricultural employment declined.” (pars. 5).

During the Enlightenment period, women’s outdoor was limited to cultivation. Most the