WOMEN'S ISSUES: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
The subjugation of women to men is a common theme in U.S. History. Our history is filled with illustrative examples, at least one of which continues to this day. The course has made me better informed, more appreciative and angrier, and I would convey my understanding of women's U.S. History through parallel timelines of domestic, political workplace and educational developments.
What you would identify as a common theme in women's lives in U.S. History?
A common theme in women's lives in U.S. History is their subjugation to men. The fact that women have had to scrap for equal treatment in a nation claiming dedication to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is a stunning indictment of that nation's practices. The fact that Hillary Clinton is the first female nominee of a major political party in the nation's nearly 240-year history, particularly when compared to other countries, such as India, Israel, Great Britain and Germany, which have already been led by women, shows just how badly the United States lags in practicing its principles.
B. How does the common theme that you have identified get articulated differently across different time periods and the experiences...
History is rife with women's subjugation to men and adequately articulating those experiences of women of different races, ethnicities and classes would take volumes. One example is the domestic life of a woman in a slave family during the 17th Century: whose mother could easily have been raped and who could have been raped herself by white men with impunity (DuBois & Dumenil, 2016, p. 55); whose marriage was not legally recognized (Burns, 1990); and who reasonably felt deep alienation (Menard, 2001, p. 41). A second example with the young, white female European immigrant: who came here as an indentured servant (Menard, 2001, p. 46); who had to work hard in the tobacco fields (Menard, 2001, p. 46); and whose marriage meant the absorption of her identity into her husband's, with no separate legal identity; and whose property, children and body were legally controlled by her husband (DuBois & Dumenil, 2016, p. 50). A third and nationwide example is the fact that women were not granted the right to vote until 1919, fully 130 years after the nation's founding and merely 97 years ago (DuBois & Dumenil, 2016, pp. 406-470). A fourth and nationwide example is…
