Roles of Women Assignment, Essay Example

Throughout time, and in every society, there has always been a specific role that women have been expected to fulfill. This role, while it has changed over the years and varies from culture to culture, has been one that women have not had much choice in. Women have been born into these roles, molded into them by parents, grandparents, society and friends. Without being ask for their opinion, women are expected to assume their predestined role without much fuss. There have been many authors who have written about the role of women in society, and by looking at their words we can see how the roles of women have both changed over time and stayed the same. Looking at two works by two authors, who lived over 200 years apart and in different parts of the globe, we can study the role of women from multiple perspectives. On one side we have the work of Benjamin Franklin, famous American statesman and and politician, who wrote “Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress” in 1745. On the other side, we have “Girl”, a poem written by Jamaica Kincaid, a native of  Antigua and Barbuda, in 1978.  These two authors come from completely opposite background and are thus able to show us the role of women in their perspective societies. Franklin gives a masculine perceptive on women, their role and what is expected out of them by males in his society, 1700’s colonial America. Kincaid offers a feminine perspective, offering a view of the role women were expected to take on in her society, 1970’s Antigua and Barbuda. The authors provide clues to the role of women in society during their time period, from how they are viewed and judged by other members of society to the role women are to play in their respective societies, especially in relationship to men and while the two authors provide many examples of how the roles that are contrasting between the two time periods, there are a surprising number of similarities as well.

The role of women described by both authors is dominated by how they are viewed by other members of society, both male and female. How a woman is perceived by others seems to be an important point for for both Kincaid and Franklin. Franklin commends the virtue of older women, because these women have learned their role in society well. Younger women must be taught their role, as is obvious in the dialogue between the mother and daughter in Kincaid’s poem. The theme is the same in Kincaid’s poem, as the mother lectures her daughters on how she is act and behave in society. Both the mother in Kincaid’s poem and Franklin value the woman who has learned how to act civilly in society, adopting the role that has been laid out for them. This is, we assume, reflective of the society that they are a part of. Kincaid’s mother want’s her daughter to be an accepted member of her society, to take on the role that will make her a proper woman. Franklin wants to share his wisdom with his young friend, and help him to choose a mistress that will provide him with comfort and at the same time not ruin his reputation. A younger woman may demand more of the man, wanting him to treat her kindly and not being so accepting of a man who won’t make her his consort in public. An older woman, Franklin claims, will be more discreet and proper than a younger one and be happy with whatever she can get from the younger man.  Kincaid’s mother gives her daughter a long list of what she is to do, and not do, in order to be accepted by her society. There is a proper way to do everything, it seems, from setting the table to sewing a button onto a blouse. The mother is overly concerned with how her daughter will be viewed, and when the daughter, meekly, tries to ask a question, she is quickly shot down. It is not important what the daughter thinks, it is important what society will think of her. A woman who has learned to be proper, Kincaid’s mother claims, will be one who the baker will allow to feel the bread. From Kincaid and Franklin we find that a woman’s has been bound by societal pressures for at least 250 years.

Being proper and accepted in society, however, comes at a price to the woman herself. Her role is taken up without some of her own independence being given up. Franklin makes the statement that “Because when Women cease to be handsome, they study to be good (Franklin).” Here we have the idea that in order to fulfill the role of a proper woman, the woman must not be beautiful. Kincaid’s mother would concur, as she repeatedly tells her daughter how to avoid becoming a “slut” by wearing concealing clothes, walking demurely, and behaving in a correct way in front of men. Kincaid’s mother is even concerned with how she sings in church, cautioning her more than once not to sing benna, a form of traditional Antigua calypso folk music. Both Franklin and Kincaid tout the virtue of a woman who has learned to be grateful for what she can get. While a younger woman, who does not know her place, may not want to wait on her man hand and foot, and older woman will have learned how to service a man, take care of him when he is sick, and perform a number of other services for the man. Part of becoming a woman, according to Kincaid’s mom, is learning these services. Learning how to be a service to men, cooking, cleaning, sewing and washing clothes correctly is what separates a proper woman from an improper one. These roles must be learned, and from both Kincaid and Franklin’s descriptions, it is obvious that neither feels that a young girl has learned them. Young women are too bold and wild, and their will has not yet been bent according to the will of society.

Despite the similarities between the roles of women described by these two authors, there are some striking contrasts regarding the role that the women play in their various societies. The most obvious difference between the two is that Franklin is advocating that his friend take a mistress, a woman with whom he sleeps that is not his wife. For Kincaid’s mother, this is a sin she warns her daughter about over and over. Kincaid’s mother repeatedly warns her daughter to avoid any behavior that would make people perceive her as a slut.  She says, “This is how to behave in the presence of men who don’t know you very well, and this way they won’t recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming (Kincaid).” While Franklin claims that if an older woman is found out to be a mistress, she would be forgiven, due to the fact that she is old and the young man has been taking pity on her. In Franklin’s society, the role of a woman is flexible in that as she grows older she can do more as she pleases. Kincaid’s mother makes no such promises to her daughter, and simply warns her to stay away from any action that would forever brand her with a loose reputation, resulting in obtaining her a dismal reputation within the society.

Another important note to consider in the two works is that in Franklin’s piece, he speaks of making the woman happy. One of the main reasons he promotes to his friend the idea of taking an older mistress is because while “the having made a young girl miserable may give you frequent bitter Reflections; none of which can attend the making an old Woman happy (Franklin).” For Franklin, there is great import in bringing happiness to both the man and the woman in the relationship. Throughout the letter, he touts happiness as the main reason for the decision to take a mistress. His argument rests on the idea that in choosing a mistress, the most important aspect to consider is the happiness that it will bring his friend and the happiness it will bring his chosen lady. An older woman, he claims, will be grateful for the companionship and will thus do her best to make sure her lover is happy as well. In stark contrast is Kincaid’s mom, who does not even consider her daughters happiness for an instant. Her entire lecture is bent on making sure that her daughter pleases her and others, without any thought to her daughters happiness. This is a major difference between the two societies. While the role of women in Franklin’s society is strict, it is still a role in which the woman’s own happiness is considered. Franklin even says that with an older woman as a mistress, if she is found out society will not judge harshly, because they will consider it a kindness for the younger man to have taken an older woman, bringing her some happiness and joy in her old age. Kincaid’s mother makes it clear that the role of a woman in her society is to please her family, her society and her man. She is to be a good housekeeper and cook and to conduct herself properly at all times in society. There is never a mention of happiness for her daughter and never a mention of how others should treat her, only how her daughter should treat others. It is obvious that the role of women in Kincaid’s society is not to be concerned with their own happiness, only with the happiness and pleasure of others. In Franklin’s society, there is a specific role that women are expected to fulfill, yet there is still the freedom for the woman to find her own happiness, even if it is a bit taboo.

The role of women is defined no matter what society they come from. For time immemorial, the role a woman is to play in her society has been set out for her from the time she is born. Teaching her this role are her parents and the society in general. Not fitting into this role and breaking societal taboos is sure to bring harsh reactions and being marked a slut, prostitute or worse. Franklin represents the feelings of his time, and though old fashioned, have the tone of freedom, as seems proper seeing that he is speaking from a time when life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was fresh in the minds of Americans. While the freedoms granted in the Constitution did not include women, it appears through his writings that these liberties were extended to women at least in a small way. Kincaid’s society, though occurring some 250 years later, appears to be harsher and more strict. The mother lays down the law, instructing her daughter on the role she is to assume, no if’s, and’s or but’s about it.  It is interesting to explore the similarities and differences that exist in the roles that women have played in their societies across time and space. Franklin and Kincaid give us insight into the roles that women have been expected to take on and how they are viewed by their society, allowing us to reflect on our own society and how so much has changed and how so much as stayed the same.

References

Franklin, Benjamin (1745) Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress Swarthmore College. 3 November 2010. http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/51-fra.html

Kincaid, Jamaica (1978) Girl My Island Jamaica. 3 November 2010. http://www.my-island- jamaica.com/girl_by_jamaica_kincaid.html