In spite of civilization, women are still often denied opportunities to participate in activities that are essential to improving their well-being because they are still seen as the weaker species. Jacobus offers insight into how society perceived women's positions in the community during Wollstonecraft's time and what, in his opinion, should be the best way to view these roles. She contends that because of restrictions, women's ability and personalities are wasted, and if given the chance, women would perform better in a variety of occupations. According to Jacobus, the role of women is viewed as taking care of children and giving birth. The notion of masculinity and feminist leads to the perception that women are weak gender and therefore cannot lead or hold political offices. Females are also viewed as people who should use their beauty in order to realize happiness and please their husbands. Jacobus condemns this view and claims that while this practice may make them to reign for a “short time” their beauty eventually fades. When this happen, their husbands will notice they have no other tender or virtuous traits.
The society viewed women as people who were supposed to only receive domestic education because their role was to undertake household chores. Although she maintained that women deserved same fundamental rights as men, other people viewed them as ornaments to society or property that was supposed to be traded in marriages.
Although the society had wrong views concerning the role of women in the community, Jacobus maintained that women could also perform better in various carriers such as being recruited as soldiers. He also believed that they could do well in education if they were given equal opportunities to attend learning institutions just like men. He also held a view that women were vital to the nation based on the fact that they educated their children.
Jacobus believed that females were supposed to be viewed as companions to men, rather than mere wives. She also had a view that they were supposed to be given a chance to become entrepreneurs, pursue professional careers and choose the leaders of their choice. During this time, women were cherished for only domestic contributions. They were also not allowed to access equipment. For example, when they had wine, they would take it on a teacup and not wine glass because they belonged to men.
The reason why these roles are defined in terms of work is because women are viewed as people who are “naturally weak.” In most cases, men differentiate themselves from females in terms of what they can accomplish, and what they believe women cannot do. Men believed they had powers and ability to undertake various activities that were viewed as important, and that the society believed females were not able to do because of their “weak” nature. These activities included being recruited as soldiers and holding leadership positions in the society. Although there were other factors that differentiated men and women, the ability to undertake various types of work was the key reason why men termed themselves as superior to females.
I do not aggress these roles are, indeed, the roles that women should assume. The view that men are stronger and should be given opportunities to engage in activities that are beneficial to human survival should be abolished because women have equal ability to undertake similar tasks and even perform better than men. For instance, women can become leaders, can be recruited in the military, hold political offices and can even perform better in professional jobs than men. The role of women should not be viewed as primarily undertaking domestic chores because they can perform better in the career industry
I would include more roles because I believe women have the ability to do what men can do. If I were to give opinions, I would suggest that women can perform roles that require a lot of expertise such as being medical practitioners, pilots, engineers among others. Most of the views that the society had during Wollstonecraft’s time were misconceptions because females in the recent decade have proved they can do what the community believed they could not do. Women should be given opportunities to attend colleges, peruse courses of their interests and practice their profession. In addition to taking care of families, women should be given a chance to earn money.
With advancements in civilization, demand for education and emergence of agencies that fight for gender equality, women in our time have greater access to roles that they could not access in the past. For example, in the recent decades, females in most countries can run for high political offices such as presidency, cabinet ministers among others. The demand for education for both boy and girl child has also given equal opportunity for both men and women to undertake various jobs that were seen to belong to men. Some of these jobs comprise of professional careers such as accounting, finance managers, doctors among others. The increase in demand for self-dependency among females in the recent decade has also enabled women to multi-task in taking care of their families, undertaking domestic chores and working to earn their money.
Unlike during Wollstonecraft’s time where women would value beauty as the only way of pleasing men, nowadays things have changed. Women have now understood beauty fades and therefore have been engaging in other activities that can make them more outstanding and attractive to their husbands such as pursuing different levels of education and seeking better careers. Women have also been doing what the society during Wollstonecraft’s time believed belonged to men in order to do away with stereotypes which existed concerning their gender.
Various countries have come up with different policies that prohibit discrimination in employment. This has given ladies the opportunity to apply for different types of jobs. During Wollstonecraft’s time, organizations would prefer hiring men than women because it was believed that women would not produce as much as men due to their “weakness.”
In conclusion, the role of women during Wollstonecraft’s time was viewed to give birth, take care for families, undertake domestic chores, make themselves beautiful for their men and so forth. Based on the fact that women have the capability to do what men can do, it was wrong for the society to believe these are the kind of roles that they should assume. Women can assume more roles like holding leadership and running for top political positions such as presidency. Due to various measures that most countries have established in the recent decade to ensure gender equality, women in our time have greater access to different roles that they could not assume during Wollstonecraft’s time.
