The Time and Space Machine, Essay Example

A life of a Woman from the Period 1750-1914 to Life of a Woman in the Present

Long ago, there were no many doors open to a woman as they are today. Many of them nowadays attend schools and graduate in various fields. Some of them are found in the fields of technical subjects such degree in economics, degree in mathematics degree in  law and degree in  computer sciences. This is different from the past years of 1750-1914 where a woman could be educated according to the class she belonged (Patrick, 2003). The upper class woman was to be educated at a school belonging to girls or by private governesses. The teaching could involve how to play piano and guitar and how to dance them¹. They were also given education concerning table manners and how to host it. The upper class woman was to marry a person having money whereby the fortune went to the sons while in any case there was only a daughter, whoever she got married to would get her father’s money in any case he died. The middle class woman was regarded as a housewife. She was known as small woman since her work was to be a mill operator and a merchant. This means that she was to run the mill but not to operate it. The middle class woman was to choose if she wants to be educated or not (Patrick, 2003).

The upper middle class woman probably had a cook since she could not work. But the lower middle class woman was most likely to be a house wife and may have held a job position at some point in her life. The jobs may include that of a rural school mistress or a textile mill worker. She was to hold these job titles on order to get enough money to marry. The lower class woman was to be married to a farmer. Her work was to help the husband to farm as well as cooking and to raise the family. Not many professions were open to ma woman, and the lower class woman nay have worked in a textile mills, keeping in mind that not all mill owners would allow working woman who was married.

If she was completely impoverished, she might have been in a work house and separated from the husband and children. She was to work very long days whereby the poor starved than going to the work house. The poor woman was unlikely to be educated to become a school mistress. The lower class woman could practice prostitution to get some money depending on the burden she had. The prostitution was common in the cities of Dublin, London and Paris. The only business allowed for the woman was candles and soaps making. The products for making the candles and soaps came from the products of animals and plant materials such as the tallow and the beef fat.

The work was to be done during the winter days. The candles were to be used by everybody including the low class and the middle class. This made them to have market and therefore it was upon the woman to ensure that they are always in the market. The serving class was varied from the very poor up through the middle class. The only woman allowed to marry was a butler who was the head of the servants and the head of the cook who was in charge of the female servants, which means that every other cook or maid could not marry. Mostly a poor woman was to work for a few years as a maid or cook before she married. But on the other hand, the unmarried woman had an opportunity to more jobs than a married woman. She could be a cook or a maid for the whole life as well as governess to wealthy children, as long as they she was not to be married. In 1750-1914 a woman could marry as early as 20 years and had 6 to 8children most of whom survived to adult hood.

Worst of all, there were ethnic differences in treatment of a woman. In New England a woman was not to work in the field with her husband while in the German communities, a woman was to help the husband in the fields and stables. The German gave a woman more power over property, which was not accepted in the local American law. The woman was even given a chance of writing a will disposing the property brought into the marriage. In the Muslim culture, the woman was oppressed by religion, whereby she was to cover herself completely, denied education and other basic rights. According to Muslims a woman had a right to divorce the husband should the husband take another wife. She also had a right of keeping her own name even after marriage. Existing gender imbalances and inequalities prevent countries from realizing their full potential in economic, political and social development (Patrick, 2003). The achievement of equality between women and men is now more than a human right and a condition for social justice. Together with the empowerment of women, it is also a prerequisite for the attainment of economic, political, social, cultural, environmental, and health well-being for everyone in society. Women’s empowerment and participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society is fundamental to improving the health of women and their families, the advancement of human rights, social justice and sustainable development.

How Education has Improved the Life of a Woman

The life of a woman has improved politically, educationally and culturally. Let us look at the story of a woman called Nkita and see how education has improved her life (Jacob, 2002).

Nkita was born in the lower bas- Congo province in the Democratic Republic of Congo some sixty two years ago. Being the third born in the family of eight, her early life was difficult but a kind couple financed her education. “When I started school I found other children from the families like mine and realized that I was not badly off after all.” She says the poverty was soon forgotten as her academic excellence took over. Just before starting school, Nkita recalls how on setting on his eyes on her, one of the teachers who were interviewing children her village, dismissed her as not well enough. “His reaction gave me a determination to give the interview my best, and in the end, he was so impressed he called me teacher Nkita and that is how I got inspired to become a teacher.” The academic excellence continued throughout primary school where she was often asked to assist senior pupils with their mathematics problems.

When she joined secondary school, her maternal uncle took over paying for her education, but died before she started form three. Nkita worked  in a missionary center near her home all school holidays, and her humility and education endeared her to many people, among them a couple she had previously  not met , but who volunteered to pay her school fees after her uncle’s death. “Soon I had become like one of the9ir four children- privileged. They went with me for holidays to Kinshasa city and everywhere whereby I first visited the ocean with them (Jacob, 2002).

How Culture has improved the life of a woman

According to her husband’s Lou custom, Nkita was informed, twins can never be last-born babies. “I respect what other practice but I do not have to obey everything in the name of culture, I also do not resent anyone’s culture.” But she also says that by the time the family was leaving America, she was well prepared and adjusted to face whatever lay ahead. “I can live anywhere, just be me: kind, loving and sociable.” This attitude endeared her to her parents-in-law, especially after her husband died of colon cancer. He was the first of the three brothers and the last one to die, and his death devastated his parents. “When Leo died, I promised to take over leadership of the home and care for his aging parents. But it was not easy; I was still viewed as the foreigner.” But whenever she faced challenges, Nkita fell back on the words her husband spoke on his death bed: “Never say too much when my people talk down at you, after all are you still a stranger among them….” And this helped. This is because her father –in-law died of old age a happy man, two years ago. She has an excellent relationship with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, and Nkita advices any married woman: “Let us not resent them, for it is only our behavior that can change their attitudes towards us. A woman does not need to be given second hand things, she is not worth hand-outs, and she is intelligent and competent. Let her compete with men whether in politics or elsewhere, for she is as able as she is. It is of great chance that a woman is nowadays found in politics. We have seen a woman becoming a president of a nation. For instance, South Korea had been ruled by a woman, who was the president². In America Hillary Clinton of being the first woman from the West part of America to be the first lady. She also appeared in politics to contest for the higher post of being the president of the United States of America. It is clear that she has been a hard working woman in any office she holds. Currently she is working as the Secretary of the States.

She has also decided to launch a twenty first century Statecraft that is mainly concerned with the new technology of communication and the new media idea. In games we have Serena Williams trying to show other women that sports do not belong to men alone. When it comes to the biggest driver of corruption in business, the shocker is that businesswoman is more than willing to bribe to get business. The meteoric rise of some businesswomen can be traced to this. Nothing will stop the woman from getting the contract. Roles have reversed, and the saying that “behind every successful man there is a woman” has acquired a totally grave meaning. It is now common knowledge that some of the mega corruptions were prompted by a woman who admonished their husbands to be “clever like other men.” In real sense if the corruption agencies were working hard, then many men would become both mother and father in some families, as their wives would be in jail. A woman’s role as the voice of reason needs to be restored in war against corruption in the life today (Christine, 2003).

A woman nowadays has a chance to decide for herself what she wants or not. Here is a man trying to tell a story of her marriage and how the wife treated him. “I had several affairs outside my marriage, until I met a woman who I thought completed me. So I deserted my wife and six children six years ago for my new love. My wife could not afford the rented place and was forced to move into a one room house with the kids. I requested custody of the children on the grounds that she could not afford their expensive school fees and maintenance. When called to testify, the kids chose to stay with her, but were told they could visit me once a week and would continue supporting them. For a year I tormented my wife by texting her details for my romantic escapades. I even sent her photos and would appear at her family’s functions with the new woman. She never responded and avoided me completely. Then cracks started appearing in my rosy relationship after a year, so started having other affairs. I jumped from one to another because I felt completely empty. I ran into my wife when picking up the kids last year and realized I still love her deeply. Luckily the divorce had not been finalized, so I stopped the proceeding. I started pursuing her but she wanted nothing to do with me. I even offered to have ownership of my house transferred into her name to gain trust but she categorically told me to transfer it to my son, who was already 18. I bought her a car on her birthday early this year but she had it returned to me. “

Conclusion

According to this story, it is better to say that a woman has come all the way from past to present. She can have a voice of saying no when a man misbehaves in the family. This is a good example for all the women to learn that their lives have really changed.

References

Christine, B. (2003). Side Effect of Culture in the life of a woman. (3^rd Ed.).Delhi: Pearson education Limited.

Jacob, H. (2002). How Education has Improved the Life of a Woman. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Patrick, M. (2003). A life of a Woman from the Period 1750-1914 to Life of a Woman in the Present. New York: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc.