Southern Arizona: Lives that Shaped the Frontier Experience :: Essays Papers

Ordinary Wo hands in primeval Twentieth Century Southern Arizona Lives that Shaped the Frontier look Some historians slang argued that womens roles in early 20th deoxycytidine monophosphate Arizona centered exclusively around the domestic sphere and typified value of femininity such as passivity, motherhood, and loyalty to marriage. Their journeys to the westerly are overly portrayed as involuntary and life on the term a hated struggle. For example, Christiane Fischer states, Frontier conditions tended to rein guide women in their traditional roles and did not give way up any new possibilities for them (Fischer, 46). Although this may have been true for some, womens overall experiences and contributions to Arizonas history were much more than complex. Although historically important figures are often over-represented in the stories we tell about our past, it is inbred to remember that companionable change cannot occur without the involvement of thousands of ordi nary folks. accord to E.D. Branch, If there is a moral to the history of the westward movement, it is this the transcendent splendor of small things and of unimportant people (Branch in Poling-Kempes, xii). This is especially relevant to womens history in that womens experiences are often ignored in dominant discourse and their achievements are relegated to the invisible sphere of domesticity. This essay depart explore the ways in which ordinary women influenced the development of the Arizona termination and to what extent the conditions of this lifestyle affected their roles and opportunities. At the turn of the century, women in the west enjoyed greater freedom than their sisters in other parts of the country. Various social and economic necessities both allowed and forced women into situations that were traditionally reserved for men. Lesley Poling-Kempes states, Liberation may have been a side effect, rather than a motivating force or premeditated goal, for women i n the new society of the American West (Poling-Kempes, 49). Women in this region generally had a better economic status, more job opportunities, and higher legal status than women in other regions (Rothschild and Hronek, xx). Historians have presented several hypotheses to explain this geographical distinction. One such theory is that the slanted sex ratio (many more men were present than women) required men to be tolerant of women leading unconventional lifestyles. Another possibility is that, overall, the frontier embraced a more democratic way of life than settled areas, which in turn affected womens rights (Rothschild and Hronek, xx).