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Women Controlled by Ideals
Women Controlled by Ideals
In today’s American nation, women feel ignored and shut out. We’ve constantly heard about women being oppressed and exploited. People, even women themselves, are tired of seeing women on the newspaper cover, protesting for rights being taken away from them or not being opportunities for them. The closer we look into a problem, the more we learn. We’ve already discussed how society has to look closer into women’s lives to understand what they are experiencing, but where? Where would we begin looking to know what to change? The household. There are various places we look into where women are struggling, but the household is the main place they all return to.
Women are the main subject to be labeled as the most suited and only capable of managing chores, tasks, and other household aspects in a household. In the eyes of humanity, chores aren’t a great amount of work for women compared to the work men do outside. This is a misconception. We can view various works being carried out, but it takes experience to fully understand the struggle of those jobs.
Stern states, “Housewifery is a complex of housekeeping, household management, housework, and childcare…The housewife … carries through each complex operation of cooking, cleaning, tidying, and laundering solo; almost uniquely among workers since the Industrial Revolution, she does not benefit from the division of labor. Lunchtime, ordinarily a pleasant break in the working day, for her, brings no pleasant sociability with the girls in the cafeteria…”
The man of a household executes tasks that an average woman cannot, whether it be in terms of strength, capability, etc. However, women take up multiple tasks at once that a man doesn’t ever consider carrying out himself, yet women continue to do those tasks with or without any help, simply because it’s her “sole duty.”
Women aspire to have families, and so “when a man marries and has children, it is assumed that he will do the best work along the line in which he has been trained or is at least interested. When a woman marries and has children, it is assumed that she will automatically take care of the housework. But whether she has the option to do it or not, she does it.” One aspect that should be highlighted is that “One much-stressed point is the satisfaction every good woman feels in creating a home for her dear ones. Well, probably every good woman does feel it, perhaps because she has had it so drummed into her that if she does not, she is not a good woman; but that satisfaction has very little to do with housewifery; and housework. It is derived from intangibles, such as the desirable wife-husband and mother-child relationships she manages to affect…” Throughout centuries, women's obligations have been chosen for them. These types of views only enforce labor on women, leaving them with heavy burdens and potentially worsening their health, something that’s still happening today.
Society shouldn’t establish that this can only affect women. That would be false. Even so, women have not given up. The female gender has changed drastically since Stern published her article. Women are gathering and standing up for one another when considering notions that affect them in their everyday lives, being considered less compared to other laborers because their work isn’t seen as complicated. All women are not the same, however, women that sacrifice and care about their families are the women that should truly be valued and not be degraded for what they do.
Another View On “Equal Rights”
Another View On “Equal Rights”
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"It's time to set the record straight. The claim that American women are downtrodden and unfairly treated is the fraud of the century. Why should we lower ourselves to “equal rights” when we already have the status of special privilege?" - Phyllis Schlafly
"It's time to set the record straight. The claim that American women are downtrodden and unfairly treated is the fraud of the century. Why should we lower ourselves to “equal rights” when we already have the status of special privilege?" - Phyllis Schlafly
For women, advocating for “equal rights” is more than being equal to a man. There's more to a woman, whether it be her strengths or the efforts she gives that aren’t acknowledged as they should be. But, what do women mean by “equal rights? What are they asking for? Women push the idea of having “equal rights,” but what outcomes will having those rights bring them? Questions arise as to what changes will there be in society for women when “equal rights” are established, if ever. There’s no answer to these outcomes, and so the search begins to find one before it’s even real, leading people towards other viewpoints that potentially could be possible because they sound believable. People start to get curious and come up with conclusions of their own. Even so, many people are asking, does the nation need equal rights?
Phyllis Schlafly, being a mother of six, was an attorney and a conservative activist for two decades before her fight to defend the Equal Rights Amendment(ERA). In 1972, Schlafly wrote a document during her STOP ERA (Stop Taking Our Privileges Equal Rights Amendment), a campaign that argues women were already protected under the laws at that time, called “What’s Wrong with “Equal Rights” for Women?” She appealed to homemakers who feared feminism. In a society where losing her husband could condemn a woman and her children to poverty, Schlafly’s followers came to agree that equality was dangerous.
Multiple American women have more privileges or better options than other women. The laws that the American government has established require men to follow certain guidelines. Schlafly affirms, one example could be when a man contributes to a new life coming into the world. For this reason, women have to bear the physical consequences of the sex act, because of the Judeo-Christian civilization where the US has developed laws and costumes that men are required to bear the other consequences and pay in other ways by physical protection and financial support of his children and the women who bear his children. We question whether equal rights is the right choice to make regarding women, and if that’s the outcome we want.
Since the laws in America already create certain requirements, whether women or men, if being equal in this country means having to drop already existing customs that both genders have, then advocating for equal rights appears not to be the wisest choice for a better change, especially in cases where women are already getting support by demands being made from the government. Nonetheless, we shouldn’t stop advocating for equal rights, rather this is a warning to be careful about what we are advocating for and what outcomes will come if we have equal rights. The question we should be asking ourselves is whether we are willing to give up already existing benefits we have in exchange for being equal to the other gender and losing those benefits.
There are multiple other reasons why American women have more privilege than other women. We can all agree that in America, everyone is bound to struggle with certain situations. However, some people will suffer more or less than others based on their life situations. It’s not just about the laws that we are bound to, but what we make of ourselves in life and how we go about those differences. Throughout the years, there’s been multiple published stories, articles, and documents that underline the struggles of other women from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds that experience a greater deal than an average American woman. Yet, not many stories have been given the recognition they deserve when discussing women giving voice to problems that they face.
A second reason Schlafly claims as to why American women are a privileged group is because they are beneficiaries of a tradition of special respect for women which is still alive from the Christian Age of Chivalry… When considering other civilizations, such as the African and American Indians, the men go around acting arrogant wearing feathers and beads, hunting and fishing, while the women do all of the hard, tiresome work of cultivating the soil, cutting wood, making the fires, carrying water, as well as taking up the cooking, sewing and caring for infants.
A second reason Schlafly claims as to why American women are a privileged group is because they are beneficiaries of a tradition of special respect for women which is still alive from the Christian Age of Chivalry… When considering other civilizations, such as the African and American Indians, the men go around acting arrogant wearing feathers and beads, hunting and fishing, while the women do all of the hard, tiresome work of cultivating the soil, cutting wood, making the fires, carrying water, as well as taking up the cooking, sewing and caring for infants.
Women who come from distinct places, countries, regions, and cultures have different privileges, based on the societies they live in and how they view them. It’s clear to notice that American women have not experienced as bad conditions as other women out there who don’t live in a country with laws strict enough to protect them or give them the rights they deserve. However, it shouldn’t be ignored that American women have been taken advantage of and cast away for being seen as weak. As a nation, we have to realize that there are moments in life when women will be able to do more than what they are given credit for and other times not as much. Even so, it’s a shame that multiple women, if not all, fall under the influence of not being able to do more or have the spirit of working harder because they believe they can’t do it from repeatedly hearing that they are not good enough. They start to lose hope that they can do anything right which affects their mental ability to deal with challenges that they encounter and go about their everyday lives.
Women who come from distinct places, countries, regions, and cultures have different privileges, based on the societies they live in and how they view them. It’s clear to notice that American women have not experienced as bad conditions as other women out there who don’t live in a country with laws strict enough to protect them or give them the rights they deserve.
However, it shouldn’t be ignored that American women have been taken advantage of and cast away for being seen as weak. As a nation, we have to realize that there are moments in life when women will be able to do more than what they are given credit for and other times not as much. Even so, it’s a shame that multiple women, if not all, fall under the influence of not being able to do more or have the spirit of working harder because they believe they can’t do it from repeatedly hearing that they are not good enough. They start to lose hope that they can do anything right which affects their mental ability to deal with challenges that they encounter and go about their everyday lives.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we continue to develop in this ever-changing world, it’s essential to address the ongoing issues that women face. Women have been historically excluded and criticized in many areas, and it’s vital that they are given space and resources they can trust to speak up and demand change. While it’s understandable to consider the possible outcomes of any major societal change, we should prioritize the voices and experiences of those most affected by existing circumstances. By working together to create a more even-handed and comprehensive society, we can move towards a vivid future for everyone.
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