Blog #12 The European Moment

I found it really interesting reading about women and the colonial economy. It was really funny to ready the statement “What is man? I have my own money”. When reading that statement it made me laugh because all I could imagine was a women saying “awe I want that” and then her husband denying her the item, and she giving him the response I have my own money. These women became so independent that they gained the mind set and attitude of an independent woman. These women were so used to the men being away being shipped off as slave and they took control of the work and household in Africa, they had control. I bet the men came back really surprised to see how the women had control and showed their control by being mouthy to the men. The men were so used to the women being inferior to them obeying them and then all of a sudden the women are standing up to them and basically treating them as they are inferior now. That must have been a major shocker for the men and a hard adjustment for them. That statement can be compared to the women in today society. In today century it is more common to find independent women compared to back then. It is usually said that guys have a hard time dating an independent woman because they both fight for control in who wears the pants in the relationship. Now it is more common to see the woman in the household to be the bread winner, bring in most of the income, while the male figure is at home taking care of the kids. It is even more common for the women to bring in the household income in addition take care of the children, women are executing both roles in the household. In today century women are less likely to depend on men and now work enough hours in order to provide for themselves, so there is no need to for them to ask the man for money. It is now an ideal role for young girls to look up to becoming an independent woman. Reading this section finally answered all my wondering questions. In the previous chapter about slaves how slaves were shipped from Africa to various locations in order to work. I wonder what happen back in Africa how the land, and house hold controlled was. When the men were shipped away the women took control and they became so used to this lifestyle it became natural to them, and when the men came back they did not want to give their control back. This reminded me a lot of World War II when the men left for war and the women took control over the men’s jobs and they ended up liking the opportunities they had they did not want to give it up. So they ended up fighting for the same right as men in order to have the control they once had when the men were gone.