Women In Colonial North America

Women In Colonial North America

Dr. Robert Dunne
Eng. 210
20 February 2011
“Women in Colonial North America”
Women were not considered as good as men during colonial period in North America.   Females themselves even believed they couldn’t compete with males.   They felt their only obligations were to work around the house and giving birth for their families.   It was so bad for women in this society that even if they were skilled at things other than just cooking and giving birth, they weren’t given any credit or even a chance just because of their sex.   Also, women were treated unfairly when it came to legal issues.   There were many cases of illegitimate children being born and the majority of the time women were the ones being prosecuted.   All of these differences result back to the separation of spheres.   Which generally says, society expects women to be in charge of the private side of life, where as men got out in the community on a daily basis and controlled the public side.
During the colonial period, author Anne Bradstreet wrote “The Prologue” and shares her frustration of the Puritan society regarding women.   After reading this poem it is evident how she feels about living in a society with women treated as poorly as they were.   Bradstreet’s most meaningful words include when she says, “I am obnoxious to each carping tongue Who says my hand a needle better fits, A poets pen all scorn I should thus wrong, For such despite they cast on female wits: If what I do prove well, it won’t
Costantini 2
advance, They’ll say it’s stol’n, or else it was by chance” (p.421).   Here she is basically saying that everyone is telling her that she shouldn't be doing something that is considered unfeminine such as writing poetry.   They are telling her that she should be sewing or cooking at home.   Even if she does do well with her poetry it won't matter because she is a woman.   People will say she either stole it from a man or it was just lucky.   Even though Bradstreet...