Pages 827-861 Industrial Revolution

This past Wednesday, as you all know, I walked into class late, only to find that I wasn't allowed to speak (which in all honesty was in my favor because I had really bad strep throat), I wasn't allowed to use paper OR a writing utensil, and the men in the class basically controlled my every move because they got to make up the rules. I don't know if any of you saw my face, but I was basically outraged. What made it even worse was that I took a picture and put it on Facebook and every girl comment said "that sucks" but every guy comment said "HAHAHAHAHA"...... Are you kidding me? Anyway, I learned through text that we were playing a game and that women couldn't really do anything at all. The way women were treated during the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th centuries was ridiculous! I'm really not a hard-core feminist, but I do think that the way women were treated during the time of the Industrial Revolution were horrifying! "Women's roles" were to be homemakers, wives, and mothers, while the men went off to work. Sadly, today, most men think women still "belong in the kitchen" instead of out in the world world, working a real job. Yes, some women actually want to do just that, but most of us have things we want to do! Some of us don't even want to get married or have children, let alone be stuck in a house all day doing chores. The story of Ellen Johnston is about a women who had an affair and was a single mother by the age of 17. Some people thought she was a "fallen woman" (someone who gave birth outside of marriage) and they expected her to live her life hidden away from the public. Instead, she supported herself and her child by working in a textile mill. There, she found a sort of confidence that she was higher than a domestic laborer. She was proud of herself and what she had done to make a living for herself and her daughter. Women from history like Ellen Johnston are the women to look up to. She proved society wrong by showing everyone she didn't need a man to make her life complete or to support her in any way. She did it all on her own, even when people doubted her. It's shocking that women today look to celebrities like Miley Cyrus or Kim Kardashian as role models, instead of women like Ellen Johnston.