Patriarchy In The 18th Century

Traditions molded women's roles to be simple: obey and support your husband while taking care of the house and the children. Many things have changed since those traditions first resulted and will continue to change. Women are in pursuit of dominance, leadership, they are beginning to become the overachievers challenging these traditions. These traditions can be otherwise be known as Patriarchy,enforced and used in various religions. Christianity for example, “There are two important aspects about Christian Patriarchy. The first is the belief in the importance of male headship or authority, and the second is the belief that men and women have vastly different roles to play” (Anne para 2). Many Christians up to date can assure you these tradition
Cauchon makes a statement claiming “superiority of women over men… is increasingly common”, it’s been a work in progress in years such as 1700’s much of society thought highly of patriarchy, women had no voice and no rights. Women had no careers and little to no education, they lived in the shadows of their husband, obeying what they were told to do. Women had very little opportunities to earn an education, they were only taught to read, write and limited basics of math, they didn’t need an education because it was the man who needed to be educated. Most women never finished school and those who did were of a higher class, “Higher education was not open for women until 1837, and even then only to a very limited degree…” (Dunleavy para 14). Women fought for more independence of men and they accomplished many achievement. Women are allowed in schools and can get a degree, they have the right to vote and can also work in prestigious places. Women began to stray away from patriarchy, they began becoming independent and for once pursuing things they were once not allowed to do. A big part of a woman’s role was producing children, unfortunately having children can be very restricting and woman have caught on, “One in every two women in their early twenties delayed early marriage to accumulate and advanced education in late 1970’s early 1980’s” (Kohen para 5).
Eastern countries; Nagovisi, New Guinea: Garo, North-East Indian: Bribri, Costa Rica: Akan,Ghana: Minangkabau, Indonesia: Mosuo, Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. These tribes and societies are governed and led by females, whose known only of matriarchy. It shows that although religious practice is a big influence on the way societies are ran, there are different beliefs. Although traditions in the United States are changing, there are many positives to women achieving leadership roles in families. For example families aren’t struggling to make ends meet, women are beginning to work and in some circumstances are becoming the head of the house. “Today 28% of wives outearn their husbands when both are working... In 1976, only 6% of American women claimed to be the sole breadwinners in the family, those numbers have now changed to an astounding 23% of women” (Cauchon para 3). Women contributing to household income not only helps their spouse but also the rest of their family or children. It provides families with the money they needed to make ends meet, it lessen the stress of income shortage. One source of income has to pay not only bills but buy food and necessities for living and for children, some couples may be living a paycheck to paycheck life. With women earning higher education