Page 34 - Historical Fiction.pdf

Women's Rights Today
identity and property was transferred to her laws passed that acknowledge their
husband upon marriage. rights. However no matter how many
Today women?s rights have expanded greatly laws are passed, we still have people Each time a woman
There were times, however, where women,
and women are achieving many positions of that are treating women as if they are stands up for herself,
unlike men, stepped outside their traditional
power and changing society for the better. below or not as good as men.
gender roles. Men did not need to because without knowing it
Women are getting jobs that, in the past,
they had all the freedom they wanted and We need to continuously work to possibly, without
would have been viewed as unacceptable and
there was no need to. Women lacked that grant women all the rights and claiming it, she stands
only ?for men.?
freedom though. Women in power made men equality they deserve. We also need
According to Nikki van der Gaag, ?There have up for all women.
feel out of control and unable to make sense of to remember the women?s rights
been huge changes for women in terms of
their position. The insecurity the men felt, led from the past, and you need to ask
employment in the past decades, with women
to their harsh treatment to women. Women yourself: ?Would I want to live that
moving into paid employment outside the
who ?broke the roles? faced public ridicule, and way?? It is important that society keeps
home in ways that their grandmothers and
sometimes legal reprimand for their actions, progressing and that women get treated as
even their mothers could only dream The Scarlet Letter
?In the late 1600s, trials for fornication and equals and peers to men. In the words of
of.?(Feminism and Men). Women have earned
infanticide specifically directed at women Maya Angelou, ?Each time a woman stands up
the rights to vote, to have equal access to job The Scarlet Letter is a book that explores guilt,
increased.?(?Gender Roles in Colonial America?). for herself, without knowing it possibly,
lists, to have the same pay as men, to be able without claiming it, she stands up for all revenge, and redemption. Hawthorne mixes
If women were to somehow gain a position of
to divorce their husbands, and overall have a a women.? supernatural components and historical
power, men did not have to worry because
lot of the same rights and opportunities as elements in his book about a woman?s
they had a fail-safe plan for dealing with them.
men. Women have come a long way from punishment for adultery. ln the book, Hester
All they had to do was simply accuse them of
Puritan society and on. However, women?s Prynne is put on trial for refusing to name the
witchcraft. This was very effective in the fact
rights can definitely improve even more. And father of her three month old daughter, Pearl,
that the woman accused rarely was able to gain
this is from an American point of view. There and is labeled as a sinner. Her punishment is to
any public support afterwards.
are several places around the world that have wear a scarlet A on her chest for the rest of her
not come very far in terms of women?s rights, life. However chaos erupts when Hester?s
and still need a lot of work like Indonesia and former husband, Roger Chillingworth, arrives at
Iraq, where there is a lot of discrimination of Boston and dedicates himself to finding
the female gender (Radu). Hester?s secret lover and getting revenge. All
the while, Arthur Dimmesdale, the minister, is
getting sicker and sicker with an unknown
ailment. You should read this book if you are
Making a Change familiar with Nathaniel Hawthorne?s work or if
you enjoy early American literature and

Now think back to when you imagined your historical fiction.
life as a women in Puritan society. Do you feel
the same way? Do you think it would be easier
Visit this website for a book
or harder? No matter how you feel about
women?s rights in the past, there is still the talk and more information on
The town girl has been found guilty of matter of the present. Women have come a The Scarlet Letter.
witchcraft and is now walking to the gallows very long way in their gender roles and their https://goo.gl/Y3J9EZ
with the hangman and judges. equality in society, and there have been many