Textbook: Chapter 8
1. It was appropriate to speak about a woman as a “New Woman” in the 1920s because of numerous reasons. The 1920s was a lot about the women's new found independence and political activity. The women of the 1920's were gaining political rights including voting and gaining congressional authority as well. The term “flapper” girl was coined once the women of the era began wearing shorter dresses and shorter haircuts and became independent of the men. She was a rebellious “New Women” strutting her stuff in the political and social world.
2. Women active in politics encountered difficulty because of their lack of authority. They were given limited duties and therefore argued amongst each other because of different views on how issues should be handled. Women were expected to handle the issues involving women. When fighting for higher positions in politics people become desperate for opportunities. Women in these positions fought for the influence, making it difficult for them accomplishing their agendas.
3. Women during the Great Depression went through difficult experiences such as we could all imagine. Job loss, famine, loss of property and wealth, and a lot of the time death were just a few of the things women and men alike experienced. The woman in the picture depicts the difficult times her and her peers went through. The inscription of the picture tells the reader she and her children lived off of frozen vegetables during the Great Depression. The picture also illustrates how the Great Depression affected children. Children, even though didn't hold many responsibilities, will forever be haunted by the Great Depression. People of all ages were struggling to survive during the Great Depression.
4. Men had worst times during the Great Depression than women did. This was because, even though women were entering the workforce, men were predominantly the money makers of the family. This caused difficulties within the household, especially the patriarchal households. Men felt that their manhood had been taken away since they were no longer working and providing for the family. Unemployment also strained marriages and lowered birth rates. The men felt inferior to their wives so many left their families, but divorce rates did not increase because of the expensive process. Men wandered the streets aimlessly while the women's place in the home stayed consistent.
3 comments:
Eden #1
Hi Tyler.
I enjoyed reading your blog. I agree with you on most of the issues raised, although I have to say that I don't necessarily agree with you when it comes to the Great Depression and whom it affected 'the most'. You wrote "Men had worst times during the Great Depression than women did". Now, I understand that the unemplyment crisis mostly affected men since they still were the majority of the work force, but does that automatically make the depression harder on them? I am sure it had a psychological impact on their "manhood" but women and children were struggling to survive, too. You also said that men felt inferior to their
wives so many left them. Yes, they probably felt that they had failed to provide for their families, so they left which wasn;t exactly making it easier for the woman. She still had to put food on the table for her children.
Mariam R#1
Hi Tyler, I think you did a great job on your blog. You answered all of the questions very clearly. I agree with you. I as well think that the Great Depression greatly affected men both emotionally as well as mentally. They no longer felt important and useful therefore many of them deserted their family out of shame. They could not provide food for their children and could not face the difficulties so they left. I think that leaving their children with their wives put a greater load and responsibility on women. Not only did women have to continue with their domestic chores and childrearing, but they had to also find ways to keep their children from starvation. I think it was a devastating time for both genders. Men no longer felt superior and lost all their hopes, while women were left with greater responsibilities and faced many difficulties. We were able to get an idea of the difficulties women faced during the great depression by looking at the image in the text. I think the image greatly portrays the hard times they had to go through. And like you mentioned, below the image, it had a story, which said that the mother had to sell things in order to provide food for her children.
Elias-R#2
response to Eden
I strongly disagree with your response in which you stated that men did not have it harder than women. Tyler was correct in her statement that men had a harder time because the reason that the Great Depression occurred was because of the fall of our economy and the crash of the stock market. Men were the ones who primary dealt with the stock market and when everything crashed, they obviously knew that they were the ones to blame for the loss of everything they and their family ever had. They had to carry the burden of losing all their fortunes. These men’s lives were so difficult that many decided to commit suicide. Even though the women had to take care of the children, as you said, they had it easier in the home. This is because they needed less resources and because they became used to the idea of working outside the home, which made it easier once they got back in the home. Also, as a man, I know that it is very difficult for any man to think of the idea that he is unable to provide for his family. The moment a man starts his own family, it is his biggest priority in his life to take care of the family and know that they are always being provided for. These men during the Great Depression were obviously hurt psychologically because they knew that they could not provide for those that they loved the most.
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