Furthermore, this would lead to a lot of people expecting more from relationships after getting divorced, as they wouldn't want to fall victim to what cause their last marriage to end again. This is part of the high expectations people now expect from relationships. Young people may have experienced divorce or bad relationships in their life, so they do not want to fall into it themselves, making them wary of marriage. Sue Sharpe's study in the early 1970s showed that young girl's main concerns were 'love, marriage, husbands, children, jobs' in that order. When she then returned in the 90s she found that the list had flipped, with jobs and careers being in first place.
Many women probably did not even know how to write because their were neglected from their studies or were probably always to busy doing what ever their husbands wanted them to do. Rich's life was different she knew something had to change and that is the main reason why she decided to write about it. I would consider her as a model to all the other women at the time, her essay should have been a way to encourage other women to get off their buts, stop washing dishes, stop having kids, get their life together and start studying! The sad part of this is that till this day not many women are being recognized for their hard studies, and it has been almost thirty four years since this has come out to the public. This failure to consider what women need from their college experience in order to succeed is, as Rich says, part of the old belief that women's primary goal is or should be marriage--and that "[t]oo much intelligence or intensity may make [them] unmarriageable" (215).
Women did not want to express too much concern with the way they felt about the growing emptiness inside of them for they feared people would think of them as a failure. Women began filling these roles as houswives at a very young age so much so that by the end of the 1950s the average marrying age was 20 (Bowles, 2011, 4.3). Women began, at this period, using college as a means for obtaining a husband rather than as a stepping stone to a career. The perception by many was that they attended college to get their “Mrs” degree. Betty Friedan revealed what her and other women like her had kept secret for so long, that they are human beings and deserve better
Functionalists like Fletcher believed that divorce was rising because people were raising their expectations in marriage, this suggests that higher divorce rates means higher value of marriage. Women petition for 70% of divorces this shows that the women may be increasingly likely to feel dissatisfied with marriage. The unequal distribution of tasks may be a key factor for example Delphy and Leonard suggest that the woman already performed 57 unpaid roles for their partner. This places a great deal of pressure on the wife leading them to believe that divorce is the key to lift this burden off their shoulders. Couples also had fewer children which again may mean that there is less to keep them together leading to an increase in
During the turn of the century they were still defined as mothers and wives and struggled to earn the right to vote. Even in the Roaring Twenties, once women had gained to right to vote and had more freedom over the way they dressed and behaved, the still could not have fulfilling careers. The fifties marked a time when the American family closely resembled the values of the Cult of Domesticity with the ideal aproned housewife and working husband. Even today women still struggle to be paid as much as men in the same positions and to be seen not just as mothers and daughters. Though the Cult of Domesticity is long gone, we still suffer from the ramifications of it and the society from which it was
Analysis Paper Joshua Rios Ellen Goodman's “plumber problem”--as she writes about in A Husband and His Name, published by the Boston Globe on Tuesday, September 4, 2001--has become something that is increasingly more debated now than it ever has been before. Her problem is the question of whether or not a woman should change their last name to be the same as their husband's when they get married. Ellen believes that when a woman gets married she should not take her husband's name; she should keep her own birth name. There are many reasons why Ellen feels this way, but in fact, the long tradition of name changing was put in place for a reason, and should be kept the way it is. As Ellen begins to go deeper into this debate she explains why so many women change their name.
However, some women joined the work force and would do jobs that men previously had held. Some were not forced to, but they had to work as hard as they could to support their families during this difficult time. In contrast, the writer Norman Cousins commented that there was a negative opinion on the women’s presence in the workforce despite women willing to acquire a living wage. He also stated in his book that the federal government proscribed holding government jobs by both members of a married couple, and many localities stopped hiring women whose husbands with a minimum wage (Cousins 1939). Another aspect of the Depression affecting life of women was the moral argument against working-women.
Women were looked at has being less than men during the 1890s.Soceity believed women were raised to get married, bare children, cook and clean (James, 2008). Raising their family’s was considered their jobs their career. If a woman was not married it was accepted of then to take care of their elders. At one point it was even believed that if women learned it could cause harm. In the late 80s women could not receive a doctorates degree in psychology, it was extremely
In the 1950’s, there were wives who were suffering from depression. Women sacrificed a lot for their families during this time (MailOnline). Some women did not get to further their education because they had children in their early twenties. These women were unable to go out and participate in activities outside of the home because they had to be the “perfect housewife” and manage the home (Lamb). It was like they were confined to the vicinity of their home.
Although, the struggle to balance traditional culture with the modern privileges is apparent. Traditionally Greek and Roman women are suppose to uphold the duty of having and raising children, but with newfound career paths many women are having difficult obtaining both. "As a result of this dilemma, in Greece there has been a rise in abortions by working women who are afraid that pregnancy may result in the loss of their job. Indeed, many employers ask prospective female employees if they are married"(2). This fact has caused family sizes to shrink over the years giving Greece one of the lowest birthrates in Europe, and among the top five countries with the lowest birthrates in the world.