New Woman Reflection

Inevitably, the 2016 fall semester came around and I found myself seated in a course known as WOMS336. At the start of this course, I was introduced to the “New Woman”, a term unfamiliar to me prior to this class. As a group, we engaged in lively conversation regarding the “New Woman” and what she means in terms of class, race, journalism, photography, and more throughout this semester. I was, of course, intrigued by the concept of the “New Woman”, her role in history and what she meant to not only our society today, but to myself as an individual. Having a particular interest in history, I was captivated learning about women in history instead of men, which was all too common. Examining the “New Woman” as both a cultural and a political phenomenon, …show more content…
Matthews 's Essay talks a lot about women 's work and the work that was available to women in America at the time in terms of race and class. When women entered new areas of education and work, "the pattern that developed in the field of education replicated itself in the professions and the world of white-collar work. Once women were in, they were either shunted or voluntarily moved separate specialties while men fell back and regrouped around an inner bastion that was more secure against female pressure" (40). Unfortunately, the job went down in prestige when more women came and any work identified specifically with women became a lower status form of employment. Even today, science is seen as a good profession for men, but women make good assistants because they handle "delicate" work. When it comes to higher education that was no easy ride for a woman. "As old arguments against women 's education faded, new ones seemed to emerge" (37). Before, it was believed that a college education "would make girls into physical and nervous wrecks" (37). However, when the number of healthy graduate women increased, men seemed to need a new, practical reason to deter women from seeking higher education. After the 1900 census was released, there seemed to be a dramatic drop in the U.S. birthrate since the year 1860. The declining birth rate was not among immigrants, who produced large families, but among white, native-born women. As birth and marriage rates continued to decline among college-educated women, President Theodore Roosevelt "gave it greater currency when he denounced the marriage-and-motherhood-avoiding woman as comparable to the soldier who shirks his duty" (38). This is a classic example of the lengths men would strive to keep as many women out of college and workforce as possible. It is also an all too common occurrence in history and