Thursday, September 24, 2009

oppressed women

I thought of a good idea for non-fiction book today. Actually, I thought of it a while back when I watched Seven Brides For Seven Brothers at Brad and Allison's apartment (a hilarious movie that should prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that white men can dance).
I wondered if women were any more oppressed than men in the pre-1900's. The party line is that women had to toil and scrub at home while men got to go out and lead this exciting life. Men could be abusive to their wives without recrimination from society, and women had no way to escape a bad husband.
Is this real, or is it just a view exagerated in the movies and by authors like Kate Chopin. We often answer this question by looking at the plight of women, but I'd be interested to know the plight of most men. I don't know if there's any way to explore this topic. I do know that Mr. Murdstone in David Copperfield is obviously a villain for oppressing his wife and that Aunt Betsy is far stronger and freer than some of the male characters in that book like Mr. Micawber. Does society frown on Bathsheba Everdene for owning a large plantation and presiding over men in Far From the Madding Crowd? Of course, these books were written by men, but then there're the Brontes and Jane Austen. Anyway, I'm just wonderin'

NEXT: Are weapon's dealers really corrupt and evil?

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