Cooper

I really liked Cooper's thoughts on women and their great responsibility of raising the next generation to continue the development of their civilization. It actually ties in nicely with another course I am enrolled in title "Women's Health and Aging." In this class, we discuss a woman's pressure to be the perfect mother, perfect wife and to be sure to look good while doing it. In addition, an increased number of women in the workforce may not only add to the number of pressures on a women as perfect mothers, wives and feminine models, but perhaps even magnify these preexisting demands. Such pressures can be traced back to the 1800s, as Anna Julia Cooper, a scholar and teacher supports that the judgment of a civilization should be based on the treatment of their women, and that a sufficient measure of the progress of a civilization is the influence of good women to raise the next generation as successful, progressive and strong (Cooper, 1892). Though this is somewhat of an honor to the female population, it is also a tremendous pressure to be responsible for the success of their future society. With the evolution of women in the workforce, it is slowly morphing into yet another demand on women to uphold, which could essentially compromise the perfect mother, perfect wife and the rate of success in maintaining femininity.