Until fairly recently, women's roles and opportunities have been seriously limited in cultural society. The options for how to work, socialize, and hold responsibility for men has been drastically more numerous and favorable in comparison to that of women. This restrictive environment that women have lived in hasn't yet gone away completely. Many women, though not all nor as much as past populations, still experience confined roles and socio-economic statuses in the working and living society. These ideas were reflected strongly in literature during a time period in which women began to argue and protest for more rights and respect among the male population. These literary works, through descriptive language, repetition, and contextual tone, gave women characteristics, responsibilities, and roles that often worsened or pitted the female sex, which in turn downgraded their position amongst society. 

As the 1900's began, women pushed for a betterment in society. Typically a woman was expected to be a housewife, which entailed cooking, cleaning, and providing for a husband. To go outside that realm was unheard of nor was it approved by the rest of society. Women who got a higher education or attempted to get a well paying job were not supported in their field. Any woman who did have a job was payed significantly less simply because they were female. In "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid, the expected responsibilities of women is displayed through Kincaid's constant repetition. Kincaid goes into what it really means to be a woman, by complicating the responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, behavior etc. These expectations extended into the a list, saying "don't cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil; soak your little cloths right before you take them off;" (Kincaid) and continued on until the end of the passage. These guidelines remained strict to the cooking, cleaning and housewife ideals. Furthermore, the tone of Kincaid was reprimanding towards the status of women. Kincaid wrote "Wash everyday, even if it is with your own spit; don't squat down to play marbles-you are not a boy, you know;" (Kincaid). This idea of women of having a proper appearance and to acting out of manner shows how people of this early 1900's time period felt about how women should act and behave. Acting outside of these realms was simply unaccepted in society and women would pay the price for it. In Seneca Falls and the Origins of the Women's Rights Movement by Sally McMillen, it was considered a surprise when women began coming out to say that they were "as sexually passionate as men" (McMillen 191). While now we can understand and accept these ideas, it was unheard of for a woman to think like that, let alone say it publicly. Many women in fact stated that "they were doing immense harm to the progress of women" (McMillen 191). The overall attitude towards women and their expected behavior almost dehumanized females to an extent. The pressures of society oppressed women to speak, act, and think freely-with human operations like sex drive, and emotion taking a hit because of it. 

With women being oppressed by societal norms, job hunting and financial security were not easy to come by as a female. Even today, women face obstacles in the work place when compared to men. However, back in the early 1900's women were extremely uncompensated and unappreciated as an employee in the work force. The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony, which is a compendium of Anthony's life through letters, public addresses, and contemporaries during her life and written by Ida Husted Harper, addresses how women put in as much effort as men with almost no reward. Anthony states in one of her collections, "Many of the ladies readjusted their ribbons and laces and looked at each other as much as to say, 'Beautiful, perfectly beautiful!'" (Harper 100). The same societal expectation of women prevailed in the workplace just as much as it did in a home environment, but this time the consequence of sacrificing your time and skills brings you little to no reward. The effort women put in the workplace "adds insult to injury... toiling side by side with them (men) for one-half the salary" (Harper 100). This compensation and respect strongly discouraged women from being active outside and away from their household, further pressing their ability to express themselves and grow as individuals. Females, especially activists, were not fans of the unfair treatment women received while on the job. Yet, as women began to speak out against this issue, hostility was shown among the male population. Anthony continues in her collection saying how women received negative remarks as they tried to speak publicly. Ranging from "hisses, shouts of 'she shall not speak'" (Harper 101) to "cried over and over 'shame on the woman!'" (Harper 101). This hostile reaction was harsh from the male population and discouraged many woman activists in making progress for females in the workplace. Quite simply, the idea of a progressive and equal opportunistic society was too much to bear for the male dominated idealism, and the men in power made it harder and harder for women to earn their share. 

The attitude towards women and the oppression they face created a barrier between living a life with freedom and choices and women themselves. The change of women leaving the house to work was something that society had trouble adjusting to, so in turn the tolerance of this practice was generally very low, especially among males who felt that their jobs could be at risk or women had their own roles they needed to follow. The adaptation of women into the work force and free social lifestyle put men in a position of either adjustment or resentment. While it would seem clear to us now that adjustment would be the right choice of action, men in that time period were hesitant to give up their jobs, money and social status to women who they felt did not deserve any of it Since women were put in a position of housewife and caretaker, men didn't believe that they could handle anything outside of that, which has quickly been proven to be false in a progressive society that supports the growth and individualism for both men, and women. 
