It sounds crude to say it, but women used to be property. In many places in the world, they still are. I have been learning specifically about the United States so I'm gonna stick with that in my blog. Women were owned by their male family members. They were thought to be dumb and stupid. Much of this idea came from the puritans thinking that the fall was all Eve's fault. Women were not smart and needed to be treated as "children". Men thought that women didn't know how to take care of themselves and needed a man to help them. As 'property' women couldn't own property. When they were married, any property they did have went with their husbands. In the 1600s and 1700s men were the legal individual and therefore if there was some disagreement in the family and the wife wanted to separate (divorce was forbidden), the husband was awarded the children. Later, when women were seen as the pious sex, courts would rule in favor of the mother having custody (but this was much later). As time went on women found that they enjoyed being single for as long as possible because they had property and had a say in the community.
Sexually, women were just there to produce children and please their husband. Child rearing was something scary for women in history. 1 of every 10 births would result in the death of the mother. Wow!
I have learned many other things that has caused me to realize how blessed I am to be here, now.
After thinking about all these things, I have realized how blessed I am to be living in this time and this place. I am an American. I am free. I am equal to those men in my society. I have a right to speak my mind. I have a right to own property. I have a right to life, liberty and my pursuit of happiness. I hope I can use this power to weld good things in this world.
