Are women’s roles
in the 21st century different from the ones they had in
Austen’s times?
Throughout this
century, the role of women within society has changed, and the majority of
people feel that this change is for better. More women work than ever before,
and it is accepted in Western culture that many women now have careers.
Nonetheless, in the 19th century there was a great deal of sexual
discrimination against women in society. Jane Austen contemplated the female
submission throughout her book Pride and
Prejudice, and how women had to look for the suitable husband who should
have an equal or higher socioeconomic level in order to keep or improve their families’
lineages thanks to a convenient marriage.
To begin with, in majority of cases when women did not
get married implied, not only that they were excluded from social life, but also
they had a precarious one. Since daughters of fathers with limited fortunes
often had difficulty finding husbands .Elizabeth’s
friend, Charlotte, explains her pragmatic view: I am not romantic, you know.
I never was. I ask only a comfortable home. Many women (such as
Charlotte) had to marry solely for the sake of financial security.
Secondly, the traditional views of the
position of women within society are so deeply ingrained that they have not
really changed. For instance, the view that women should stay at home and look
after their children still widely held, is not new. In Austen’s times it was
even worse. For example, if she was widowed, she had no control over her
children unless her husband had named her as guardian; if she was separated
from her husband, she was disgraced in the public eye and her husband had legal
possession of the children. It
was not until 1839 that a new law allowed a separated or divorced woman to sue
for custody of her children under seven years of age and for visiting rights to
her older children.
Thirdly, since families often need two
incomes in order to enjoy a good standard of living, a woman finds herself
doing two jobs. So, it could be said that a woman’s position has, in fact, been
deteriorated rather than improved, with the result that women carry the burdens
of equality but get none of the benefits. Nevertheless, it did not happened in
1800s.A woman’s economic independence was further restricted because of the
stigma attached to a female who earned money through working. An unmarried woman could become
a governess, but this was a position beneath the social rank and status of
middle and upper class young women and was; thus, regarded as
humiliating. Some unmarried women conducted girls’
schools, but most of them lacked sufficient education to fill this or other
professions.Women had very few rights. A woman, no matter her wealth or social
standing, was looked on forever by the government and by society as a second
class citizen. They were restricted from gaining more than a few years of
mainstream education, were banned from obtaining any but low-paying jobs, were
looked on with disparagement if they stayed single, and were forced to be
obedient to men. All such restrictions
and manipulations were condoned by church, state, and tradition.
In contrast, there are some people who
claim that the problem of sexual discrimination no longer exists. They point
out that women do, after all, have legal rights intended to protect them from
discrimination. The late eighteenth century also witnessed a transformation in
the conception of women’s rights following the publication of Mary
Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the
rights of woman in 1792. In the “Vindication”
Wollstonecraft argues, in the language of Enlightenment
thinkers like John Locke, that women should be treated as equal of men. Jane
Austen was highly influenced by those ideas. What seems to be one of the most important
issues about “woman’s place” for Jane Austen is education – the development of
the mind and character of the young woman – But, How did a girl at that time
acquire a more substantial education? Primarily
through continuous and serious reading. In
addition, if a girl had a learned father or brother and consequently, a good
library at home with a wide range of significant books, conversation about them
was available to her. A few
girls even learned Greek and Latin at home from their fathers and
brothers. By the late
eighteenth century, women’s social life was broadening; thus, women
participated in dinner parties, assemblies, where it was possible to converse
with educated men on an equal basis. Nonetheless, those examples were not the
norm.
Taking these points into consideration, it
can be said that the position of women has improved only slightly. While rules
and laws have changed, it is the deep-rooted opinions of people within society
which are taking a longer time to evolve. Needless to say, until men attitudes
have changed, sexual discrimination will remain forever.
Bibliography
http://catarina.udlap.mx/u_dl_a/tales/documentos/lhu/marquez_c_pa/capitulo1.pdf
