Women history

Running Head: WOMEN HISTORY
Women History
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Abstract
Women are considered to be among many other things, inferior of the two sexes (male & female). According to Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia (1995), they (women), are also considered not only evil, but tempting creatures, a statement quoted in many Greek excerpts of its ancient history. This paper seeks to highlight, not only the challenges women face currently, but also historical approaches to the current and continuous debate of gender equality. Two women were interviewed in an American family setting and their experiences as women in various fields of concern such as work places and education facilities, discussed in detail in relation to the general history of women in America.
Introduction
When conducting the research, it was striking to note how passionate the women interviewed responded to the questions especially those that touched on marginalization of the womenfolk. It should be noted that in order to avoid biases and one sided narrations, consideration was given to the fact that America is a multi-cultural nation which in essence, meant that for a comprehensive understanding of the history of working women, other races apart from whites, were to be interviewed too. I was fortunate to have been born in an extended family and had a distant aunt who was of African American origin. I coupled her with my father’s eldest sister and I had all the subjects needed for the interview. For purposes of identification, I will proceed to name them Mandy and Jenna (not their true names), respectively. Both of them currently work, although Jenna is retiring very soon. Mandy is 54 years of age, married, a mother of three. In addition, she is also a professional nurse at St. Georges Hospital. On the other hand, Jenna is 60 years of age, divorced, has a daughter and works for an advertising company as the public relations officer.
Since Jenna lives close to my neighborhood, I found it more logical to interview her first though Mandy’s questioned covered most of my total interview questions. Jenna presented some rather interesting facts about the wage gap in America. From her responses, it was easy to deduce that the male sex seemed to earn more than the female sex because of the perception that women worked lesser hours than men. According to her, it is this perception that later formed the basis for the slogan “equal pay for equal work”. From research conducted on this particular topic, it seemed that the wage gap though largest between white men and white women, was replicated in other races thus making men the highest paid gender. Marginalization extended to the extent of women being viewed as the weaker gender thus providing space and grounds for sexual harassment in workplaces. From Jenna’s depiction of the history of women, she seemed to elicit some disappointment probably because most of her male counterparts had achieved a higher status than her (qualifications not withstanding), while she slowly strived to ascend the job hierarchy. She mentioned these frustrations as part of her decision to venture into private business.
My second interviewee was Mandy. It is important to note that though they lived not so close to each other, it was deliberate of myself to have separate interview sessions so as to prevent the withholding of any relevant information that might have made one of them uncomfortable, bearing in mind that they are from different races. Contrary to Jenna, Mandy thought much had been done to improve the status of women in America. Black women were now viewed equal to white women. She gave credit to globalization as something that had opened many opportunities for women to work outside America and thus prosper. She mentioned her professional qualification as a nurse where she worked for the American Red Cross earning the status of supervisor of ground operations. I got to deduce that in her case, individualism had very much influenced her both socially and economically. The subject of slavery and its relevance to women employment in America aroused bottled up emotions in Mandy. In response, she reiterated the mistreatment of African American and in particular the women, continues to haunt black women especially the job seekers. Given their history, employers are reluctant to have them take up jobs generally considered to be for white women. Their place according to Mandy is in the manufacturing industries and even so, they occupy only menial positions. In conclusion, Mandy seemed more upbeat about the developments in relation to women emancipation in America.
Cultural, Social and Economic Backgrounds of the Two Women In Relation To Women History
Both women have many things in common apart from being just women. But one of the few things they do not share in common and which creates a sharp difference in relation to their cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, is the fact that they are of different race origins. As mentioned before, one is white and the other is black. Jenna, who is of white origin, shares the pride of being a native citizen of America (native in this sense does not necessarily mean by birth, but by color). In comparison, it may seem that the white culture is considered superior to other cultures probably because of the fact that it has been emulated the world over. In the white context, a woman was expected to learn the art of cleaning and caring theoretically from their mothers, this according to Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia (1995). The future of women in the white cultural perception was therefore marriage, which would in turn lead to motherhood. Education of girls in post-colonial America came...