For the first time in my 16 years of schooling, I am taking a course that combines two of my favorite things: history and women. This semester, I am studying abroad in London, and when I saw that I could take a women’s studies course on the social history of women in London, I simply could not pass up the opportunity.
This is basically a dream-come-true course for me. It is often said that history is written by the winners, and usually the winners or heroes of the stories are men. Women are often portrayed as sidekicks or put into special boxes on the side of the history book pages. Rarely do you find a history book that represents both sexes equally.
So now comes the time where my sole focus for the next five weeks will be on how women have shaped not only their own lives, but also the course of history. I find it all a bit ironic that the first time I’m able to have this opportunity, it is not in America, land of the free and equal, but rather in the United Kingdom.
Anyway, I digress. As I have delved deeper into this course and its materials, I’ve found myself questioning many things about how we operate as humans. Much of society seems to be built around one thing: tradition.
Speaking as a first-generation American, I thoroughly understand the importance of tradition. I was raised in a strict Chinese household, and there were (and still are) certain things expected of me.
As I learned more about the English system and the hierarchy behind it, I of course uncovered the sexism that plays a background role in tradition. In fact, sexism plays that role in almost every culture.
Let me take you back to late 18th-century England. It is in this time period that women and men find themselves separating into two spheres. A domestic and private sphere was created for women, and a worldly and public sphere was created for men. Women were to stay within the walls of their home and essentially be happy with it. Their only jobs were to take care of their children and to please their husbands.
Things only seemed to be looking up once women began to rebel against that idea, fighting for the right to be heard and to live a fulfilling life outside the home. And while that battle was being fought bravely, there was another to conquer: the idea of primogeniture.
Primogeniture means that the eldest son (even if they had older sisters) in every family inherited the entire estate and funds of the family when the father died. For those families who didn’t have sons, the estate would be handed over to the first male cousin in line. Women would often be left with nothing, because women were not to be trusted with this sort of power. They were to only know of the domestic sphere, and fathers feared that their estates would end up in the wrong hands (their son-in-laws). Girls were owned by their fathers and would only grow up to be women owned by their husbands.
After learning about this, I thought, “Thank goodness we aren’t in the 18th century anymore.” But are we?
According to United Kingdom law, up until 2011, dukes and those with any sort of title could not hand down their estates to their daughters. That was barely four years ago. No, we’re not even talking about the royal family. We’re discussing what Americans would call the “1 percent.”
So, how did this sexism survive the centuries? It all comes back to tradition.
All around the world, sexism endures because the excuse of tradition is used. Yes, I’m very well aware that the backbone of culture is built on tradition. But some traditions are worth revising, changing and breaking.
If I had stuck to tradition, I would not be where I am right now. Instead, I would be at home, going to school (if I was lucky enough to do so) for a degree in nursing or teaching. I would be actively looking for my future spouse, and I would certainly know how to cook better.
Tradition would have not let me be an only child. My parents would have tried for a boy until they got one because I’m not to be trusted to carry on the family name or fortune. Tradition would not allow me to be where I am today, writing this column, addressing the sexism that women face.
No society can keep on functioning properly or fairly if there is no change to be made. Traditions can be broken for new ones to come and take their place. We use tradition as a mask for our fear.
By fearing to stray away from the path, we fear to face sexism.
