Breaking Tradition Analysis

Improved Essays
In times of war life changes, and for women it was a battle for change of their rights. In both passages, “Breaking Tradition” by Kathleen Ernst, and “A Family Affair” by Gina DeAngelis and Lisa Ballinger, the topic of change was mentioned but only one passage truly depicted this change. In “Breaking Tradition” the author strays away from the topic on more than one occasion making it very unappealing and ineffective. But in “A Family Affair”, the author used how the time of war encouraged this change and described the changes these women received and were supported for. “Breaking Tradition” by Kathleen Ernst was supposed to be about change for women during the Civil War. The first three paragraphs mentioned the lived of women pre-Civil War and during the war, but then the author began to reference irrelevant information that had no part in women’s rights, “Abolitionists sponsored fundraising fairs, …. Abolitionists were people who worked to stop slavery.” (Ernst, par 5) and “One of the most famous books …. a decade before the Civil War.” (Ernst, par 7). With all the unnecessary information in the passage it provided no effectiveness to support how this war changed the lives of women. …show more content…
According to the passage, the government offered support through posters and an iconic woman, “Rosie the Riveter”. “So, in 1943, the government circulated … rolled up to display her muscle.” (DeAngelis; Ballinger, par 2), from this point on women began to volunteer for organizations that supported the war effort. As time went on America began to have women in the workforce, “And even after the war, … it had changed them as well.” (DeAngelis; Ballinger, par 5). The authors gave proof that the war changed women and gave them new opportunities for the present and

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Informed by feminist theory, Carol Berkin’s book, Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for American Independence, asserts that the Revolutionary War was not a Pleasant time period in our nation’s history. Rather it was a time of hardships for both men and woman of all classes, races and cultures. Throughout the war, the battle front was right next to home, often putting women in the center of history. In an effort to assure that after the war their loved ones had something to come home to, these women made decisions that many people did not expect from them at the time. Dr. Berkin asserts that living in a war zone brought forth complex changes and scarcity to the lives of women.…

    • 1359 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The book describes how the men wanted the women to be second to them, and how the women are supposed to follow all of their orders. Almost all of the pictures used in the book are of women, The author continues to bring up the point on how the women were trying to defy orders of the men by having their own political voices. Also, the author continues including letters that describe how the women are trying to always be cheerful even during the hard wartime. It talks about how the men did not want the women involved in the war by including orders from George Washington describing how he wanted the women not to walk with the soldiers when they were walking through towns after winning battles. She includes how horrible the women were treated such as when the British army would invade farms, they would sexually assault the women but the women would not report it because of the fear of moving down in society.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Before the Civil War, women were portrayed as petite beings that had to be cared for and looked after by their husbands and male relatives. However, during the Civil War and afterwards, women, as a whole, went through major social change. The article, “Breaking Tradition,” by Kathleen Ernst, effectively details all the changes that women went through during a life of war and freedom from social standards previously set for all females before the men were sent off. Ernst uses a variety of strategies to argue her point, and effectively support her claim that the Civil War brought social change to women. To begin, Kathleen Ernst uses a multitude of examples of change in the article.…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An example of one affect was when “women were raped-- often in the presence of their spouses, parents, or other family members-- to humiliate and terrorize members of particular ethnic groups” (Kumar,11). This shows that due to women being in the war, they were often mistreated to show that women did not have a permanent mark and to destroy their characteristics by humiliating them. Women wanted to be in the war to work as a soldier, but they had to “drastically alter their attitudes and their lives” (Zeinert, 27). This shows that in order for women to present themselves on the field, they had to display themselves as men. Since women were not apart of the war, they were not given the opportunity to have freedom due to them being “chaperoned by a male relative, usually a husband or brother, to protect their reputations”(Zeinert, 21).…

    • 1245 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Women After Ww2

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages

    A sudden shift in the workforce occurred during and after World War two. As the war gets worse, Americans and the government gets pressured to enter the war even after implementing isolationism but when the Japanese attack the Pearl Harbor everything changes from America 's perspective. It resulted to a dramatic change in the workforce especially when women took almost all responsibilities needed to be done in the society such as taking the jobs of their husband who just left for war. World War two affected many lives around the world but for most American women it benefited them and was sort of a favor because they got a chance to display their skills to society of what they are really made of and to what they can achieve being independent…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout history we have seen many cases of rivalry and disputes amongst states. It is very common that within these conflicts and disagreements, states find something that will be of benefit for each other. This situation brings not only peace amongst them, but also cooperation. It does not matter the level of power that a state may have, at some point in time within their power, they have had to make some type of decision that is beneficial for both. Interstate cooperation is no different, for decisions benefitting internally are just as important.…

    • 1002 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A certain part of society has been unchanging throughout history. The discriminative view of women has been criticized, yet still exists today. Women have been considered more of an inconvenience than anything else. Yet, through the prejudice, there are still few women in history who make a difference. One women in particular took up a man's job and fulfilled her duty better than other man could have.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This research seeks to relate the plight of women in American war and literature. As it can be seen from the novel, women play an insignificant role in the war though their presence in the storyline makes the story interesting as well as diverting the reader from the monotonous actions of war. There are a number of women that has been discussed in this novel which will generally reveal the entire story that women face in every war torn country or in time of war. This novel is therefore a good simulator of the real plight of women during the time of war (Heller 1-249).…

    • 1993 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Feminists are ambitious beings that believe in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. Gloria Steinem, an American feminist, once stated "Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It 's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It 's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It 's about baking a new pie.…

    • 1825 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As social distinctions hardened, women of the upper classes adopted behavior that distinguished them from their poorer neighbors” (Berkin, pg.6). The women of different social classes were affected differently but no one’s struggle was any easier than the other. “For American women everywhere the hours and days and years that followed were indeed filled with distress, for the war would bring problems of inflation, scarcity, and the threat of physical violence to their towns and their doorsteps” (Berkin, pg. 27). As the men went off to war, the women stayed back with the difficulties of keeping the household together and managing the food and supplies for the family. That may not…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In previous wars Women had trivial roles with the expectation they would stay at home to fulfil domestic activities. However, World War II changed women’s roles within in society majorly, despite society’s initial reluctance to accept them into the workplace. Women were very passionate towards these improvements and the opportunities to participate on the front line of war. To conclude; World War II had a major role in shaping the lives and roles of women in society of…

    • 1203 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Women's Rights After Ww2

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Women were utilized because of the shortage of men, in the workforce and as the new consumer demographic. However, once the war was over women were cast aside once more. The social change was driven by utility and not by heart. Women 's rights of this era was not driven by benevolence but because…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    There is a “single story” that men were the only real participants in the war because they were the ones that went off to battle. However, the women were not quietly sitting at home; their actions had a direct impact on the war effort and continuation. Three major occupations they had were fundraising for the war and troops, carrying on work on farms and plantations while their husbands were gone, and working outside the home for the war effort. In both the North and South, fundraising done by white women was necessary to support the Union and Confederate armies. In particular, the support of Southern women was crucial.…

    • 1922 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    World War 2 Women

    • 1338 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Even women's fashion was affected by World War 2, but all of these things would advance women's rights. Woman had to change the way that they were living their lives, or suffer tremendously. Women knew that they needed to find a way to provide for…

    • 1338 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The women’s movement was arguably the reform that drew the most attention. Women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Motts, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony and many other fought for the equal rights for women and although they would not live to see that achieved in their lifetime, their adamant effort in their struggle for equality is still one of the greatest testaments to the strengths of our democracy and would be perfectly illustrated during the Seneca Falls Convention where the issue of women’s rights would be brought to the world’s attention at the signing of the Declaration of Sentiments where the women highlighted all their grievances (Doc. H). Women were also crucial to reform movements like prison reforms where Dorothea Dix advocates for the re-education and separation of juvenile inmates and the formation of “insane” asylums for those with mental illnesses (Doc A). Women were also a huge factor in the fight for abolition and became the centerpieces of abolitionist art like the stunning symbol of a woman in chains with the iconic quotes “Ain’t I a Woman and a Sister?” (Doc C).…

    • 1039 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays