Womans Struggle For Independence Essay -- essays research papers fc

Woman's Struggle for Independence Women have had to fight for there independence. They have been repressed for a long period of history. Only recently have women started to gain respect as equals and individuals. Even today women are still looked down upon for there sex. From the begging of history women have been viewed as a lesser sex. In the time Mesopotamia women we in charge of the children and the home. In Ancient Egypt women had no power or authority. Women were viewed as property. The Hebrews, alto respecting women, did not allow them to own any property or to have an active place in government. In Rome women were not allowed to voice there opinions. They were viewed as lesser beings, who's role in society was to give birth and to take care of children. They were property of there husbands and not viewed as individuals. There husband was there master and women we practically slaves and was often mistreated by there husband. A servant to the male sex. During the middle ages women still has almost no rights. They still didn't have the right to voice there opinion and were still viewed as property. If they disobeyed there male role model they were punished. The art of the Renaissance gave women some freedom to voice there opinion about the arts and social issues as long as there opinions weren't very radical. However women were only the objects in the arts. They were the models and not the creators. They were not allowed to express themselves but only to be expressed by others. This lead into the period of the Reformation, women were still viewed as property and the homemakers. They did not really get there place in society. The 17th century was the first real growth of the women's movement. Up until this time women had been in the same category as property or slaves. But as the French society moved toward revolution women began to speak of the injustice against them. "The Vindication of Rights of Women (1792) called for the extension of the principle of the liberty to women and urging that equal public education be made available for men and women" (Perry, 289). This list of the right that women were lacking was one of the first attempts at creating a legislation that included women in its laws. During the scientific revolution men were making discoveries and coming up with new ideas all over the world. This was not possible for women beca... ...tes presidents wife for example. Women such as these have a great deal of power and influation, but they wouldn't have this if it wasn't for there husbands. The idea that a woman can work and be just as productive as a man a receive the same rewards happens to a point. The majority of the heads of corporations are men, women make a lesser salary and aren't promoted as much as men. As a woman rises in power in a company she usually gets to a point and then the promotions stop. This event of a sudden stop in promotion has been called "The Glass Ceiling effect" (Lunt). This can only be explained as women are still being treated as a lesser being to men. The reason why women are inferior to men is still unknown. It has been around for as long as men and women have walked the earth. Hopefully soon it will disappear completely and we can all be viewed as equals. Works Cited and Works Consulted Golden, Richard and Thomas Kuehn. Western Societies. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993. Lowenthal, David. The Past and Foreign Country. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. Lunt, Richard. Lectures. Perry, Marvin. Western Civilizations. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993.