The Absence Of Women In The Early Years Of Sociology

To study sociology you must dive deeply into our social history. We learn from past experiences and lessons, and from those who came before us. As a society we have moved forward from some previous stereotypes and trends, sexism really held up our past as a society.

Most of the known work on sociology previous to the 1900's was given to us by men. The gender line was very strict. Women were not deemed to be intellectual in nature, and thought to be incapable. The intellectual roles were assumed by men. Women were expected to raise children, cook, do laundry, and go to church. Going outside of these lines would bring scrutiny upon women. Reading and writing were deemed masculine in nature so few women were educated or even attended college.

A few wealthy women managed to go to college. Women like Harriet Martineau studied social life and wrote about it extensively. In 1837 she wrote the book "Society in America". Her work and the work of women like her were for the most part ignored because of women role in society at the time.

The irony is that the study of social customs like, gender and politics in the 1800's was one sided. The field of sociology has an absence of work from women due to the customs of the 1800's. These trends would change in the 1900's due to social reform and acceptance of women as intellects in society. We may never know of the work lost due to the practices of those times but Sexism is a problem that we learned has a very negative effect on our society's advancement.