The Profession of Woman - Essay Example

 The profession of a woman This article suggests that the teachers and parents should allow the girls to influence each other positively. It encourages the already educated females to communicate their ideas of knowledge to others. She says that the girl child should not only know how to regulate their own tempers, mind and habit but they should also know how to effect and impact improvements to those around them. On the other hand, she advices the teachers to prepare students in such a way that they communicate their intellectual ideas with the third party who might either be an ignorant child or a friend ready to give a listening ear. The article was written by Catherine Beecher who was a member of an illustrious family that was new in England. She was also the founder of Hartford female seminary. She wrought this article because she wanted to create awareness of the female education. She wanted to promote and encourage the provision of female higher education in the United States. She had had the intention of promoting girls to pursue their education to higher levels. She also intended to make people know that it is the responsibility of the parent, teacher, and friends to shape the social, moral and intellectual character of an individual. The intended audience of Catherine is the teachers, parents and the girl child. She says that it is up to mothers and teachers to shape up and guide the growth of the female children, but it is up to the children themselves to form their physical habits and influence their friends positively. There are three major points that come out strongly in this article. The first one is teachers should prepare the students to share their knowledge with others. In the article it is written that, “….defect in education is that it has not been made a definite object with teachers to prepare their pupils to instruct others. For of how comparatively little value is knowledge laid up in the mind if it is never to be imparted to others, and yet how few have ever been taught to communicate their ideas with facility and propriety. That there is a best way of teaching as well as of doing everything else cannot be disputed, and this can no more be learned by intuition than can any of the mechanical arts. This can be made an object of instruction as much as any other art, and a woman, ordinarily, might be taught to converse with ease and fluency, and to communicate knowledge with accuracy and perspicuity, with far less time and effort than is now given to the acquisition of music” (Beecher). Another major point is that the girls should learn to influence their counterparts. The article says communicate and influence others “If all females were not only well educated themselves but were prepared to communicate in an easy manner their stores of knowledge to others; if they not only knew how to regulate their own minds, tempers, and habits but how to effect improvements in those around them, the face of society would speedily be changed” (Beecher). The last major point is that children should be encouraged to communicate with others. In the article it is written, “If a teacher, in communicating ideas, should make it a part of the duty of a scholar to communicate the same to a third person, either to a child already ignorant or to some friend who would give a listening ear, and much would be accomplished in this way. During many recitations it is desirable to induce the pupils to ask questions and express opinions with this object in view. Nothing aids more in this art than attempting to teach others, and all who become teachers will probably find that in this and various other ways they receive almost as much benefit as they confer” (Beecher). ‘Mechanics and Working girls’ The second document is titled, ‘Mechanics and Working Girls’. It presents the plight of the young mature and independent women in the world full of vast opportunities. It also analyses the agricultural potential of the United States of America from a neutral non-native point of view. According to the author, during the period between 1834 and 1836, majority of the men in England and the United States of America left their households to go and work in distant places in industries that needed more labor. The advantages of these industries were that their pays were high. This therefore made it become their immediate option and alternative. The consequence of such a move was that majority of the women were left behind with households and families to take care of. This forced them to enroll in local industries where they would perform different chores. Women refused to be enslaved and therefore took pride in working in cotton millers and other industries that involved broidery. This can be sited from the book where the Author says that, “The first cotton mill that I saw was at Paterson, New Jersey. It was set up at first with 900 spindles, which were afterward increased to 1,500 then to 6,000. Building was still going on when I was there. The girls were all well-dressed. Their hair was arranged according to the latest fashions which had arrived, via New York, and they wore calashes, hoods, in going to and fro between their dwellings and the mill” (Martineau). Women acquired a new status in the society where they chose what to indulge in rather than being oppressed. They would go to their employers and state what they were good in and which environment they suited. The Prisoners and inmates were encouraged to use their talents well. The author notes that she was able to see high quality products from the prisons that could not be seen in the real world America since majority of the people had opted for white-collar jobs. The mechanics on the other had had their needs catered for and had the rights to demand for good healthy working environment. The workforce in the United States of America rejected oppression and exploitation. This is depicted when the author spotted a procession of mechanics peacefully demonstrating. Harriet Martineau has written the document in the year 1837. She was an English writer who traversed the United States of America between 1834 and 1836. This document was intended for the women and the laborers of England and the United States of America as a source of inspiration and motivation to work smarter. Some of the main points noticed are; Women were given options that suited their schedules and their talent and skill. This is evidenced when the author says, “The managers of the various factory establishments keep the wages as nearly equal as possible and then let the girls freely shift about from one to another. When a girl comes to the overseer to inform him of her intention of working at the mill, he welcomes her and asks how long she means to stay. It may be six months or a year or five years or for life. She declares what she considers herself fit for and sets to work accordingly. If she finds that she cannot work so as to keep up with the companion appointed to her or to please her employer or herself, she comes to the overseer and volunteers to pick cotton or sweep the rooms or undertake some other service that she can perform” (Martineau). Prisons molded the inmates to be more productive and boost the economy of the country by making various things. This is evidenced in “I believe that the Sing Sing and Auburn prisons, in the state of New York, turn out a greater variety and amount of products than any others; and they have yet done very little more than maintain themselves. The Sing Sing convicts quarry and dress granite; the Auburn prisoners make clocks, combs, shoes, carpets, and machinery. They are cabinet and chair makers, weavers, and tailors. There were 650 prisoners when I was there; and of these, many were inexperienced workers, and all were not employed in manufactures. Jealousy of such a set of craftsmen is absurd, in the present state of the American labor market” (Martineau). Another key idea was the fight by the employees for a better working environment and this is seen when the mechanics protest and the author states, “The mechanics of these Northern states appear to me the most favored class I have ever known. In England, I believe the highest order of mechanics to be, as a class, the wisest and best men of the community. They have the fewest base and narrow interests; they are brought into sufficient contact with the realities of existence without being hardened by excess of toil and care; and the knowledge they have the opportunity of gaining is of the best kind for the health of the mind. To them, if to any, we may look for public and private virtue” (Martineau). In both documents, the plight of women in the society is discussed. In the first article, women were denied higher education chances and this forced them to find other ways to be able to cope with the situation. Catherine notes that, “At the beginning of the nineteenth century, female education had surmounted such early restrictions as that expressed in a 1684 school dictum to the effect that “all girls, shall, be excluded as improper and inconsistent with … a grammar school.” Elementary education was open to all girls and secondary education to those who could afford it, but no provision had been made for higher education until Emma Willard established Troy Female Seminary, now Emma Willard School, in 1821”. In Martineau’s article, women were mainly left in the households and were not given the freedom to go and work out of the households. They only achieved these when the men got employed and moved out. This is seen when the author notes that, “It is not the custom in America for women, except slaves, to work out-of-doors. It has been mentioned that the young men of New England migrate in large numbers to the West, leaving an over proportion of female population, the amount of which I could never learn. Statements were made to me, but so incredible that I withhold them. Suffice it that there are many more women than men in from six to nine states of the Union. There is reason to believe that there was much silent suffering from poverty before the institution of factories; that they afford a most welcome resource to some thousands of young women, unwilling to give themselves to domestic service, and precluded, by the customs of the country, from rural labor. We have seen how large a proportion of the labor in the Lowell factories is supplied by women” (Martineau). Both documents express the position of women in the society. Both articles point the need for women to become more outgoing to have a respectable position in the every dynamic society. They are seeking to play a part in the economy by assuming various roles in important sectors like Education and Industry through influence and empowerment. They seek to move out of the household tame and make informed decisions on their own. Both documents also highlight the importance of having a suitable environment to facilitate proper working. This is achieved if the employers provide proper healthy and safety measures to guard their employees. In my opinion, these are vital elements in the making of a strong economy. Works Cited Read More