Blog # 4

Q 1:
“True Womanhood” basically meant that women were supposed to do what was right, in the sense that they were supposed to stay home and do their duties. The system of true womanhood “took hold in the early years of the nineteenth centuries…treated men and women as complete and absolute opposites” (page 137). Women were to do only as they were told, with basically no freedom to work on their own, while men had a job outside of the home. They were exempt to do anything outside of the home, such as work in the fields or to make any decisions on their own. There was a drastic difference between men and women in these days.
Then in early nineteenth century women’s roles changed a little bit. There was a difference through classes, for example a woman of upper class had a more luxurious life versus women from lower class. Women from upper class didn’t do as much house work, and had more time to have fun. There were limits placed upon women who didn’t have much money. The aspect of money and who had more of it played a big role in people’s lifestyles.

Q 2:
During the 1820’s changes began to occur when “one of the most important of American industries” began (pg.147). These industries mainly consisted of women working in a factory and trying to make a bit of a living. This was actually a very good change for women because now they could finally get out of their house and make some money. I think it had more to do with their own independence and a new possibility that opened up for them than actually making money. This was a big deal for these women because they could move away from their homes and have a chance to work. This was a way to make some money for their families back home, making $1 to $2 dollars a week (page 149).

One very big problem that arose during the decline of the Lowell system was that these women were being treated completely unfair. They actually made less money than the men, who pretty much did the same job. This brought out some problems because it was obvious that gender was playing a big role in this problem. Also it was a problem that these young women had to move away from their homes and live far from their homes. There were also wage cuts for the women, which eventually lead them to strike against the factory.

Testbook:
Q 1: Dr. William Sanger had a compassion for women and wanted to prove that women did not choose the lifestyle of being a prostitute but certain things made them into this. He interviewed two thousand prostitutes to show the experiences that they went through (page 169). He said that “Prostitution disturbed middle-class observers so much that they saw it everywhere and extraordinarily inflated numbers, as high as one-tenth of all New York women, were common” (page 169). He explains that this was a way for poor women to survive under the hard conditions that they were in. But in fact women are not meant for doing things like this, but they will do anything to save their own family.
Q 2:
Sanger says that the cause of high prostitution in the city was the “financial pressure on poor urban women” and that their situations were so difficult that they had to turn to this (169). He also thinks that women were blamed too much for prostitution and people didn’t try to understand why they did it. The reason for this problem was that they had no “economic opportunity” to make any money, and were in fact “victims” in all of this (169). I believe that this is very true because these poor women didn’t have much of a choice, and if their children are starving to death, then they did what they had to for survival. It wasn’t exactly what they preferred to do, but they were pretty much forced into it.
Q 3:
Sanger basically suggests that it is society’s fault that so many women became prostitutes. He is completely understanding of them and suggests that people open their eyes and try to fix this problem. I highly doubt that it was a coincidence that so many women were prostitutes, but it was actually an act that they did not choose. People need to be more understanding and they needed to change the way that they treated women so that they could have more opportunities like the men.

Blog # 3

Q 1: Native Americans, Black, and white women went through a lot of experiences during the revolutionary era. One woman describes her experience during the Revolution and she says that she still did her domestic duties for her husband and his friends. She cooked for the soldiers and continued to do her duties, even during the time of a war. During the time that “colonists resisted the new taxes by boycotting British goods, women were necessarily involved as consumers and producers” (page 73). Women got a lot of jobs this way and this became very popular. This meant that white women had somewhat more choices than the rest. In the Southern states, white women were involved in “slave production of cloth” because people kept them as their slaves for spinning, giving women the chance to “acquire new skills” (page 74). Women did all kinds of things during the Revolution from helping out soldiers in need, to making clothes, and even “making the tea boycott successful” in North Carolina. However, it wasn’t that good for the black women’s choices. They actually did have any choices. This was very different from the way that white women were being treated. They didn’t have much of a say in anything and their lives were greatly affected by the revolution. About 55, 000 slaves escaped during this time from their slave owners. They did escape but were still put to work by the British. Black women fought very hard during this time to make a change in their lives and find freedom. It was clear that the revolution made a big change in the lives of women and some women held more power to make a difference. Each region of the states, women progressed into different things and they all participated.

Q 2: I think that women did play a big role in the revolution’s legacy because they did a lot to help out. Women participated in boycotts and homespun, which brought them to more political action (page 76). I think that during this time women proved themselves more as good housewives and much more than that as well. Some women gained more power and had opportunities and others struggled with poverty, but none the less made a change in the way that “women” were seen.

Q 3: Republican Motherhood basically meant that women played a bigger role in educating their children. This was something very good because a big change was being made and there were more opportunities being given to women other than household duties. One very good thing that came out of this was that women became teachers at schools that were opened, which gave them a chance to be somewhat equal to men and working with them.

Q 4: “In addition to education, religion was crucial in the new conception of white womanhood arising in the last half of the eighteenth century” (page 96). During the Great Awakening many people converted their religion as a way to express what they went through and their experiences. Women became more in power when it came to the church and they basically took over. Women were very passionate about how they “came to experience Jesus Christ” (page 97). Women made religions groups, since they weren’t allowed to be preachers. White women actually began to influence a lot of African American women’s religious lives and they “played significant roles in religious expression, often serving as healers, mediums, or priestesses” (page 100).

Blog # 2

Q 1: There is an “estimated two hundred language groups existing in North America” with whom we can generalize in different ways (page 3).Every group of people have a different task and role that they do. These generalizations can be based upon their money-making activities. Each group plays a different role in the economy, for example the Southwest were the agricultural people and in California were the hunger-gatherers (page 3). The roles that people were assigned were mainly based on their gender, which would differ from each group. The generalization can also be based upon the changes that they over went. “Once the process of European conquest and colonization began, native women’s lives were powerfully shaped by the impact of the invaders on their traditional societies (page 3). These women’s lives were all different based upon the place that they live in. Most people know Native Americans as hunger-gathers or farmers. This does hold true however, it is not all that they do. These women did everything on their own single handedly, from making their own furs, agricultural products to pottery. There the lives of the Native Americans women changed drastically after the European conquest with Christopher Columbus. There was a lot that the Europeans did not know about the Native women. In fact Native women were very open minded about sexuality, which was shocking to the Europeans. Their generalizations about women were definitely changed when they saw the hard work that these women go through everyday, and they realized that the lives of these women were “more complex than comprehended” (page 6). In fact many of the native American women had much more power over their own lives than European women did.
Q 2: "Whether they were slave-owners or not, white women's lives were inextricably tied up with slavery" (page 22). This phrase is actually very ironic because even though they were not labeled as “slaves” in reality they were. The white women were just as much “property” as the African Americans. Their lives were completely control by the men, and they weren’t even allowed to have a job. White women were exempt from a law that placed a tax on the labor of African women, so they worked in the homes and not in the fields. Despite the fact that these white women were still living lives similar to a slave, they can’t be compared to the lives that the African women had, working alongside men in labor gangs.
Q 3: The European women all differed according to where they lived, and what background they came from. Social class played a big role and this was a significant difference among European women colonists. In Charleston, South Carolina wealthy women and their daughters would have more leisurely time, therefore they would have more time for activities such as fancy needlework. Also they bought what they needed, instead of making it themselves. The difference of classes was much more noticeable during the mid-eighteenth century, and women began to change drastically. Their wealth and class gave them more power to be differed from the rest and even own property.

Blog # 1

My name is Lusine Azatian. I am 19 years old. I have been living in America most of my life, i moved here when i was five. I was born in Yerevan, Armenia. Almost every armenian name has a meaning or a story behind it. My name means light (luys) and also stands for moon (lusin). I have a mom, dad and an older sister. My sister is married and has her own family, so I live with my mom and my dad. My life changed when my sister had a baby, this was something that I had been waiting for since I can remember. My neices name is Natalie and i adore her. I also have a dog, he is a Shi-tzu and his name is Chiko. I also have a boyfriend of over three years, his name is Arthur and he is a very special person in my life. I have a pretty big family, we are loud and very fun. My friends are like family to me and I love to be with them any chance I get, I have two very close friends and I consider them to be a part of my family. I enjoy being with my friends and family because this is when I feel the happiest. I'm a very easy going person and I love to be optimistic, even though at times I stress myself out and get frustrated over certain things.

I have been attending GCC since Fall 2006, and I love it. I really like this school and everything is very convenient for me. My major at GCC is nursing, and Im very pattionate about someday becoming a Registered Nurse. My goal is to transfer to Cal State LA by next year to pursue my nursing degree.