African American Women In The 19th Century

Women have come so far since the nineteenth century. They have become so much more equal to and more independent of men. “The story of an hour” shows feminism through the eyes of a women in the nineteenth century which compares to feminism nowadays.
You can define feminism in so many ways. But the main two are “The theory of the political, economic, and also social equality of the sexes” and “Organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests as well”. (Merriam-Webster) Feminism has been around since god knows when. Feminism was so bad that African Americans had more rights than white women did at a certain point in time. African Americans had the right to vote in the 1870’s. Women had to wait a whole fifty years after African Americans
had the chance too.
“Women in the nineteenth century were living in a age where they were so much more unequal to men.
They had only a little bit of legal, social, and political rights that women nowadays take for granted”. (Enotes.com 1) Women back then couldn’t vote or even have any property after their marriages. They couldn’t even take possession of their own kids if they got divorced. they couldn’t even get an education like the men could get.
“Men were the primary “breadwinners” and the women were just expected to stay at home to raise children, to clean, to cook, and also provide a safe haven for returning husbands”. (Women...19th century 1) Men back then really thought of there wives as not a regular person but more like a trophy. They really didn't treat them right at all. They would abuse them, treat them horrible, and also force them to do things they didn’t want to do. Men basically thought that women didn’t deserve any rights and that any rights they did have, they didn't deserve them what's so ever. In the story of an hour Mrs. Mallard is a women in the nineteenth century and she comes to find out that her husband died in a train accident. When she gets this terrible news she is devastated. She goes to her room to grief by herself. While in her room grieving, she starts thinking how her her life would be without her deceased husband. She starts becoming very happy about this tragic event that took place, she starts whispering that she is free! ( chopin
2) Women in her time period had to basically be the husband's slave. Based on “The story of an hour”. Mrs. Mallard did meet the expectations women were meant to do. “there would be no no one to live for…; she would live for herself”. (chopin 2) This is telling the reader that she is glad that her husband is actually dead because now she won't live for him or anyone else for the rest of her life. That she will only live for herself and only listen to herself and won't have to take any orders from anyone ever again. The reader can conclude that Mrs. Mallard was fed up with her husband and was ecstatic that he was no longer with them. Also when the author said “And yet she loved him- sometimes. Often she had not”. (chopin 2) The reader can resolve that Mrs. Mallard basically hated her husband, probably because her husband mistreated her like so many men did at that time period did. Women have really come so far from the days of just staying home and basically being a slave.
From not being able to get an education to not being able to even vote for a president. But even though they came so far there is still a lot of feminism throughout the entire world. “In 2012 there was hundreds of men and women who protested. There was cleavage here, thigh there. This was all just to demonstrate against the dumb idea that if women dressed where they are showing a little bit of skin and got raped, that she was just asking for it”. (Feminism Today 2) People who actually feel this way should really try and stop thinking that because they have no idea how scared and terrified that girl was when that happened. But this is just another kind of feminism that is out there in today's society. Then there are a group of people who thinks feminism is dead that they have gotten rid of it. But the reality is that feminism isn’t dead but more like it took a new face, sort of like a disguised itself. “Nowadays it's so easy to dismiss the need for feminism because the ‘Big Issues’ have been taken care of. But there is still so much discrimination out there against women out there”. (Feminism Today 2) “In 2010 a study conducted for springer’s journal of law and human behavior concluded that 90% of women have suffered sexual discrimination in the workplace including offensive sexist remarks or being told they could not do their job properly due to that they are a women”. (Feminism
Today 3) This was just one of the biggest problems in feminism women are facing today. “The founder of UK feminista, Kat Barnyard, said: “It feels like progress on women's equality has not just slowed down, it has gone into reverse”. (Feminism Today 3) The moral of the story is that even though women have come so far is that there is still so much feminism that is going around. And the only way to fight this and stop it is to face the fact that there is so much more to do to end this so called war against feminism.“It is about fairness and understanding. About realising and celebrating the differences between men and women, because they are even on the most basic biological levels”. (feminism today 4) After all, it’s about giving women the recognition they deserve and appreciating them as equal members of society and giving them a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T.