Gender roles of 18th Century Men and Women

Comparison of Gender roles in England and France

France;

• Women had no property rights
• Men had the task of completing activities, outside of the household, in order to earn income. 
• Women were seen as fragile, and remained at the home to care for the children and tend to the upkeep of the home.
• Lower class women stayed in the home and often worked around the farm, milking cows.
• Even women in  privileged positions were often held back from independent action by traditional cultural and social norms of behavior.

England; 

• Under the common law of England, an unmarried woman could own property, make a contract, or sue and be sued. But once she married, the woman, defined as being one with her husband;
• gave up her name
• virtually all her property came under her husband's control.

• Queen Victoria was regarded as being a paragon of virtue, a woman that always carried out her duties without fuss and maintained all the traditional gender roles that a wife and mother were supposed to carry out. 
• Queen Victoria and those around her tended to portray the royal family as a fine example of a traditional family with traditional values not only in Britain but across its vast Empire as well. The British monarchy was all in favor of conserving society just as it was to maintain its prestigious status although it was the elected government that carried out policies intended to conserve or to transform society.

 
A traditional 18th Century English Family

The roles of women changed greatly during the enlightenment.  According to sparknotes.com,  ”The Enlightenment was a sprawling intellectual, philosophical, cultural, and social movement that spread through England, France, Germany, and other parts of Europe during the 1700s.”  At that time, the opportunity for education expanded but decreased in quality.  During the enlightenment, education was shown to be very important.  Women in the high and middle class were offered an education, but it definitely was not as high of an education as a man.  Enlightenment thinkers believed that Science and Philosophy were for men.  So women were given training in areas that were going to help their husbands and families. Things like music, drawing, singing and painting were taught to the women.  Women began working as productive laborers with the family around the age of six or seven.  Most of the time, that meant working light farm labor, in agricultural areas. If the family lived in an urban setting, women could find low-level, low-wage jobs in many industries.  This kind of work, for both men and women, was harsh, cruel and paid less than most jobs.  In general, women's lives were oriented around the running of the household rather than the entire family.  The women's marriage and children were put behind the household.

Sources:
http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ENLIGHT/WOMEN.HTM

http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/enlightenment/context.html

http://socyberty.com/history/what-influence-did-changing-gender-roles-throughout-the-18th-19th-century-have-on-the-position-of-women-in-the-practice-of-midwifery-and-gynaecology/#ixzz12urt2Ph0
 

The Best Three Class Blogs in German 110, Fall 2010

My specific Criteria; is color coordination, the appeal of their projects set-up, pictures within their work/placed within it, the pictures should be properly incorporated into the posts.

1.) Kelsey Kubiak 

• Appearance; very well composed, colors go well together__30/30
• Writing; nicely written entries, word choice is good__19/20
• Completeness; all of the blogs assigned, appear present__20/20
• Image and Sources; images are well placed and sources listed appropriately__10/10
• Aesthetic appeal; well placed, pictures properly incorporated and cohesiveness posts__20/20

2.) Alexia Ball

• Appearance; nice coordination of colors and design__30/30
• Writing; some of the entries are lacking higher level sentence formation__16/20
• Completeness; all of the blogs assigned, appear present__20/20
• Image and Sources; images are incorporated nicely into her posts__10/10
• Aesthetic appeal; her pictures are placed nicely within the posts and are kind to the eye__20/20

3.) Jessica Nikula

• Appearance; well set up, appealing to look at__30/30 
• Writing; sentences are clear and concise, though may leave you wanting__18/20
• Completeness; all of the blogs assigned, appear present__20/20
• Image and Sources; the images are nice, but a bit scarce__6/10
• Aesthetic appeal; very well coordinated colors, quite appealing__20/20

All Quiet on the Western Front; Day One Discussion

Authority in Germany: they either love and fight for it to the death or German's dispise it and fight against authority tooth and nail.

•  Represented by Himmelstoss in the story; was a postman but used his military position as drill sargent to give himself the illusion of power and authority in his life. 

It was a story of survival, not death; Paul Baeumer and his classmates enlist in the armed forces. They go through training and are quickly sent out to the front lines of the war. Paul speaks of losing their identities, the war washing away the children they had been before. Yet, how the war managed to prevent them from forming adult identities outside of it's constrictions. They did  not have wives and children, they no longer had a connection to who they were. They had become soldiers and that had become their identity.
Paul goes on leave and visits his childhood home, stays with his family. But he doesn't belong there, where the war is not a present statement in the streets. Where the war which has become him is hidden, the true war. These civilians do not understand, nor should they have to. It is Paul who is changed, Paul who no longer belongs in this place of lost identity. He belongs in the war, fighting, being the soldier he has become.
Paul watches as his friends pass, week by week. A pair of boots is the symbol of this passing, first sent from Kammerich as he lay dying in a hospital. Then down from Mueller as he bleeds to death on the field. Those boots showed how they had lost themselves, how the soldier who knew of survival and tactfulness saw a good pair of boots. They felt grief, but they knew it was inevitable, those boots were useful to them, to the soldier.