Issue of Gender in English Literature Essay Example

family maintenance. These extra chores included doing laundry and also sewing of socks. According to Landow (95), due to how female were expected to live traditionally in the nineteenth century, limited number of women enjoyed the same opportunities as their men as far as education was concerned.

In fact, the act woman educating a woman was seen to be very subversive and would have greatly contributed to perversion of the expected perfect social order. In addition, women were not by any means allowed to participate in any political activity. All female of this error were not allowed to express their choice and opinion by casting of votes. In fact, in the whole of Great Britain, female were totally confined to their husbands such that there was formation of British common law in the nineteenth century which never considered women to be people at all.

Back in the nineteenth century, differences in classes as well as difference in gender contributed to great and notable dissimilarities in the lives of call girls of France .Mostly, these dissimilarities showed up according to how police officers treated them, following regulations and of course the general standards of living. As far as how gender was divided in prostitution, the difference in classes dictated the type of client one would have as well as how the prostitute was to be subjected to legal accountability. This act to great percentage worked in the favor of clientele originating from the upper class (Landow 102). However, the act of prostitution was highly considered and understood as the domain of female who in many cases acted as the destinations of men-gender sexual feelings and desires. Although differences

in class contributed an important role as to whether of low class status or not, women who practiced the act of prostitution in a society was considered to be of low dignity more so than any other male counterpart who as well known to practice prostitution (Cristovam 95). During the nineteenth century, Colonial America was governed by a single basic principle which had a demand of that all voters must always have a valuable possession in the society where the election was to be conducted.

This meant that only persons originating from the higher class were permitted to cast their votes. Mob rule and disorder were associated to democracy by the then leading colonists. They also believed that voting should solely be to those individuals who did pay taxes or owned property. In accordance to their own point of view, such members were the only committed fellows and therefore were sufficient and enough to do the voting. All of the thirteen colonies of America required all the voters to have originated from high class either in the ownership of a specified acres of land or personal property or to be in the capacity to pay a specified figure as far as taxes was put into consideration (Cristovam 109).

The nineteenth century, was largely governed by the idea difference in gender (which is natural). People of that error also were dominated by the thought of normative sexuality whose main base was on the families from the middle-class. This middle class culture emanated from Britain and America mainly because of those areas becoming more industrialized urbanized and also had a strong economic growth. This middle class culture existed in

two different but complementary spheres. These spheres were public sphere as well as the private sphere. The public sphere was exclusively for men whereas the private sphere was considered to be a preserve for the feminine.

The public sphere was considered to be sphere of doing business and making some extra money, also it was a sphere where politics were practiced, building of the empire, industry building and also a sphere of struggle. On the other hand, the female private spheres were understood as spheres full of space for hearth and home duties. In addition, the private spheres were considered to be a place of nurturing, having sympathy, rearing children and also a place of simple piety. During the nineteenth century, all men could obviously cross over to the private spheres after leaving their businesses. In this private sphere, men expected to be treated with great care and concern by their wives.

However, women on the other side were not allowed to easily have an access to the public sphere which belonged to men (Christovam 130). The double system of that error undervalued the private sphere by underwriting a capitalist economic system. The system practiced these by valuing the home as a sphere of consumption instead being a sphere of production. It also considered middle class wives to be a consumer who should be leisured.

Additionally, commerce ravages could not get into contact with a private domestic sphere. This was contributed by the double system underwriting the middle class. Moral superiority contributed a great percentage to the middle class claiming for cultural authority. Unlike their aristocratic counterparts, greatest percentage of people who originated from the middle classes were

seen and considered to be more human and better acting. In the nineteenth century, in United States there developed new ways of conducting an election campaign in America. Most of the new techniques were purely original and not copied from any other place.

A number of states initiated ways of getting lid of tax qualifications and property requirements for a person to qualify as a voter. This also contributed greatly to changing campaigns because the voting franchise was generally subjected to enlargement. This enlargement of the voting franchise gave people whose backgrounds were of low class an opportunity to express their opinion and choice via voting. By the early nineteenth century, an increased number of white free adult males were privileged to do the voting (Lerner 95).

A biracial society was tried to be initiated by the radical republicans who were in congress. They tried to create the biracial society using the military. However, the army did put all the effort that was within their reach and ensured that all the black men did express their choice and opinion through voting. They ensured that all the male who were in the south became enfranchised helping them to cast their votes therefore expressing their opinion and choice of the leaders they entrusted in the republican. Mobilizing all of the potential customers was one of the basic strategies to campaign.

To help them find new supporters. For politician to win new supports, they talked to their communities systematically. By addressing the state and national issues, of the day politicians realized positive responses. Since United States is a large and a complex nation, citizens were mostly loyal to their own ethno-religious

groups. These are what politicians ended up discovering. The republicans dominated the south because they had a well strong base among African-Americans.

They managed to achieve the domination during reconstruction. On the other hand, the democrats did quite good among Catholics and other high liturgical organizations. They also won those people who wanted to have a minimal government. Additionally, they also performed excellently among the white people who had a claim that the African Americans should not by any means be allowed to enjoy either social or political equality (Lerner 135). Parties came up with different methods of approaching issues such as economy modernization and westward expansion.

Voters found themselves attracted to these parties in one way or the other. The parties of the republicans and Whigs concentrated much in supporting economy modernization, supporting the growth of banks, railway road development, and factory advancement. As well, the two parties were promising perfect local markets in the cities for locally produced farm markets. These contributed greatly to helping farmers who commonly were considered to have originated from a low class background.

In order to be in close touch with all the voters whether of high class or low class, the parties could converge and come up with a good internal communication system. A few days before the date of election were very critical so a network of activists in each and every county was set up by the parties. The work of those activists was exclusively to pay a one on one visit to all the potential supporters irrespective of their class in each and every neighborhood (Banks 94). In the eighteen twenties, all the offices for the government

were either elected or the elected officials could choose them. After the year eighteen forty eight, majority of the states reviewed their governing constitution and did some amendments which dictated that judges were to do the campaign before all the voters just like anyone else. The amendment also required the judges to be elected for a fixed period of time (terms).As time went by; politicians were able to identify more and more factors that acted like blocs preventing voters from expressing their choice and opinion through the act of voting.

Politicians therefore could work extra hard towards achieving their already set goal of abolishing the traditional way of considering a person’s property standards for suffrage. The republican came up with principles which dictated that each and every member must be eligible and should of course do the voting. A good number of the states came up with a strategy where by the immigrants could be allowed to vote irrespective of their race even without displaying their papers of citizenship. In other regions, the parties facilitated the process of naturalization.

During the error of nineteenth century, voting for the parliamentary positions was exclusively set aside for those people who were under the ownership of a large amount of property. For all these time, good number of people was not allowed to express their choice and opinion on whom to lead through casting of their votes. These included all working male as well as female without property. Such people never had a say in the government of that time.

Towards the mid of the nineteenth century, every white male who was an adult was practically a potential voter and could

actually vote. In the year eighteen sixty, the nationwide turnout had increased to eighty one percent. Due to this abrupt change, Americans seemed to be objecting Europeans where people from the middle classes, peasants as well as workers from the industries had to perform mobilization in order to demand for suffrage. Although most of them were nonpartisans, the Americans did create a labor and farmer movements. The election of the counties represented a variety of individuals who originated from distinguished social classes.

Such people included little young boys playing a certain game, two men discussing the election taking place around them, and a great number of men ascending the stairs with an intention of expressing their opinion and choice through casting of their votes (Bank 130). By mid eighteen thirties, the sources of both social and economic power were in the increase attributed to the industrial revolution. These meant that an extra good number of people were now in the ownership of factories. These resulted to the rich business people developing a desire to share in the political power as well. This was because they were now of the upper class. The reform bill of the year nineteen thirty two did not provide a vote or any political power to the people working in factories.

These was because they were in the bracket of low class people and they were not seen to be worth .However ever despite all these, the following year eighteen thirty three, the workers working conditions became a real political issue. Michael Sadler who was a member of the commons house did put into consideration the children working conditions in particular. He held

the hearings in the year eighteen thirty two. In the report that was published by Sadler in the year eighteen thirty three, there was a testimony from low class children who complained of working for long hours, very low payment and unfavorable working environment especially for those who worked for the textile industries. Through Sadlers report, a way was found and regulations were set which fully monitored the conditions under which low class children were employed.

According to Banks (120), growth and development of industrialization played a major role in affecting the lives of ordinary workers who are of the low class. Many ordinary workers were forcefully thrown out of the small farms thus going to live in cities where they had poor housing and worked for long hours and under unfavorable working conditions. By this time, women and their young ones could work alongside their fathers but due to the low pay, their combined salaries could not do much as far as meeting their daily basic needs was concerned. The urban workers had many had life which resembled that of the serfs.

Serfs were the poor people of the middle ages from low class who worked in farms as virtue slaves. They were not able to move to another place and they owned no property at all. The new class of workers continued to increase in number provoked a number of writers and thinkers to initiate a program requiring workers to not only be represented politically but also require the government to have control over the established factories. Aristocrats and the wealthy factories owners started to realize that the number of ordinally workers had increased greatly

to an extent of out numbering the property owners.

They looked on all socialism forms as a great threat to the influence and power they were enjoying. These made them to think of an abusive revolution in the basis of socialism. Chartists were a group of reformers which triggered a social change which was peace by offering permission to casting of votes by all workers. The chartists came to conclusion that the reform act of the year eighteen thirty two did not help in getting the political power off the hands of a small section of people who were rich as well as from the aristocrats. According to Fairburn (130), during the century, Democratic Party of the white southern possessed the greatest number of the total elected offices in the previous confederate states. Southern Republican Party which had its most members to be blacks had no say and many are the times the party was not permitted to have their candidates opposing the democrats.

These was happening because they were not of the same race .The white primary perfectly blocked the limited number of black men registered to vote in having any opinion in who passed the election to occupy partisan offices. The black people were not dismissed from registering as voters. However, voting intimidation was usually put into practice. All the citizens who were African-American who could be seen trying to enjoy and exercise his or her voting right was called aside and intimidated by threats of that he or she shall be made jobless. The white voting clerks could also abuse the blacks and deny them credit and also threatening them of eviction thus contributing

to the southerners to set aside and not cast their votes. If all the intimidations and discriminations happened to be fruitless mob violence and hanging of the black men could be used just to scare them away from the ballot box.

In conclusion, in the nineteenth century there was a lot of discrimination especially to the black men by the whites which prevented them from advancing. These was because they were never considered to be human enough and they were from a low class. Still, women were denied more of their rights by their men and assigned duties which were seen to be of low value. This was because they were seen as property which was to be owned and guided by men.

Work cited

• Landow, George P. The Victorian Web. Providence, R.I: Brown University, 1995. Internet resource.
• Banks, Michael A, and Orson S. Card. On the Way to the Web: The Secret History of the Internet and Its Founders. Berkeley, CA: Apress, 2008. Print.
• The British Newspaper Archives. London: brightsolid in partnership with British Library, 2012.

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• Fairburn, Miles, and Erik Olssen. Class, Gender and the Vote: Historical Perspectives from New Zealand. Dunedin, N.Z: Otago University Press, 2005. Print.
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• Buarque, Cristovam. "Education As an Instrument to Overcome Social, Racial and Gender Discrimination : Research Article." Unisa Latin American Report.

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• Lerner, K L, Brenda W. Lerner, and Adrienne W. Lerner. Gender Issues and Sexuality: Essential Primary
  

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