Prompt: Throughout history, society has dealt more severely with women than with men. Women have had a great struggle in attaining equality with men, yet often faced harsher punishments for wrongdoings.
Analyze selections from various time periods to substantiate, refute, or qualify this claim.
Women in SocietyOver the years, women have been treated differently in relation to men simply because of gender. Women have faced a great struggle when trying to attain equality with men, yet society has dealt more severely with women than with men when it comes to facing punishments for wrongdoings. This can be shown throughout history using texts from the bible, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, speeches, and articles based on current times.
Even in ancient times women have been discriminated because of their sex. In the text from John 8:1-11, a woman was caught in adultery and compelled to stand before Jesus as a form of humiliation and judgment for committing such a sin.
English: Hester Prynne & Pearl before the stocks
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (seated) with Susan B. Anth...
Elizabeth Cady StantonThe scribes and Pharisees that brought in the woman announced her punishment, which was stoning her to death. Jesus simply told them that the one who has not yet sinned should cast the first stone; none did so. This comes to show that although men have sinned, as well as women, women bear most of the brunt for sins.
The treatment of women in society is depicted in Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel The Scarlet Letter. The protagonist, Hester Prynne, is condemned to wear a scarlet 'A' on her bosom which stood for adultery. In addition, she is treated with disdain and harangued publicly by all and is then obliged to live on the outskirts of her village. The way Hester is treated shows that the manner in which women are treated has not changed from ancient times to the...