Women's roles in society.

What do the restrictions placed in women say about our society? What does it say about men?

Women of the 18th century were taught that the rules given to them were to help them procure and sustain a husband. They were supposedly helping them, not hindering them. And, to a certain point, this was true.

By giving women the exactly guidelines as to how they should act, speak and dress, they were supplying them with a great advantage. Women needed a husband in the 18th century, without one they would become a burden to their parents, as there was no way for them to provide for themselves.

Men in the 18th century learned the ways in which a proper women acted and, in their potential wives, they looked for those attributes. They would look at how a woman carried herself in public and private settings. Was she respectful and modest? Did she understand her place in that society, and did she accept it? Men were the cause of women's oppression in the 18th century, perhaps without even realizing it.

Today, women's oppression is much more subtle. We can dress, act and speak however we like, but we are not truly equal with the opposite sex. There is still much discrimination against women in our modern society. Because we no longer need a husband to provide for us, women are much less limited. However, men have still managed to stay a step above us in terms of power.

Men have, in my opinion, become frightened of a world in which equality between the sexes is a reality. Women have proven themselves to be competent, intelligent, and strong-willed in the past. Perhaps a woman with equal opportunity and treatment is frightening to men, as they are afraid of becoming the lesser of the sexes. They would rather be the oppressors, than the oppressed.