Blog #13

1. What were the main sources of feminism’s revival in the late 1960s and early 1970s? How did this differ from the “Third Wave” of feminism in the 1990s?

The main sources of feminism’s revival in the late 1960s and early 1970s were the help of the black women and the sexual liberation with the introduction of the birth control pill. The idea was that if women of different races were united, they would have better chances to fight and make a difference. The introduction of the birth control pill would also help the revival. That means that the new generation of women was more sexually-active women and had different lifestyle from the women in 1950s. This wave differed from the Third Wave” of feminism in the 1990s because it was to unite women in groups.

Blog # 11

1. Is it appropriate to speak about a “New Woman” in the 1920s? If so, what was new?

It is appropriate to speak about a “New Woman” in the 1920s because of it women were finally given the opportunity to be involved in politics, in voting, and having their voices heard. They were finally able to achieve different political job positions. For instance, “Women became officeholders, with a rare handful elected to Congress and more serving in various states, especially in positions earmarked as women’s jobs, such as secretary of education and secretary of state.” (pg 483) Everything that was mentioned above was new in women’s world. On the other hand, in spite of the new achievements in political world, “New Woman” was still expected to keep her household role as a wife and a mother.

2. Why did women active in politics encounter so much difficulty accomplishing their agenda in the 1920s?

The women active in politics encountered so much difficulty accomplishing their agenda because they weren’t fighting for the same issue. Different groups of women were fighting for different issues which weakened their power in accomplishing their agenda. “Once the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified, the lines that divided women – class, race, age, ideology – became more significant,” (483). Another reason for women’s so much difficulty in accomplishing their agenda in the 1920s is because the women’s groups and organizations were acting mostly independently and weren’t associating with Republican nor Democratic Party in order to get support from them. The last reason of their difficulties is because not all the women were politically active. There were some classes of women that were not involved in social reform and that made it more difficult for the active women to fight for all women’s rights.

3. How does the image on page 499 represent some of the experiences of women during the Great Depression?

The image on page 499 represents the women’s sufferings during the Great Depression. The woman in the image has a great sadness in her eyes. Seems like she is emotionally exhausted and at the same time concerned about her children. Just by looking at the picture and seeing her two children surrounding her and the little baby in her arms, I realize that these children needed their mom’s support to survive. She is a mom of three children who struggles to feed and take care of her children in such great economical difficulties. This image is a great example that represents the lives and the difficulties of many women during the Great Depression.

4. To what extent did World War II challenge gender stereotypes for women? To what extent did it reinforce them?

The World War II challenged and reinforced gender stereotypes for women. The World War II allowed women to join the military just like men did. Women for the first time got involved in the war. This was a way for women to act independently and to join the military. They also got the opportunity to have different kinds of jobs. Some women started working as mechanics, welders, pilots, and other similar “men kinds” of jobs. Also, women in the nursing field that were always seen as just nurses, were finally commissioned as doctors by the military in World War II.

Blog # 10

Textbook: Chapter 7

1. How did African American women approach the issues of reform and suffrage?

The whites saw the African American women as poor and “the tendency of black mothers to work outside the home seemed to white reformers to constitute an insurmountable barrier to their rapid improvements.” (pg 422) However, the African American women shared the issues of reform and suffrage, and fought for their rights. For instance, some black middle class women provided some sources to create kindergartens for working mothers’ children and homes to take care of the slaves with no families. Also, four hundred African American black women’s clubs were associated with the NACW by 1900. Two important African American black women are Terrell and Ida Wells who participated very actively in black women’s movement. Terrell was also one of the few women accepted in the white women’s movement. Other very important African American black women are Sara and Maggie Walkers. They were wealthy, successful in business, and helped their community and women of their race.

2. What were the main differences between the emerging feminist movement and the suffrage movement?

The suffrage movement was an organized movement for women’s political freedom and equality. It was organized by educated women who fought for their political rights and voting rights. On the other hand, the feminist movement was cultural improvement. The idea of feminist movement was to “embrace female individuality, sexual freedom, and birth control.” (pg 433) They were in favor of new lifestyles: living with men in “free unions,” living alone, or living with their lesbian partners. They were fighting for economic independence and more contemporary sexual relationships. In short, the feminist movement was to change the women’s private lives but the suffrage movement was to improve women’s public role. The feminists also explained, “All feminist are suffragists, but not all suffragists are feminists.” (433)

Textbook document ( Chapter 7 pp. 460-463) – “Talks of Feminism Stirs Great Crowd,” and “The Changing Home”

1. What were the various definitions of feminism according “Talks of Feminism. . .”?

There were various definitions of feminism in “Talks of Feminism Stirs Great Crowd.” According Edwin Bjorkman, the definition of feminism was idea of women’s individuality. He says “Woman shall have the same rights as man to be different, to experiment with her own life.” (pg 460) George Middletown considered some points of view to explain the feminism term. He said that according to feminism, men and women are equal and should be educated according to their nature and not according to their gender. Max Eastman said that the definition of feminism is that women should be free and independent like men to be able to do what they are willing to do. Another definition of feminism given by George Creel was that feminism is the women’s movements for freedom, justice, and equality. Henrietta Rodman mentioned the negative effects of feminism by adding that because of the feminism, women would lose the right to alimony and the support.

2. What role does women’s economic independence play in feminist thought?

Women’s economic independence plays an important role in feminist thoughts. It gives the women the opportunity of freedom and the rights to act independently. According “The Changing Home” article the women should have the rights to own properties. Women didn’t have to be tied to “Marriage by Intimidation,” and were able to choose the romantic love. The economic independence also helps the women to earn their own wages and not to depend on their husbands and their money. It gives the women the opportunity to have independent soul and to be free.

3. What is your own definition of feminism?

I think that feminism means fight for equality and freedom for different sexes. According to my definition of feminism, women want to have the same rights as men and fight against gender discrimination. They fight to have equal wages, the same work conditions, the same power, equal choices and opportunities. Women also try to have economical independence and freedom of choices to be able to do what they choose to do. For instance, women want to have the freedom to choose to take birth control pills, choose their lifestyles, and their sexual partners. In short, after reading the chapter, I think the key words of feminism are women’s individuality and independence.

Blog # 9

Textbook: Chapter 6

1. How were women’s experiences of immigration in the United States distinct from those of men? How were they similar?

The women’s experiences of immigration in the United States were different and at the same time similar from men’s. The men came to the United States for the opportunities to make money and support their families. Then, many of these men immigrants returned back to their countries. On the other hand, women immigrated to the US for more opportunities for independence, to be able to work and choose their spouses. However, these women immigrants experienced a lot of difficulties, rape and so on. Many of these women became prostitutes. The similarity that the immigrant men and women experienced was that both men and women had difficulties to be accepted by the native born whites and anti-immigrants.

2. How would you characterize the differences among women involved in industrial protest, the populist movement, and the settlement house movement? Do you see any similarities?

There were differences among women involved in industrial protest, the populist movement, and the settlement house movement. Women involved in industrial protest were protesting for higher wages and better work place conditions. The women involved in populist movement were mostly middle class and elite women who were trying to have political power and have the right to vote. Finally, women involved in the settlement house movement were again women from elite and middle class. They were volunteering to help the immigrant women and their children in the stage of Americanization. In spite of these differences, I see some similarities. The obvious similarity is that these women were all fighting in different ways for women’s right.

Textbook document ( Chapter 6 pp. 381-385) – “The Subtle Problems of Charity”

1. What is the “diversity of experience” that Addams witnessed in her work with immigrants in the neighborhood around Hull House, and how did it contribute to the ethical complexities about which she wrote?

Adams eyewitnessed variety of experiences while working with immigrants in the neighborhood around Hull House. She was a volunteer college graduate and was working with poor immigrant families. She writes about the moral conflicts of different classes. Describes the life of the poor and the help they needed from the charity. All the difficulties that these poor families were going through contributed to their ethics. These poor people’s ethics were based on their social values and families. They cared a lot about their families and children. However, they also cared about and shared with their neighbors. They all supported each other because they were all going through the same difficulties. She also says that the ethical differences of these families come from their financial situations and their supportiveness.

2. How did Addams’s experience as a member of the pathbreaking generation of women college graduates affect her perspective as a settlement house volunteer?

Adam’s experience as a member of the pathbreaking generation of women college graduates had excessive affects on her perspective as a settlement house volunteer. It helped her to have a better understanding about the people around her. She valued these poor families’ social values and their helpfulness to each other. This experience also helped her to become a stronger person and try to do something positive to help these people who needed help. She was an activist who became a leader to fight till the end to make some changes.

Blog # 8

Textbook: Chapter 5 (pp. 283-305)

1. What were the most significant developments in women’s wage labor in the late nineteenth century? How did they affect working-class, middle-class, and elite women.

The most significant developments in women’s wage labor in the late nineteenth century were the shift out of women workers from domestic services to manufacturing and office work. These developments in women’s wage labor affected the different class of women differently. The working-class worked in textile industries garment sweatshops. Other women who had education started working in offices. These were mostly the middle-class women. The technological development allowed them to start using typewriters. The office job paid them more than the industrial manufacture. The elite women did not have to work. Their job was mostly to take care of themselves, their beauty, and elegance.

Textbook: Chapter 6

2. What is the importance of the images on page 345 for understanding Native American women’s experience during the era of western consolidation?

I think that the importance of the following images is that it shows the lifestyle differences of Native American girls before and after Americanization. By looking at the picture on the left, I see three sad girls covered in blanket and sitting on the floor. When I look at the picture on the left, I see a totally different lifestyle. In the after picture I see the same girls but who are dressed properly, their hair looks better, they are sitting on chairs instead of on the floor, and most importantly one of them has a book (education symbol). However, what is important is that everything in these two pictures is different but the sadness in the faces of these Native American girls is the same in both of the pictures.

Textbook document ( Chapter 5 pp. 311-316) – “The Woman Who Toils,” and “The Woman Who Toils: Being the Experiences of Two Ladies as Factory Girls”

1. What different sorts of women does Bessie Van Vorst meet in the factory, and how and why do their responses to their work vary?

Bessie Van Vorst meets three different sorts of women in the factory: the bread winner, the semi-bread-winner, the women who work for luxuries. The responses of these women to their work vary because they are women of different classes. The first class of women are the girls who work in order to support their families. The second class are self-supporting women who are in competition with other women. Their response is that they work for their own pleasure. Finally, the third class of women worked for luxuries. These are the women who get support but still work in order to be able to spend more money on them and their clothes.

2. Why does Van Vorst conclude that working women are passive in accepting their working conditions and unwilling to stand up for themselves in the way of working men? Do you think she is right?

Van Vorst concludes that working women are passive in accepting their working conditions and unwilling to stand up for themselves in the way of working men because of the division of the work attitude of women competitors of different classes. The issue of wages is not fundamental. For instance, some women work to have money to survive, others work to earn money for luxuries. In contrast to women, men have one class of competitors. That is the class of bread-winner to make money to support and feed their families. She also adds about the women, “There will be no strikes among them so long as the question of wages is not equally vital to them all” (pg 315). I think that she is right. The division of the work purposes of different class of women pushes them to accept their work conditions and not to stand up for themselves. I think that this also becomes the reason of women’s low wages. Because women working for leisure don’t care about the low wages as much as the ones working to support and feed their families, so there is not unity among women to stand up and change their work conditions.

Blog # 7

Textbook: Chapter 5

1. What divided the women of the North and South in the years immediately before and during the Civil War?

The movement for freedom from slavery divided the women of the North and South in the years immediately before and during the Civil War. There were different classed in the South. The white slave-owner women wanted to keep owning slaves and the black women wanted to find their freedom. This created conflict and violence among the black slaves and their owners. On the other hand, in the North the wealthy women had better prospective. They wanted to give freedom to slaves. Moreover, they were fighting for equal rights for men and women.

2. What impact did the emergence of the “New South” have on women?

The “New South” had a great impact on black and white women. The black women were finally given the chance to have freedom. They were able to have jobs. Their lives changed to good. They were no longer the properties of their owners and could choose their lifestyle. Black slave women also were able to fall in love and they got the right to marry. When it comes to the white women, a lot of them lost their husbands on Civil War. The widows had a really hard time surviving without their husbands, and working hard to raise their children.

Textbook document ( Chapter 5 pp. 306-310) – “Race Woman,” and “Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells”

1. What were the underlying tensions and larger conflicts that led to the lynching of Thomas Moss?

According to Ida Wells, the underlying tensions and larger conflicts that led to the lynching of Thomas Moss were “…to get rid of Negroes who were acquiring wealth and property and thus keep the race terrorized and “keep the nigger down.””(pg 308) Thomas Moss along with Henry Stewart, and Calvin McDowell owned a grocery store. This grocery store was owned by “colored” people and it had negative influences on white man’s grocery’s business. This was a big problem, and was the reason that Thomas Moss and his two friends were horribly shot to death. Ida Wells says, “Thus, with the aid of city and country authorities and daily papers, that white grocer had indeed put an end to his rival Negro grocer as well as to his business...” (pg 308)

2. What was the prevailing opinion about lynching that Wells was determined to challenge?

At first, Ida Wells had accepted that even though lynching was against law, it was the way to punish the people who did terrible crime of rape and who deserved to be punished. However, after she found out how Thomas Moss and his friends had been lynched without committing any crime against white women, she changed her mind. This opened her eyes and helped her to understand that black people’s being lynched for rape was just an excuse. This was a way for white people “to get rid of Negroes who were acquiring wealth and property and thus keep the race terrorized and “keep the nigger down.” ” (pg 308). Thomas Mosse’s and his friends’ death became the challenge for Wells to begin an investigation of every lynching that she read and heard about. Through her investigation into the practice of lynching, she found out about many other black people’s death who were innocent.

3. What did Wells see as the relationship between the long history of white men raping black women and the charges against black men of raping white women?

Ida Wells says that relationships between white men and colored women were common. The rape of the helpless Negro girls started from the slavery days and still continued. They were allowed to fall in love with the beautiful colored girls. However, relationships between colored men and white women were impossible. The colored men and white women weren’t allowed to fall in love with each other. If they did so, the colored men were punished for “rape”. Wells says, “Here came lynch law to stifle Negro manhood which defended itself, and the burning alive of Negroes who were weak enough to accept favors from white women” (pg 309).

Blog #6

Textbook: Chapter 4

1. What were the different kinds of experiences that particular groups of women had as the United States expanded west to the Pacific Coast??

The main experiences that all the groups of women had as the United States expanded west to the Pacific Coast was their household duties to wash, cook, raise their children and so much more. The Mexican women had more control in their relationships over their properties. However, after American men passed a legislature, the Mexican women became poor without their lands. The native American women had a very bad experience by being thrown out of their own land by Andrew Jackson's “Indian Removal Act.” The California Indians were kidnapped, raped and killed as the settlers came from the east. The women on the Oregon Trail had a very tough experience, too. They took care of their children and cooking and their husbands drove the wagons. Most of the work and pressure was on women even when they were pregnant.

2. What kinds of historical developments brought American women into reform activities in the antebellum years?

I think that Republican Motherhood was very remarkable in expanding the educational opportunities American Women. It helped the American women to start attending schools and become educated people. Education helped them to achieve a lot more in their lives than before. Some of these educated women became writers, teachers, missionaries, and other professional people. Women also began to form groups and religious organizations for their. However, I think that the fight for women’s rights was the most significant historical development that brought American women into reform activities in the antebellum years. They fought for their rights, and this movement led to many accomplishments. In 1860 women got the permission of having economic right. They were able to buy and sell their properties, have the custody of their children when they divorced and so on.

Textbook document ( Chapter 4 pp. 242-243) – “Maria Angustias De La Guerra Ord”

1. Maria responds to the strangers she encounters with both fear and curiosity. About what is she curious? What is the source of her fear and how does Maria exhibit or conceal her reaction?

Maria was curious about whether or not the American soldiers would find Jose Antonio Chavez. She was also scared of having so many armed soldiers in her home, especially at that very late time. The other source of her fear was that American soldiers would find Chavez and she did not know what the consequences of her actions would be. However, she did not show her fear and curiosity to the Lieutenant. She told him that she was not frightened by anything and added that no one could have a rest in her home if she or he was not a member of her family. After soldiers left, her reaction to Chavez’s thankfulness was “What I have done for you today, I would do tomorrow for an American if you unjustly attempted to do him wrong," (243). I think that her respond to Chavez is very remarkable and shows what kind of a good person she was.

2. What is the source of strength that Maria draws? How does the absence of men affect the way she acts?

I think the source of strength that Maria draws is her maternal strength. Mothers are very good at helping their children or other people that are in need. The absence of men affected the way she acted a lot. Because her husband was not around, Maria felt like she was the head of the house. She took charge of everything, and was able to succeed. Maria acted very independently. The absence of her husband helped her to become stronger at making good decisions. I think that Maria De La Guerra Ord was a very smart, strong, independent, and responsible woman.