Attitudes towards Womens Roles in the US History - Term Paper Example

Attitudes towards women’s roles in the three different periods in the US history I. Introduction The work at hand begins with the discussion of the three vital periods in the US history with significant clues as to how and why the different attitudes to women’s role in the workforce changed. The proponent further compares these different attitudes to women’s roles in the workforce. The different periods in the US have corresponding impacts on the changing attitudes towards the women’s role and this can be evident from the reasonable factors that surface along the way as evidently discussed at the work at hand. – This is the thesis… II. The Progressive Period The Progressive Period in the US approximately started in 1890 to 1920 as a social movement that grew into a political movement, and somewhere in 1900 to 1918, was the training ground for a transformation of the relationship between a democratic government and the people, essentially highlighting Prohibition and woman suffrage (PBS; GWU). This period was also generally referred to as the transition from agrarian to urbanization, a depiction of more advanced transformation of the civilization and high level way of thinking. III. World War II On the other hand, World War II began in 1939 to 1945, and women were considered partners in winning the war due to the following points: there was a changed image of women’s roles, they joined the nurse corps and armed forces, they were encouraged to serve the military, they filled in traditional male jobs particularly in production, and they performed functions both at home and in the community and so on (National Women’s History Museum). The point is that women were started to be viewed as equal with men and that made them essential counterparts in order for the US to successfully win the war. IV. Post-War Expansion Period Right after the World War II is the Post-War Expansion Period. From 1945 to 1960, which was the approximate timeline of the Post-War, and was devoted to economic growth, by which there was a clear high demand for American workforce, emancipation of military industrial complex, and rising industries such as automobile, aviation and electronics (U.S. Department of State). By this time, women were as useful as men, as they were able to prove themselves valuable especially during the World War II era. After all, Post-War Expansion Period was the economic expansion of the US, by which women had special participation in the process. V. Analysis It is evident, based on the information as stated so far that the transition in the US history of development over the course of time was fueled by social, political and economic factors. However, men and women substantially worked out for this. Therefore, having the thought like this will pave the way for understanding that the involvement of women in particular in the entire scenario of development is not just only a sole controversial issue, but a specific subject that requires fundamental analysis to understand its actual transformation as directly influenced by socio-economic and political factors. What therefore is one of the most important actions to take is to know the varying attitudes to women’s roles in the workforce in each of the three introduced periods. Another important point is to further analyze how these attitudes were changed. Finally, to understand why these attitudes changed is just another important point to consider. Clearly, women were not considered equal counterparts of men from the beginning and this was due to social understanding linked in particular to a patriarchal society in the US and even in other parts of the world. This dates back to the beginning, but what is much more explicit observation was the aggressive considered nature of men by then, as depicted from their ability to conquer. Such history remains vivid in the minds of the Americans especially supplemented by one of the thoughts like on how Christopher Columbus discovered, subjugated and put the entire native America under the modern civilized American role. With this in view, women therefore must become inferior to men, and their ultimate capability must solely rely on the power of the latter. This scenario was depicted in a movie film showing the conflict between an industrialist and scientist/inventor over a woman named Hel (Metropolis). Such scene is highly symbolical trying to persuade us of woman’s depicted inferiority in the community. Furthermore, another film which features a young homeless woman is a silent message of the struggle of women at the beginning of modern industrial society (Modern Times). The attitudes towards women were not varied from the start and that they must be under the total authority of men. At this time, their views will not substantially matter compared to men’s. The Progressive Period is therefore a beginning era for the liberation of women, as they were starting to exercise their right to suffrage. Such is a basic human social right, and with that, women were beginning to experience the potential political power because of their political voice. However, according to PBS and GWU, this must just be a form of political motivation. This will be so in order to perpetuate men to stay longer in power. Employing this concept in the workforce, will reveal the point that what exactly happened at the national level also happened at the corporate world. This must be the case because the entire business world was under the authority of the entire government. The first exercise of the right of women to suffrage, though it was politically motivated, was solely relying on the government, which was governed by the majority of men. Thus, one of the potential attitudes towards women by then was the consideration of viewing them as mere objects supporting to push men to stay in power. In other words, women were considered by then as somebody behind the men’s success. For this matter, the corporate success must be solely attributed to the working men, rather than their women counterparts, who were most of the time, must stay at home rather than to have a high exposure to the community (Edwards 161). In other words, even if women had their first right to suffrage, they must remain under the authority of men and staying at home rather than be exposed at the corporate world especially in specific areas of specialties like those found in the production must be a strange idea. Even though there was a constant shift from agrarian to urbanization during the Progressive Period, most women were still viewed to have less contribution to the success of the corporate world that had the vibrant dominance of men. From the social standpoint, women were not yet ready to face the world of men and be equal with them. Politically speaking, women were overpowered by men, bringing the attitude that even though they have the basic social rights, but such will never make them far better than men or even of equal status with them. Things changed when the Second World War II began. Women’s abilities in the midst of war were appreciated. In fact, according to the National Women’s History Museum, women were encouraged to join men in the war and this would mean that they must expose themselves to the community and not only within the confinement at home. Women were considered essential components for the success of the US in the war. In fact, to make use of their potential, the World War II was also the period when women were encouraged to participate to join the essential tasks of men. To cite and instance, many women at this period according to the National Women’s History Museum began to perform traditional male jobs particularly in the production department. The corporate world must essentially have not overlooked this scenario. The production department, a place for heavy activities carried out by men must be at first not the right place for women, but the corporate world, if we based it on the report of the National Women’s History Museum, must have essentially viewed the extension of its capitalistic opportunity to women rather than men. At first, as the corporate world might have recognized women as potential extensions to push men’s power and dominance, in the period of World War II, women must be viewed as the significant vast expanse to capitalistic opportunities. However, women must also have been exploited for the sole purpose of the achievement of men’s social and political ambition, just as how Kane, the character in a film achieved fame with his wife with political influence behind him (Citizen Kane). Furthermore, the specific character of Dominique in other movie illustrates the fundamental supporting role of a woman for the greatness of men in the post-modern world, the era of high creativity level, as depicted in the architectural world (The Fountainhead). After the World War II, the period for Post-War was the time when various industries were requiring huge number of workforce opened to both men and women alike. As stated earlier, this was the stage of vast economic growth and opportunity for the US. Specialization was required in this time and the corporate world was eager to train not just men but women to elevate them even on top positions. As women were tested to perform well during the World War II especially in the production, employing them in the same place during World War II was even recognized to the full. Therefore, it is evident that Post-War was just an extension of the corporate world to proliferate economically and employing women and not just men for this purpose was a substantially good idea. There was a significant change during the Post-War as primarily depicted in the following films. Erica and Julia are figures to portray women with chance to assume executive positions in the corporate world right after the post-World War II (Executive Suite). Violet Newstead is another important depiction of character of the woman who can assume a higher position in the corporate world (Nine to Five). So far we just have presented how the different attitudes towards the women’s role changed. Now, it is important to consider why there was such a change. The sheer evidence lies on the existence of social factors, economic factors and political factors. These factors are not just confined within the community, but even at the specific level within the context of the corporate world. VI. Conclusion The work at hand just presented the objectives stated from the start, and it is evident that the attitudes towards women’s role were not just within the context of socio-political aspects, but above all, at the economic level as far as the corporate world is concerned. The corporate world therefore employs women as equal counterparts of men because as history suggests, they have the potential to contribute something for good, like economic progress within the context of the corporate world. This therefore provides us the idea why the attitude towards women’s roles changes over time, particularly and as clearly presented in the three different periods of the US history. Works Cited Citizen Kane. Dir. Orson Welles. Perf. Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, and Dorothy Comingore. RKO Pictures, 1941. Film. Edwards, Rebecca. Angels in the Machinery: Gender in American Party Politics from the Civil War to the Progressive Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Print. Executive Suite. Dir. Robert Wise. Perf. William Holden, Barbara Stanwyck, and June Allyson. MGM, 1954. Film. GWU. Teaching Eleonor Roosevelt Glossary: The Progressive Era (1890-1920). 2013. Web. 2 Nov. 2013. . Metropolis. Dir. Fritz Lang. Perf. Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, and Gustav Frohlich. UFA, 1927. Film. Modern Times. Dir. Charles Chaplin. Perf. Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, and Henry Bergman. Chaplin, 1936. Film. National Women’s History Museum. Partners in Winning the War: American Women in World War II. 2007. Web. 2 Nov. 2013. < http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/partners/exhibitentrance.html>. Nine to Five. Dir. Colin Higgins. Perf. Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton. 20th Century Fox, 1980. Film. PBS. General Article: The Progressive Movement (1900-1918). 2013. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. . The Fountainhead. Dir. King Vidor. Perf. Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, and Raymond Massey. Warner Bros, 1949. Film. U.S. Department of State. The Post-War Economy: 1945-1960. 2013. Web. 2 Nov. 2013. . Read More