In the book Her America: “A Jury of
Her Peers” and Other Stories, by Susan Glaspell, there is a character that
goes by the name Martha Hale in the chapter A
Jury of Her Peers. Mrs. Hale is an smart investigator as well as being a
farmer’s wife. Mrs. Hale has been asked to join Mrs. Peters to gather personal belongings
for Minnie Wright. None of the men in this story believe that women can find
evidence for this case or any case at that. They probably only believe that
they can just be wives and that’s it. Right now Mrs. Hale is feeling so guilty
because Mrs. Wright has been her childhood friend and she has not visit her in
so many years. Because Mrs. Hale is a female none of the men are taking her
serious; not even her own husband, Mr. Hale. When she goes to the Wright’s home
she finds a quilt that Mrs. Wright was in the middle of making. Mrs. Hale
questions about the quilt and the men just laugh about it because to them it is
just a quilt. In fact there was a clue hidden in the unfinished quilt. She
found Mrs. Wright’s canary wrapped up in a piece of silk with its neck twisted.
That moment brought up memories for Mrs. Hale to when the time a boy took a
hatchet to her kitten when she was just a little girl. Not only does Mrs. Hale
struggle as a female and try to be as equal as everyone else, she had a bad
past too.
I like that this story is showing the experiences the women had in a nonchalant way. Much like society during the time of the story sees women in a nonchalant way. Their efforts are unrecognized and unappreciated. This is why the women cover up the evidence of Mrs. Wrights home life, they see it as motive to why she killed her husband.
ReplyDeletefirst, I want t start off by saying that I like the title of your post. yes women can do any job a men can do. I thought Mrs. Hale did a nice work handling the evidence from the Mrs. Wright very well.
ReplyDeleteIts is funny how women were viewed at that time point but in comparison to today there is still some similarities. I have seen many strong women that are viewed as unequal just because they are women. Although we are many years past these stories there is still many inequalities we as women face.
ReplyDeleteThis story not only shows how women take a different approach to a problem but also how women stick together through thick and thin. When the women discover the canary they know that Minnie had a motif they know what the men would think if they saw it. Without speaking, they know what they must do to protect this women who has been victim enough and needs someone on her side.
ReplyDeleteKrystal,
ReplyDeleteWhat irony this story has to offer that none of the men in the investigation were the ones to find a motive for the murder, but the ones who were deemed as being unintelligent were the ones to actually find the motive for the murder. I am thankful that times are better now where men and women are more equal and this discrimination against sex is not as common. In those days, females struggled to be equal but now we have women who are running for president and becoming doctors. Women are sure making their statement with how bright we actually are. I enjoyed your post!
Good post. It is hard for women to live in a “man’s world”. Not just back then but today as well. I work in a very male dominated field and at first I had to prove myself to them to let them know I know what I was doing. I feel that Mrs. Hale was going through the same thing. Having the men discredit her and not take her seriously is difficult to work with. As well as being discredited, she also has a past that is difficult and the situation she is in is bringing up memories. She is probably upset by these memories which makes the men want to discredit her even more because she could be getting emotional. A “man’s world” shouldn’t exist anymore.
ReplyDeleteI also was drawn to this post because of your title. I couldn't agree more with the statement that women can do a man's job! I think your post is really good, and can be applied to life today. Some men still to this day believe that women shouldn't or are incapable of completing the same task as men do. I think that it has gotten a lot better then how women were looked at back in the day, but its still not equal. For example, women are not supposed to be as physical as men but on the tv show "America's ninja warrior" a lady proves how that is not the case by flying through a course that other men were failing at. So that shows that some women are capable of the things men do, and also can sometimes even do it better.
ReplyDelete