When the European settlers first arrived in the land which was later to be known as the United States, they brought with them various customs and traditions. These traditions were perpetuated by the settlers themselves, and gradually were incorporated into the American values, where many of them still linger today.

One of the most widespread customs of European culture was the concept of single men being exempt from sexual restrictions, while single women were to remain chaste until marriage. This double standard of sexual behavior found its origins in the "cult of the virgin."

In Europe during the middle ages (1000 to 1500 A.D.) there were elaborate customs surrounding the domestic institution of marriage. Women of noble blood were betrothed (what we not call "engagement") by their families when they were anywhere from birth to the age of sixteen.

The woman and her future husband would exchange rings or some other piece of jewelry on the steps of a church, while a priest officiated in a brief ceremony.

When the woman had passed puberty, and the man had become a knight (somewhere in his twenties) the formal wedding cermony would be performed upon the church steps.

The next step of the marriage took place at what we now call the reception. The wedding party would sing and dance and celebrate. At some point, the entire wedding party would then make its way to the groom's bedroom. The bride and groom would climb into bed, pull the curtains, and consummate the marriage, while the guests waited outside. After the culmination, the groom would show the bloodied sheets to everyone as proof that his wife was a virgin.

Virginity was measured by the bleeding caused when a woman's hymen was ruptured. If a bride did not [bleed], then the groom could declare the marriage null and void. Frightened by the thought of the disgrace which would surely follow if she did not bleed, women resorted to such measures as putting embroidery stitches into their vaginas, in order to ensure bleeding upon penetration.

Virginity and honesty somehow became linked during the middle ages. When Joan of Arc approached the Dauphin with tales of holy visions, she was promptly tested for virginity.

While this concept may now seem bizarre to our western minds, some of this concept of "virginity = honesty" lingers on in our culture. When a modern American woman now files rape charges, one of the most frequently asked questions is, "were you a virgin?" The implication would seem to be that women with sexual experience prior to rape are more likely to lie than women without prior experience.

Sadly enough, until more attention is focused upon this special type of physical abuse, such attitudes will likely continue.

The Puritan settlers (beginning in 1630) were religious radicals who left England to avoid further persecution. Their very existence was perhaps a reaction to the decadence of European society of the 1500's. They arrived in bleak New England and set about constructing their ideal society.

The Puritans advocated a philosophy of strict discipline and hard work. Children of six or seven years were expected to share the labor around the house or shop.

When they were about eight years of age, boys were sent to school in order to learn the fundamentals of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Girls, on the other hands, were thought to be best educated in matters concerning the home.

This attitude (i.e., a woman's place is in the home) still persists today. It explains why women, who are half of the nation's work force, still only earn half the wages of men. It also accounts for the small percentage of women in the professions, such as law and medicine.

In the South, plantations and slavery became the major source of income. Southern women of the upper classes gradually found themselves in roles which were little better than china dolls - they were thought to be lovely, delicate, and easily broken. They wore gloves and sunbonnets whenever they ventured from their homes, for a suntan was considered to be a sign of the lower classes.

Black women seemed to have suffered the greatest idignities. Unless they were fortunate enough to have been freed by kind masters, most black women in the South were slaves. They toiled from dawn to dusk, picking cotton or taking care of their owner's personal needs. They saw their own children sold at the auction block, and were often forced to act as mistresses for their white owners.

By the end of the civil war and through Reconstruction (1865-1879), black women were no better off than they had been before the war. Uneducated and unskilled, they worked at the most menial jobs. Like most other American women, they did not have the right to vote. The segregation policies of the South acted as a barrier between black and white women. It is only in recent years that black women have been able to rise above the racial barriers of yesteryear. An example of this is the black politician Shirley Chisholm.

The Women's Suffrage Movement, which began with the first women's rights convention held at Seneca Falls, New York, in July of 1848, fought for women's civil liberties against staggering opposition. Journalists lampooned suffrage leaders like Victoria Woodhull, and men sneered at Susan B. Anthony. But these women continued to fight for the equality which they thought the right to vote would safeguard.

When women were granted the right to vote through the ratification of the nineteenth amendment in 1920, the suffrage movement died.

During the Depression of the 1930s, women began to work in order to support their families. During World War II, women worked outside their homes in order to help support the country's war effort.

It was not until the 1960s, amidst the nation's political turmoil, that the women's right movement resurfaced. In 1966, the National Organization of Women, headed by author Betty Friedan was formed.

The outdated Women's Suffrage Movement has been replaced by the Women's Liberation Movement. It is only recently that this movement has set about challenging the old values.

There is still a long to go before the roads of communication between the sexes have been fully opened. As women should have the right to determine their own destinies, so should men have the right to fully express themselves. Many men are afraid to cry, afraid to love, afraid to seem "unmasculine."

Perhaps men and women should unite in a common cause. "People's liberation" could be based upon the concept that everyone should have the freedom to live as they choose, without fear of social repercussion.

The American woman can be a virgin or a prostitute, a teenager or an octogenarian, an executive or a housewife. For why do we consider ourselves to be Americans, if not for the right to choose?

either senior year high school or early college essay - mid to late 1970s

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