Then and Now

Looking back on how things were for women back in Virginia Woolf’s day, down to our time, there are many differences from then and now. This particular essay was written in the year 1928. So that means that this essay was only written eight years after women were granted the right to vote. So she clearly saw what life was like for her and other women before and after that historic date. On the second page where she looks up the passages from the historian, and talks about how wife beating , “was a recognized right of man..” I found that to be very interesting. We have come a long way from this sort of thing in our society today. You will get put in jail for doing such a thing these days. And it is something that is looked down upon in our culture. However; this sort of thing happens all the time even today. It may not be an accepted thing today, but it still happens. Things have changed a great deal, but I don’t think I could say that Woolf’s arguments in her essay are completely irrelevant today’s times. I think that the overall tone in this essay is one that can relate to our time. Women aren’t so down trodden these days, but there still remains a great issue. Last semester I had taken a class on Women in Business Organizations. I had taken it online, and sometimes with online classes there isn’t as much discussion on certain issues as there is when you are there in the classroom setting. But I still learned a great deal from that class. In some ways, women are still the underdog, and they still have many injustices that they are met with, especially when one considers the workplace. Even today, it is harder for a woman, than it is for a man, to climb up the ladder of success on the job. Today you will find that the greater majority of CEO’s and people in top management are men. It does seem to get better as the years go by, but hopefully this sort of thing will be more equal as the time progresses. When it comes to women in the home life, many changes have taken place from then and now. Women really aren’t expected to stay at home and be housewives anymore. Not that I see anything wrong with a housewife. I actually find it to be a high and noble work to stay at home and raise the children. But there are just as many women going to college and having careers as there are men. But with that there are still many jobs that are more gender-oriented. Which may not necessarily be a bad thing all the time. I think that the women’s liberation movement, along with the way our culture perceives women today has brought about many things, some good and some that I don’t particularly agree with. Overall the attitudes on women have improved greatly, and I hope it will continue to do so.