La Malinche

La Malinche — page 3
INTRODUCTION T hink about all of the history you have learned so far Who were the people you read about Who did your teachers discuss the most Most likely you have learned a history of men and their actions Men have dominated government literature science and exploration for most of written history Because women make up about half the people on the planet why don’t we learn more about them Of course there have been some exceptional women in history as well When you’ve learned about a woman it has been because she has accomplished something extraordinary like the queens Cleopatra of Egypt and Eliz abeth I of England Still women’s stories are often told in the context of the men they were linked to by blood or marriage This seems unfair but we must consider what the lives of women have been like throughout history Women have been seen as weak unintelligent and too emotional to do any thing important in the world Girls were kept home until they married Girls from poor families might never even learn to read while wealthier girls would get a feminine education of reading writing simple math and domestic subjects Until the last century women were expected to stay in the home cooking and cleaning while raising children Failing to marry turned a woman into an old maid who was pitied If a woman did work outside the home usu ally it was in one of a few occupations deemed suitable for women servant teacher nurse or factory laborer 6