The Fluidity of Gender Roles on the Northern Great Plains 1890-1950

Abstract

The relative infancy of the Northern Great Plains social environment compared to the well-established social systems of the United States east of the Mississippi fostered growth and allowed the redefinition of women’s gender roles. Without the strict social policing of women’s roles within the frontier society, women could redefine their gender roles. Women not only redefined their gender roles but made independent decisions based on their current situations and navigated within the already assigned societal gender roles. In this instance, women, often oppressed and constrained by societal expectations and obligations, simultaneously possessed the choice to navigate and make decisions within the established framework of their gendered society. Defined gender roles in the Northern Great Plains do not exist. Instead, gender roles on the Northern Great Plains have been and are ever-evolving and fluid.