For example, women now go out to work, just as men now help with housework and childcare. However Feminists reject the ‘March of Progress’ theory, and argue that women remain unequal within the family. Anne Oakley argues that we still live in a patriarchal (male dominated) society, and therefore women occupy a subordinate and dependant role within the family and wider society. In addition in Mary Boulton’s research backed this, she found that fewer than 20% of husbands had a majority role in childcare. Overall it could therefore be argued that rather than partners becoming more equal, women now have to carry a ‘dual burden’, whereby she is responsible for two jobs of unpaid or paid labour.
Functionalist Murdock suggested as children we are socialised into societies shared norms and values and he believed that males provide the economic roles and females provided the expressive role. Therefore it is natural for women to play the expressive role in the household looking after the family’s emotional needs. However, radical feminist Ann Oakley argues that the role of the housewife is a social construction and isn’t linked to the female role. The housewife role makes sure that women stay inferior to men making it difficult for them have careers. Women carry out the triple burden in the household; the domestic labour, emotional labour, and paid labour.
An example of a relationship turned futile in the face of marginalisation is Curley's wife. Steinbeck writes her as the most complex character, showing us three sides to her. In section two Candy describes her as, 'a tart', which gives us the impressin that she sleeps around so much that everyone knows about it. This point is further reinforced by Curley, who is always looking for her. Steinbeck portrays him as paranoid and insecure for which he overcompensates for with aggression.
He always comes before I feel anything.’” She treats her husband poorly in front of the whole town, even after he tried to help her out. She tries justifying sleeping with other men, because her husband is poor in bed. After she shattered his image he left the incident and went off. White Cat never really says exactly how Meng Su died, just some assumptions that leave you
She became mean too since she was lonely and the men rejected her. Curley’s wife was so lonely that she looked like a desperate, sour woman but when she died “the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young.” (Steinbeck109). Loneliness had affected Curley’s wife so much that the only time she looked happy and in peace when she died. Loneliness had made her so much harm in the way that she was better off dead because she did not have the lonely feeling anymore and she looked like what she was- a young sweet, pretty, simple girl.
Her character is harshly judged from the start simply because she’s a woman and no one saw things from her perspective. Because of this, the reader is influenced to feel sympathy for Curley’s wife. Her husband, who is always trying to keep a close eye on her, controls her. He is exceedingly possessive of her, and is easily angered when he catches her talking to another man. “I get lonely.” She says to Lennie, “You can talk to people, but I cant talk to nobody but Curley”.
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.
It illustrated how men had taken away the right for women to earn money from working, and men had also taken away the opportunity for women to get an education if they desired. This is what Stanton was fighting for, the right for a women’s freewill. If all men and women are created equal women should be able to attain anything a man can such as earn money and get an education. The final view on women’s rights in the nineteenth century is calmer than the previous two. Whereas the first two authors both preach for equal women’s rights and for better treatment for women this author, Catharine Beecher, is more discreet about woman’s rights.
Many debates have happened whether or not these women approach feminism for their time period. The answer to that is ambiguous and depends on how the reader takes in their writings. One can say that even though Wollstonecraft is so obviously pining for co-education, and in that way to be equal to men, she is not promoting equality for anything else. By not wanting to be equal in anything else, how can she be approaching feminism? Pizan so obviously from the start of her writing, introduces how women should behave (from the perspective of a princess), so that her actions shall be beneficial to her and her husband.
The Domestic Division of Labour refers to the roles that men and women play in relation to housework, childcare and paid work. Parsons (1995) argues that in a traditional nuclear family the roles of husband and wife are segregated, in his view the husband plays an instrumental role geared towards achieving success at work so he can provide financially, being the breadwinner. The woman has an expressive role geared towards primary socialisation of children and meeting the emotional needs. Parsons said that these roles made things ‘nice and functional’ for society. He also argued division of labour is based on biological differences between men and women, as women are naturally suited towards nurturing role and men to a powerful role.