Essay about The Woman Question The Oppressed Other Half

Evelyn Cunningham once said, â€Å"Women are the only oppressed group in our society that lives in intimate association with their oppressors.† For thousands of years women have been oppressed, not in the bondage of slavery but in the bondage that comes from a lack of education and a dependence on men for their livelihood. Women have been subjected to scrutiny and ostracization, belittling and disparaging comments, and even at times they have been feared by men. Women themselves have even taken on the beliefs that they require a man in their life to be taken care of and have a satisfying life although some women and even some men have seen that the differences between the sexes is purely physical. This oppression, as well as the enlightenment†¦show more content†¦This idea that men and women are born of two different natures was not new at that time but Mill described this difference in the same ways whites described blacks in that day. In most instances the differ ent natures would have been described as a domestic and servile nature versus a domineering and sovereign nature. This separation of the sexes can also be seen in Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own when she describes the differences between the two campuses. The men’s campus is grand and well funded and the meal that is served is like a feast. The women’s campus is overgrown, in poor condition, struggling to survive financially, and the meal served was a very plain pauper’s meal. This shows that the women’s education was not valued by the men. A woman’s education granted merely as a courtesy and was not considered a legitimate means for women to get ahead in life. The women’s college was not state funded and was not considered equal to the men’s college despite the fact that the year previous to this book being published universal suffrage was granted to all British citizens. The equality finally granted in politics had n ot yet extended to the education level. Eliot also deals with the separation of men and women but Eliot takes a totallyShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Second Sex By De Beauvoir986 Words   |  4 Pageswhile men are considered dominant, and important, women, on the other hand, are considered, irrelevant, and insignificant. The main reason why woman are viewed this way is due to the roles they have in society. Their whole life they must appease to their husband’s commands and perform household responsibilities. The Second Sex highlights the vast imbalanced roles calling out what is wrong in society. De Beauvoir questions why an entire half of the human population is being discriminated against. MinorityRead MoreThe Sociological Inequality Of Women, Equality, And Equality1274 Words   |  6 Pages We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back [Malala Yousafzai, 2013]. When you think of the word â€Å"feminism† or the term â€Å"feminist† what does it mean to you? 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