U. S History 1865 to present Compare and contrast the image of the ideal woman in the 1890s and 1950s. In which era did women have more freedom? How so? There were many similarities as well as differences between the women of the 1890s and the women of the 1950s. Both eras of women had similar household duties and responsibilities, along with some differences as well. Their duties in the work area however were different. The women in the 1950s were expected to be perfect in every way, and every family wanted that ideal women in their home at that time, “the perfect housewife. In the 1890s, women were put to work in the work force like men. They were put in factories and were used for cheap labor. This means that these women would work hard labor jobs for cheap pay, wages well under what the normal paying hard labor job should be paying. If this was a man that was doing this hard manual labor job, they would probably be getting paid a lot more than what these women were being paid. This was disrespectful to these women, and the level of disrespect that these women received and be of great comparison to the women of the 1950s.
The women of the 1950s were expected to cook, clean, and take care of the house while their husbands were at work. Their husbands would disrespect them, they would expect dinner and things done when they got home from work. Even though the women of the 1890s and 1950s may have had different responsibilities job wise, they were both still disrespected within these responsibilities by men. Both eras of women were held responsible for the car of their household, along with managing their family and taking care of the children.
The women of the 1890s were in my mind responsible for a lot more. They had to manage their households, and handle manual labor work as well. All of these women suffered. They both suffered from being disrespected from men, and these women had to live their whole lives being told how to live their lives. Neither of these women from both of these eras could come into the world and be whatever it is that they wanted to be. Both of these eras of women were born and from the moment their were born, they were raised in a certain manner in which they will live the rest of their lives.
Whether it was in the 1890s and they were suppose to be manual labor women working in factories and working hard for no money, or if it was in the 1950s and they were suppose to be perfect in every way and expected to be that ideal house wife that every man needed to come home to with food and a bath ready for them when they came home from a hard day of work. Neither of these eras of women had much freedom. If someone were to have to choose a side that had more freedom, it would probably be the women of the 1890s. The women of the 1950s were just so restricted from doing anything.
The perfect mother was to stay home and nurture their children in order for society to accept them. These women were also only considered good wives if they carried out every one of their husbands orders and agreed with them on everything. They were being both physically abused and emotionally abused. They had no freedom at all. They were told what to do and how to do it by their husbands and men in the community, and could never do any of the things that men could do. The ideal women during both of these eras indeed went through some hard times.
They both struggled to try and gain respect from their society that they feel they deserved. They had their differences but struggled in similar ways as well. It is hard to say which era of women had the most freedom within their own eras. Some may agree that the women of the 1890s did, and some might say that the women of the 1950s did. The readings about each and everyone of these women found in books today, can really show you how much women struggled to gain respect from society and how hard life was for them all the time.
