With this semester’s midterms approaching, my hell week consisted of bonding with a woman named Kathy Peiss. Kathy and I became close over the past three weeks when I had to read her book, Cheap Amusements, for my history class and write a paper discussing her arguments regarding single women at the turn of the twentieth century entering the work force. In the book, Peiss believed there to be two situations going on for women at this point in their life. First, they were gaining more independence than they ever had before by being able to leave the house and earn money working. Second, women were still essentially oppressed because any independence they did have went towards pleasing men. While this paper did not want any of our personal opinions on the situation, I discovered some comparisons between the women back then and now.
Women today, whether single or married, have a strong influence in every aspect of the modern world. We see ourselves becoming senators, CEOs, doctors, and so much more. We have the women of one hundred years ago to thank for this. Without their initial steps into joining the work force, women today may never have had these opportunities; but why was their independence always intertwined with a man?
I imagine that men were a focal point in a woman’s decisions back then due to the fact that it was the norm to marry so early in life and start a family as soon as possible. Today it seems like the norm is to go out and “find yourself,” whether it be through school, travel, or work before one settles down. However, are we very far from the mindset of the women one hundred years ago?
I like to think of myself as a fairly independent woman. I pay for my education, have a job, and moved to a city that I did not know with no one as a security blanket. So while I was reading the book, I thought, these women finally have a shot at total independence, and they’re not doing anything for themselves. What is the point of spending time working and gaining independence if you basically just want to get married and go back to working at home? Aren’t you going backwards when you have this great opportunity right in front of you
Fast forward one hundred years from the women in the book. I am at Forever 21 buying a dress that I imagined would be great for a date party sometime this year. I just got my paycheck, and I am buying this dress because I worked hard for it and think I look really good. Now I question if there was also an ulterior motive behind my purchase, subconsciously. Was a future date on my mind? Would his approval of how the dress looked on me affect my self-esteem when I wore it? Is there ever truly a time when I will do something solely for myself and no other factors? I personally feel that there will never be a definite answer to these questions considering they have been debated practically since the beginning of time; however, I hope that more of my decisions will be made for me and only me.
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