Zubeida Ishaqsei

Professor Beafore
POL 1510
3 February 2016
Womens Place in the Early Nineteenth Century
As strange as it sounds, women not too long ago were limited in their rights and
in basic tasks that today are readily available in the United States. In the early nineteenth
century, women were disadvantaged compared to men in so many ways, that it
unfortunately even impacted their status in society and in various areas of their
communities. Women still had a fairly large role in their own households; for instance,
they took control of the children and of the basic tasks at home. However, they were not
educated of the system and of basic skills, and so their scope of power and leadership
unfortunately did not leave beyond the walls of their homes. The political, economical,
and social factors were the main causes that led to the misrepresentation of women in the
early nineteenth century.
The economic area that women were disadvantaged is one critical point that needs
to be discussed. As Logan Shirley mentions in her book, We Are Coming,
In a speech at Franklin Hall she commented on the lack of employment opportunities for
young black women in Boston as a consequence of "the powerful force of prejudice," a
force that prevented them from becoming more than domestic workers (9), Maria W.
Stewart, a religious abolitionist, states in one of her speeches, that the employment
opportunities are scarce for women, and in this case, colored women especially. Women
are not able to find a job opportunity outside their typical domestic work, which

involves basic cleaning and household chores under the employers supervision. The
main issue behind this economic deficiency is the strong attachment of the label and
stereotype associated with women; doubting their skills and capabilities compared to the
men. This lack of employment is a very serious issue; the woman will always be
dependent on the man if she is not able to get employed to other job areas if she wants to
and has the qualifications to work. The structure of the work force, apparently, was the
root of this economic employment problem for women; if all the employers, managers,
board members, and the bosses were the men, then there is a bias against women that will
not be eliminated until there is a balance of women to men ratio, and until this mentality
that men are more capable than the women, is abolished. This economic disparity in
women leads them to have a very narrow understanding of the world around them, since
they are only capable of working in areas of domestic work such as cleaning, and not
elsewhere where other skills can be used that create a greater and more useful citizen of
their society. Also, as stated in the 19th and early 20th Century article online, women
remained for the most part excluded from trade unions, and unequal pay was the norm,
the trade unions, which were organizations set up to maintain equal wages, excluded
women from it. Thus, women were always paid unfairly compared to men in every field
of work, and even in the domestic work area. Also, as stated that unequal pay was the
norm, this shows that the economic disadvantage of women was seen as a natural part of
the economic life during the nineteenth century in the United States. So, the women had
no choice but to spend their times at either a domestic work area including working at a
factory as well, or staying at home doing the regular tasks such as cleaning, preparing
food, and taking care of the children as well. Along with the economic disparities that

women faced which led to their misrepresentation in the nineteenth century in the United
States, there also existed another factor that misrepresented women as a whole as well.
The social aspect of the typical womans life was especially at a huge
disadvantage as well in the early nineteenth century. As it is stated by Kristin Bowers in
the Eerie Times newspaper, But as I read about how she had gained the attention of even
the president of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt, I was struck by a realization: This
intelligent, influential woman was essentially a second-class citizen, an influential
woman named Tarbell, who shaped the society at her time so much, was still stuck in a
type of caste-system which ultimately still put her beneath her male counterparts
regardless of her accomplishments. This social situation prevalent is very detrimental, as
one can observe and contemplate, to any societys female population. No matter how
hard a woman tried in her time of the nineteenth century, she would still be looked as a
disadvantaged human being in a way, and so she would not be taken into full
consideration. Tarbell, this successful and great woman in her society, and in the larger
scale, in the United States (since even the President Roosevelt took notice of her great
and accomplished works), could have achieved so much if it were not of the fact that she
was a woman. Men, as one can infer, held all the social systems; the government, and all
the leadership positions. Thus, this leads to the womens disadvantages in even the social
aspects of the country. This disadvantage of the social aspect of the women meant that the
women were not able to express their own feelings to the public or even have a say in
matters that meant a lot to the country- and to the women and men together. The men
thus, had more experience in the social aspects of the country and in their own society,
and so they had control over many things. This means that the men spoke for the women;

and so there was no empathy for the women since the women could not have credit for
their words or feelings. There also remains a third category in which the women were
misunderstood in many ways; thus leading to the misrepresentation of the women starting
mainly in the early nineteenth century.
The final category of the misrepresentation of women is the political disadvantage
that women faced in their societies. This factor is very detrimental to the communities
that the women lived in; they are a barrier to the progress of women themselves and
creating a more equal environment for both genders. As Holly J. Blake discusses in her
article Marie Howland in The American journal of Economic and society, Marie
Howland, a nineteenth century novelist, womens rights activist, and social theorist who
has been largely neglected by both historian and feminists (1), this emphasizes that
regardless of Marie Howland, an influential and hardworking female figure in the
nineteenth century for women, and her work that she has done, many historians and even
feminists have overlooked them. This problem and ignorance of womens works
compared to mens works stems from the deep problem involving the stereotypes
attached to the women.

Bibliography
Morantz,R.M."MakingWomenModern:MiddleClassWomenandHealthReformin19thCentury
America."JournalofSocialHistory10.4(1977):490507.Web.

Logan,ShirleyW.WeAreComing:ThePersuasiveDiscourseofNineteenthcenturyBlackWomen.
SouthernIllinoisUP,1999.Print.
Bowers,Kristin."KristinBowersColumn."EerieTimes.PA,02Mar.2016.Web.07Mar.2016.
"StrikingWomen."19thandEarly20thCentury.Web.07Mar.2016.