by Joan Huston

Created on: January 24, 2007   Last Updated: January 29, 2009

Historically women have been viewed by men as fickle and weak creatures. The commonly held theory that "as a woman's brain develops her ovaries shrivel" helped to enforce the prejudice that prohibited women from obtaining educations that paralleled those of men. Even though all of these previously held thoughts held by people of the early 19 century have been medically debunked, an alarming number of prejudiced thoughts are still held by some men. Women finally gained access to education but now they are struggling to earn their place in this man's world of business and occupations.

The education offered to women before the 20th century was rather minimal. The commonly held belief that intelligence in women could cause physically maladies helped to ensure the aversion to educating the fairer sex. How could women advance themselves to any degree if they could not gain access to quality education? To circumnavigate the cultural mores preventing females from equal education, women presented the idea that an educated mother was a benefit to her sons. This tactic helped to open some university doors to women; however, women were continually forced to choose between an educated job and their family. A woman who was a teacher was expected to be single and in no danger of getting married. On the other side of the scale, male teachers were expected to have a wife and a family.

Many women are very glad that we now live in a time where a person usually gets their job based on their qualifications alone. A lot of steps have made in the right direction but women are still not seen as equals in every scholarly and professional arenas. Young girls these days are often told that they can do anything they want to do and that they are smart enough to succeed at whatever they try. Of course, these young girls eventually meet a teacher or a bully that will tell them that they can never succeed in what they want to do simply because they are girls. Some of these young women are able to brush off the words of these nay-sayers, but it can be harder for others to block out the negativity.

Bright young women may find themselves in a college environment where they are ridiculed for the pursuit of their dream of being a doctor or an engineer. Women can have a very tough time trying to break into a major mostly held by men. Some of the worst problems can be encountered when it is time for the female students to go on to graduate school. Some women do not even have this option suggested to

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