“…he who keeps undisputed sway over
the heart of a coquette is indeed a hero,” narrates Washington Irving, the
author of Sleepy Hollow. In American
Literature, we learned that Sleepy Hollow
was written in the 1820s. Through the
above quote, it is quite clearly seen that people during the 1820s believed
that women were just meant to be charmed and would help the men who charmed
them gain a heroic position in society. Therefore, we can assume that it was
believed that women were merely pawns in a man’s journey to success and were
meant to do housework and other menial labor.
However, this week in American Studies, we learned
that women began to demand rights in the late 1800s and there were big
movements that swept the nation. The lead me to wonder why women started to
demand rights. Women in all of the preceding generations seemed to be quite
content with simply doing housework and slaving away under the control of men.
What happened all of a sudden? I think that this all started with equality
issues brought up by blacks and the “Am I not a brother?” movement. Women saw
this movement and learned that they could be doing so much more if they weren’t
always working around the house. As we
all know, it only takes a spark to create a fire, and out of this spark, the
“Am I not a sister?” movement began to rage. Also, some women, such as Abigail
Adams, had begun to question the patriarchy much earlier, and eventually, all
women realized that they deserved their own liberties and rights as well.
Your blog is very well written and I agree with your opinions about this movement. However, I don't think that women were content with the life that they were leading in any civilization we have come across. Last year, we had learned about how women were expected to bind their feet to show status. They only did this because they had no choice and they didn;t want to be looked down upon more than they already were. I think that women were not speaking up before because they thought that nothing could ever be changed. It was not that they were content with being other the orders of their husbands and sons.
ReplyDeleteI both agree and disagree with what you're saying. I agree with what Kavya is saying that women were never content in any civilization and were almost always for the most part oppressed. They all seemed content but inside they most probably weren't content. They feared rebellion because of the consequences. At least, that's what I believe.
ReplyDeleteMeghna, I am really looking forward to the perspective you bring to the NHD project. And I'll be curious to hear your response to Walt Disney's 1950s approach to this tale when we watch the animated adaptation of Sleepy Hollow.
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