Women Studies

Maureen Jones spoke about the subject of women’s rights to vote. Her approach to this presentation was quite interesting and it really got me thinking. Firstly, she began talking about how the women in the 19th century dressed themselves. This startled me a little because I thought she was going to jump right into the topic and give us several hardcore facts about the struggle women had to face with, in order to claim their rights. I really liked how she noted down little details, which then led to the bigger picture. For example: her clothing which can denote her class and how feminine she is, or the platter with petite snacks she had which represents a motherly demeanor. From there, I realized that women dressed a certain way, which demonstrated what the “ideal” woman should be portrayed as. Ms. Jones’ presentation educated me well on the idea of suffragists and “suffragettes” and the sacrifice given by such amazing women.

To start off, I enjoyed how every little thing was analyzed to the point where it got people thinking. In today’s society, viewing women as a man’s property would be objected, however in the 19th century it was a lifestyle that no one could argue or question. I was astounded by the fact that she mentioned that some women do not like getting married traditionally because they feel like they are an object/property. People might wonder how this is so; for instance, when the father walks the bride up to the groom, this is considered to be objecting a woman because before their marriage, a woman is her father’s property but then during the wedding ceremony, he is handing her over to the groom, which to some people symbolize the change in owner (from father to husband). This surprised me because in our generation, the arrival of the bride and her father is considered very sentimental and beautiful. Women during this period had no say, they were not educated, they weren’t allowed to get into the work field, they couldn’t take part in any decision...