This is evident in the treatment and actions of Penelope and Calypso. In the Greek society women were expected to stay faithful to their husbands through all circumstances although the same standards were not necessarily held to men. Questia explains that “in Ancient Rome, elite women were expected to stay at home and care for their families and homes. In 18 BCE the Emperor Augustus introduced new laws in an attempt to reform upper-class morals. He made adultery a crime, although men were only found guilty if the woman they were involved with was married” (“Women in Ancient Greece and Rome”).
Women were expected to marry, have children and financially they were expected to be fully dependent on their husbands. Women rarely had careers and most professions refused entry to women. However, between the years 1850 and 1901 women’s role in society began to be challenged. There were a number of reasons for this,
During classical Athens women could not leave there homes unless there was a religious festival, birth of a child, or funeral but have to have their heads covered. In Athens, women like slaves and resident aliens, had few rights under the law. “The courage of a man is seen in commanding, of a women is obeying” (Document Q). This was said by the student of Plato and the teacher of Alexander the Great, Aristotle one of the greatest philosophers. This idea, of women having to be subordinate to men, passed down from teacher to student is what caused it to spread worldwide (Document Q).
Today, marriage is based on the idea of love. Before getting married, couples take vows to love one another no matter what until death parts them. This, according to Coontz, ensures that couples are getting married for emotional and sexual fulfillment (or Love), rather than survival and political gain. That is why it is believed that “married couples should be best friends, sharing their most intimate feelings and secrets” Love, Coontz explains, is not a new idea and it has been seen in marriages before. Even though many marriages in history were arranged, the couples eventually fell in love.
In East Asia, women were subjected to a strong patriarchal authority. Through the use of foot binding (implemented when they were young) freedom was especially limited. Such as in present day Saudi Arabia women barely had any rights and were thought of as owned and a service to their husbands. Women in present day Saudi Arabia can’t go anywhere without a man and must wear a niqab or a burka to hide them from the affection of other men. Unlike Saudi Arabia today, East Asian women bind their feet to make them appeal more attractive to men.
Unlike other Greek states, who were much less rotated around the military and had women responsible for making clothes, the Spartans left that duty for the slave women, so that the higher class women could concentrate on physical training just as much as the men did. The Spartans believed that if both parents were strong, so too would the child be. When it comes to the custom of sex between husband and wife, Xenophon correctly points out that in other Greek cities, it was considered normal for man and woman to ‘have unlimited intercourse’ following marriage, however in Sparta a man should be ashamed to be seen entering or leaving his wife’s room. Again, this creation of desire between man and wife was seen to mean that their offspring would be more vigorous. Life in Sparta was also very much
Women from both city-states would get married once they reach the age of 15. Their father would choose their husband and sometimes the women would marry someone they never even met before. After marriage, the Athenian women would stay at home most of the time unless their husband accompanies them. The Spartan women were much more luckier. After marriage they could still continue their normal and free lives.
They were also anticipated to marry into a good family with money, most likely arranged ahead of time by the parents. Upper class women were forbidden from work and were strictly protected by their spouse. Middle class women in the same region during the same period were frequently housewives with no probable education. They were often the wives of mill operators and merchants. Depending on the lower or upper level of the middle class, women were able to be work as school mistresses, or not work at all and only take care of the house.
After they find their husbands they get married, have kids and then stay home to take care of the kids while their husbands went out to work. This was a normal thing to do back then, as men were seen as the breadwinner of the family, the only one who should be bringing in money to the family. Eugenia Phelan was different, she went to university and got a degree and decided to do something with it. It was hard for her at first to get the book published because of the controversial topic: the lives of black maids. She eventually gets the booked published and shares her royalties with the maids that contributed to the book, and is offered a job at a publication company in New
1912 was a time where young people were expected to respect and be polite to their elders. It was also a time in which women were subservient to men and were expected to do as they say; all a well off women could do was get married; a poor woman was seen as cheap labour. In this year, women of the suffragette movement began to campaign to have the right to vote. Yet by 1945, most of those class and gender divisions had been breached. Priestley wanted to make the most of these changes.