Women In 19th Century America

Today, in America, little girls are told they can be or do anything they want as long as they set their minds to it. They are not taught any restrictions that will hold them back or deny them opportunity to reach their goals. Girls are educated and prepared to face the world in the same manners as little boys. Lucky are they, to be awarded such rights that were once only a girl’s dream. Girls living in the 19th century were not so privileged. They had to fight for rights that are so often taken for granted in today’s society. Margaret Fuller was one of those girls that grew up to fight for the rights of women. Even she was more privileged than most during her life time, as she was provided with an education, uncommon for girls of the era. As …show more content…
A woman’s place was clear, she was to remain domestic and restrained, a homemaker and caretaker (Gary, Faye, Linda M. Sigsby, and Doris Campbell 1). In a white-male dominated society, women subsisted in the background, not offered a formal education or gainful employment. “Most highly educated colonial women came from elite families and were taught at home by their fathers or other supportive relatives” (McMahon 8). To be educated as a woman was a privilege, not a right and intellectual pursuits were strongly discouraged (Cruea 3). The reality was “women too interested in education were labeled pedants, and told that they acted out of selfishness that threatened social and domestic harmony and the very institution of marriage” (McMahon 19). Society instilled that a proper woman was idle and compliant (Cruea 4). Women were asked to educate themselves for the benefit of society and not to acquire knowledge for themselves (McMahon 20). Educated females were, nevertheless, not widely accepted and “Educators… had to reassure the public that the education of women would primarily serve others, not individual women who might threaten the social and domestic order with their intellectual ambitions (McMahon 20). Reliance on the husband was essential since, although there were a few occupations, women could acquire, the working …show more content…
While women are still predominantly the caretakers of the home, and imbalances still exist, women are now provided with opportunities that were once only available to men (Kennedy 3). Women are able to pursue any occupation, educational path, or the lifestyle they choose. The fight, Margaret Fuller engaged in so long ago maintains relevancy still, as women continue to fight for absolute equality. “While legal constraints exist to prevent discrimination, research demonstrates disparities still occur” (Kennedy 6). Women often face inequities in the workplace. “Wage discrimination is widely practiced” with “male executives [earning] significantly higher salaries and bonuses that their female counterparts” (Kennedy 1-2). Americans should extend Fuller’s ideas, to all areas where inequalities exist still today, to lead to a more prosperous and favorable environment for all