Allahverdi 1

Vahagn Allahverdi
English 101
11/25/15
A History of Oppression
History is known as great events that happen in the past: Great not as in good but in the
sense that it impacted a large quantity of people. Whether it is a single group of high-powered
individuals or an entire nation, history is remembered by its repercussion on society. Most look
back at the Armenian Genocide (the premeditated slaughter of over one and a half million
Armenians) or the Holocaust (the killing of over six million Jews and others during World War II
caused by the Nazi Party) and remember the tragic memories and focus on not recreating them.
Yes, those events did occur many years ago and had such a great impact, but most do not focus
on changing what is still happening. Ever since the early ages, women have been oppressed and
looked at as the weaker being. Throughout history, very few countries had a woman be in a
position of power. The oppression started early when women were chosen to stay home and farm
and gather the food while the men went out to hunt for animals. Even though the farming and
gathering method was their main source of food because of its reliability, men thought less of
women because they considered it easy to farm. Also the men believed that women were not
strong enough or smart enough to hunt with them. During the times where painting and writing
became popular, even then women were shunned. Women painters were looked down at and
were considered untalented. Because of that, some women started writing using a different

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name, a male name, in order to get their work recognized. Otherwise that, the work of a woman
was not acknowledged or even looked at. In some cases a man would take credit for the work of
a woman and claim all the credit for it.
To focus on a specific point, the wage gap between a woman and a man is nearly thirty
cents. To every dollar a man makes, a woman will make nearly seventy cents. That is nearly
thirty percent less. It is extremely unfair that a woman will get thirty percent less for the exact
same amount of work. This wage gap does not exist only in the United States but also other
countries. No matter how much effort women put into the society, for some reason it does not
seem to be enough. Even after all that women have been through, some are still treated poorly
and with such utter disrespect it is unbearable to witness. Although there are times where they
are mistreated there are also times where they arent. Many have joined together to create a
group to fight against the oppression and try to make a difference in the workforce. Men still
believe that women have it easy and they get things handed to them but they do not understand in
order for a woman to succeed she must perform better than all other women and men in the work
environment. It is sad to see that women are still looked as being weaker or not as smart as
men and that they are not capable of performing a task as well as a male would. One of my
sources suggests that research shows that one of the very first agriculturists were women as well
as sculptors and tool makers. Women have made a great impact on society and helped improve
our economy greatly. In connection to a story titled, The Yellow Wallpaper which included a
woman who was deemed to be crazy and insane only because her husband and the male doctors
suggested it and there simple was no cure for it because she was a women and it was meant to be

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that way. Since she is a female, she has that sickness. Therefore, she is left inside the room
which slowly drives her insane.

Even though many disagree with the wage gap, according to Oliver
Cann, The global gender gap will not close until 2095. This is tragic to
discover that even though they have suffered all those years of oppression,
they will need to suffer eighty more years in order to finally end the gender
inequality and even that is not guaranteed. In 2012, close to half of the
women were the primary income sources earning more than half of the
familys income. If the wage gap did not exist, those families would
theoretically have more money to spend on whatever they need or give the
working women a rest. In order to portray her early life, Woolf wrote about a
girl named Judith. Judith was first introduced in one of her stories, A Room
of Ones Own as Shakespeares sister. Even though Judith had the same
skills and talent, she was denied from all of the same opportunities her
brother had because she was a woman. Just like Woolf, Judith was trapped
at home and had to spend most of her time there which made her
imagination stronger. Throughout her life, Judith is kept down by her family.
For example, when she refused to get married, her father beat her and
forced her into marriage. Judith was powerless and could not do or follow

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what she had in mind. As Shakespeare made a name for himself, Judith had
to stay home and follow the expectations of a woman.

On a positive note, there are many groups of women and men who are
joining together to create protests and movements to shed some light onto
the hidden facts of the oppression of women. Many highly recognized women
are taking part in spreading the word and doing their job in keeping the
public aware of the situation. Recently Jennifer Lawrence, the famous actress
known for her roles in The Hunger Games and The X-Men, created a
movement to show that even in the high paying roles such as acting, for the
same role a woman is paid much less than a male actor. Sam Richard states,

It would seem that men did not become more rich and powerful because of
their superior strength, but because they were not tied by the hour-to-hour
work of providing for the fetus and young children, and were indeed
supported by women. This freed them for other things. What Richard is
trying to explain is that without women taking care of the other tasks, men
would not have time to do what they would in order to progress and become

rich. Richard adds in his article, The Origins of Womens Oppression

Maria Mies stresses that evidence suggests that it was women who were
the early agriculturists, not only, making vessels for gathering surplus food
but also cultivating crops by means of early tools, such as digging sticks and

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hoes. Not many know of this fact because of the history of women and how
their work was never shown. They would not keep records of their
discoveries and works because they did not find them to be intelligent or
even important enough. Their discoveries and works were subpar to the
works of a man.

In conclusion, regardless of the work done, or the history that has gone
by, women are still oppressed in society. Although many are trying to shed
some light on the subject, it is a controversial topic which is slowly being
answered. As society progresses, so do women and their abilities alongside
men. The future is looking brighter for them due to the hard work and
struggle of many women in the past, the old news of their oppression is
slowly coming to an end.