Womens Influence on American Society - Essay Example

Women’s influence on American Society Though there is undoubtedly still a glass ceiling, especially when considering the difference in pay wages between men and women, women have come a long way from when they were relegated to a different social sphere than men. Women have more power today than ever before, but this is not to say that women had no influence before the modern era. Upon examining history, we can see that women have had various ways in which they were able to influence society throughout history, from the Revolutionary War, the Progressive Era, the Great Depression, World War II, and the women’s liberation movement. Though history is sometimes referred to as the biographies of exceptional men, it is plain to see that this is a reductive point of view and misses much of the contributions women made to the fabric of American society. One mistake that people make is to assume that the current way of thinking was they way people thought all the way back through history. People considering that women were always relegated to a separate social sphere which did not extend beyond the kitchen is an example of this: “Since gender roles were not sharply defined and distinctions between men and women were relatively negligible, preindustrial women enjoyed a larger measure of independence and equality” (Revolution). Though women generally did not take part in the battles of the Revolutionary War, there is no denying their integral importance to American victory. Women were forced to take care of their family farms while men were away, allowing men to take part in battles. Beyond this, they directly contributed to the war effort: “Some women raised money for the war effort, made shirts and uniforms for soldiers, and collected scrap metal for making bullets” (Revolution). This enabled women to be able to claim that they were as capable as men. Though women were not freed from male-domination as a result of the Revolutionary War, it did allow women to question their socially-normalized roles. Women gained some political voice, and this led to an increase in education for women: “Prior to the war, few girls had received formal instruction beyond the rudiments of essential basic skills” (Revolutionary). As women proved they were able to handle the running of farms and still contribute to the war effort, women showed they had power and influence on American society. During the Progressive Era, women showed more social and cultural influence than political influence. The obvious exception to this would be the Suffragist movement, culminating in women gaining the right to vote in 1920. For this to have happened though, there needed to be an ideological shift to take place, and this happened through cultural forces. For instance, literature showed a more independent woman: “the first New Woman was the ‘powerful"’ literary figure of a sexually awakening woman that appeared in the 1880s, which ‘embodied new values and posed a critical challenge to the existing order’ and was thus much spoofed and maligned” (New Woman). Of course, any challenge to the socially accepted norms will meet with resistance, such as the attacks on these works showed. Kate Chopin, author of The Awakening and many other works, was so harshly criticized for her novel that she chose not to publish more in her lifetime. Of course, this work is now considered a classic of women’s literature and holds an esteemed position in the literary cannon, but it had to go through a lot to reach that position. Without these kinds of works being published, though, these sort of changes wouldn’t have been possible. Women showed their influence upon American society through their fashion trends as well. There was a thorough rejection of previous styles: “Lipstick, bobbed hair, cigarette smoking, and patronage of speakeasies emerged from the culture of avant-garde art and politics of the 1900s and 1910s” (New Woman). By rejecting styles and attitudes of the past, women were stating that they would no longer play to the expectations that a male-dominated society had set up for them. This was not merely a fashion trend; it was a reversal of previous attitudes towards women: “The successes of the suffragists and the New Woman meant that the spell of the Victorian ‘cult of true womanhood’ had been broken and that women moved into areas of society that were previously restricted to men” (New Woman). Since women were no longer accepting what society expected of them, it meant that they had more power in other aspects of society, such as the political. Women influenced social, cultural, and political aspects of society during the Progressive Era. The Depression was a set-back to women’s advancement in society. Part of the problem was that since it was so difficult more people to find work, women working appeared to be extraneous: The Depression did little to alter the role of women in the American workplace. A 1936 poll in Fortune magazine asked, "Do you believe that married women should have a full time job outside the home?" Only 15 percent of the respondents approved, while 48 percent disapproved, with the remaining 37 percent giving it conditional approval (Working Women). Though women could not advance their place in the workplace, they still had to be able to provide for their households with less than they had before. It showed than women were strong and would do what they could to support their families. Though the Depression did not help women’s advancement, it did lead to WW II, which did in fact lead to women’s advancement. Perhaps the first war with such a large involvement of women, WW II led to a complete overhaul of American society. Women for the first time took an active role in the war. Though there were women that remained at home and took care of their households, which is a difficult task to do on one’s own, many women took factory jobs due to the shortage of men to fill the positions; ‘They took factory jobs, allowing men to join the army, and kept the armies well supplied with weapons, uniforms, food, and other items” (Women’s Role). Women showed themselves to be perfectly adept at positions that a few years previously were considered inappropriate for them to be working. Women showed their power and influence by filling in for men while they were away at war. Of course, women took a very active role in the actual war itself: “Servicewomen held a wide variety of jobs that contributed significantly to the overall war effort…Some women even fought in combat. England established female gun crews, known as ‘Ack Ack Girls,’ to defend the many miles of English coastline” (Women’s Role). Though women were considered less able than men, women showed that they had just as much ability to defend their countries in combat and in military official positions as well. Women did serve in roles in which they had never before served, this was not the most influential aspect of this change: “In any case, the disruption of traditional sex-and-gender roles and stereotypes was one of the greatest consequences of World War II” (Women’s Role). After having shown themselves to be capable of what was considered men’s work, women used the opportunity to made advancements as they felt that they deserved. In this way they showed their influence and power upon American society. After the gains made in WW II, women were not content to accept these gains and be complacent; they felt that they had shown their influence and could further influence different aspects of society that. “By the 1970s womens liberationists were active on a variety of fronts. Reform of divorce and rape laws, improvement of the health-care system, and promotion of day care were important goals” (Women’s Liberation). There were many landmark instances in the women’s rights movement, such as Roe Vs. Wade and the Equal rights Amendment. In a nod to the gains made by women, advertisements reflected this: “Hugely successful as an ad campaign, the caption ‘Youve Come a Long Way, Baby’ also embodied for many the triumph of the womens movement and feminism in the 1970’s” (Women’s Liberation). The gains that women made during the 1970’s enabled women to feel as though they could compete on equal ground with men. In today’s modern world, not only do we see both husband and wife working, but we see the wife working and the husband staying home, or women not feeling the need to get married and taking their careers on full force. Women are no longer relegated to a social sphere and are not expected to stay home and raise a family. Though the progress was slow, women showed that their power and influence throughout the history of American society eventually would lead to them being considered the equal of men. Works Cited "The American Revolution and the Changing Role of Women." History in Dispute, Vol. 12: The American Revolution, 1763-1789. Keith Krawczynksi, ed. St. James Press, 2003. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. "The ‘New Woman’ of the Progressive Era." History in Dispute, Vol. 3: American Social and Political Movements, 1900-1945. Robert J. Allison, ed. St. James Press, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. "Womens Liberation Movement in the 1970s." DISCovering U.S. History. Gale Research, 1997. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. "Womens Role in World War II." History in Dispute, Vol. 5: World War II, 1943-1945. Dennis Showalter, ed. St. James Press, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. "Working Women in the 1930s." DISCovering U.S. History. Gale Research, 1997. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. Read More