civil
war
Stereotypes: A struggle in times of war
By: Valeria Andrade Cruz
Place: Texas Civil War Museum.
Address: 760 Jim Wright Freeway North. Fort Worth, TX 76108
date of foundation: 2006
Link: http://www.texascivilwarmuseum.com/welcome/welcome/?view=mobile
During the civil war, stereotypes were a common part of the American citizens life. There were different types of stereotypes, which included moral standards to the clothes that they were supposed to wear. Normally, oppression and stereotypes are frequently related to women all throughout history, but in this time women were not the only ones who were affected. Almost every citizen was affected by some kind of stereotypes, no matter their age,gender, their level in society or education. Some of this people were: boys and girls of all ages, teenagers, elderly people, woman and men. The delicate things about stereotypes is that they are instilled from the upbringing of the children. So, in consequence the stereotypes became customs, traditions and social rules, and that is what happened in the life of lots of men and women during the civil war, back in the 1961 until 1965.
Nowadays, in The Civil War Museum, people is able to understand through diverse objects, the daily life of the American people during the civil war. The place is full of interesting artefacts that were held by important actors of the war. And between these objects in the exposition, some of them that are a clear symbol or example of how stereotypes were a constant struggle for the people living on that age.
Also, at the beginning of the museum, there is movie that everyone can watch. In which, it explains the facets of the war and how events took place. If you watch the movie you will understand more easily the reasons of why people used to live with certain traditions and norms.
A clear example of those stereotypes, is the women pending the civil war years, and how they were attached to a specific way of living. In those times all women were expected to meet certain requirements, they needed to be appropriate, good wife's, good mothers or in other words an exceptional housewifes, for them to be accepted in society. Also, a really important aspect of women in that period of time was the physical appearance.
Women used to wear corsets to look beautiful and proper. Thanks to the corset their waists took the shape of an extremely thin and made their bodies stylized. In fact, there were special corsets for extremely small girls, approximately 2 or 3 years old, to make sure that from that age they begin to develop the correct silhouette.
Despite stereotypes are more linked with the oppression of the women, men also were under lots of pressure, because of the social rules that were present on that epoch. Men were presented to society as strong, brave and leaders of the families. And during the civil war, being a soldier granted respect and honor. So, children since their first years of life were bombed by the idea of how they needed to follow their father’s steps, be strong, brave, and defend their families.
Nowadays we still have stereotypes that mess with our society, even though they are very different form the stereotypes on those days in the war, they have the same effect. But knowing now all of this information we realize how stereotypes can affect a person’s life, no matter the period of time they live in.
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“The Texas Civil War Museum opened in January of 2006. With over 15,000 square feet of exhibit”
“Along with the exhibits, the Texas Civil War Museum includes a 75 seat movie theatre which hosts the commissioned movie, Our Homes Our Rights"