Colonial Gender Roles
The main roles of a woman in Early America were: cooking and cleaning, having a family, and taking care of their spouse and children. The facts are that women were not looked upon as intelligent or equal to a man. In the Early American Era, the struggles women went through has influenced the writing and speaking of equality of sexes and started the feminism phenomenon. People have asked what exactly is a gender role and what makes something a gender role? Most people in the Puritan era did not think much of gender roles as they were societal rules and were not questioned. They had particular roles for men, women, and even children. There are many other questions about gender roles like how women have or are overcoming them …show more content…
Gender roles are normally created by the concept of masculinity and femininity. Puritan women were expected to, “Let your dress, your conversation and the whole business of your life be to please your husband and make him happy” (“Gender Roles in Colonial America”). They were taught from a young age to cook and to clean and to obey the authority of men. Anne Bradstreet, who is considered America’s first feminist, wrote about gender roles and the oppression women faced. “Anne Bradstreet refused to pretend to be a man but rather profess herself as an educated woman,” (“Feminist Themes in the Works of Anne Bradstreet”). Bradstreet started off the writing of American feminist authors and poets and nihilists. The moral principles of a woman were to take care of her family and to follow the traditional aspects of being a woman, in which they probably learned from their mother. Simple things like running or climbing, or things like writing, were not traditional principles and it was highly frowned upon. Bradstreet defied the gender role and principal by becoming a writer. The oeuvres of these women show a glimpse of defiance and how gender roles affected