Addressing the first question, mid-19th century society believed that women were the inferior gender. It was thought that women were only good for taking care of the house and of the children.
The painting above is the Sphere of Women. The painting depicts the "true duties" of a women. Duties include keeping everyone in the household calm, bearing children, caring for children, mending broken objects, educating the children, cooking, and cleaning. Among all of these duties women were supposed be be humble and never expect public recognition, so it was a surprise when women made it publicly known that they wanted their rights. Society reacted in the form of several newspaper articles. While some articles supported the women's rights movement many of them resented the movement. One newspaper, called The Mechanics Advocate, printed a response that was against the reform. They stated that the movement is wrong and that women, "will instantly feel that is unwomanly, and that to be practically carried out." The article also states two reasons to why women should be in subjection,
"1. Adam was made before Eve.
2. Eve sinned before Adam."
All in all, society's reaction to women's demands for equality was to laugh at the women. Society stayed firm in believing that women were supposed to be completely pure, teaching the men good morals and keeping them in line.
The 21st century society's reaction is however a little different. An example can come from The Intimately Oppressed and modern day hospitals. The Intimately Oppressed briefly talks about females as doctors. The passage is, "My first medical consultation was a curious experience. In a severe case of pneumonia in an elderly lady I called in consultation a kind-hearted physician of high standing. .. . This gentleman, after seeing the patient, went with me into the parlor. There he began to walk about the room in some agitation, exclaiming, "A most extraordinary case! Such a one never happened to me before; I really do not know what to do!" I listened in surprise and much perplexity, as it was a clear case of pneumonia and of no unusual degree of danger, until at last I discovered that his perplexity related to me, not to the patient, and to the propriety of consulting with a lady physician!" The male couldn't believe that a women was working in the medical field. Now compare this story to Carol W. Greider. Greider is a United States molecular biologist that works in hospitals and at Johns Hopkins University. She discovered that telomeres are protected from progressive shortening by the enzyme telomerase and was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. She works in a male dominant field of profession but nobody blinked an eyelash when she made her life changing discovery or when she accepted the Nobel Prize because she was a woman. It was normal for women to have respected roles in important fields. It shows how accepting the 21st century is to women's demands for equality. It also proves that society has come a long way by placing men and women on an equal playing field.
