Jane Eyre: oppressed women Gender is not a biological fact but a social construct. However, so many assumptions have been made in attempting to define the terms gender and sex that society often defines gender as exclusively male and female. The female sex has traditionally been oppressed due to assumptions about the physical and mental constraints imposed by the male-dominated society. As with culture, gender socialization begins with birth and family structure, although many believe that specific events also have a large influence on gender boundaries. It has been suggested, for example, that school and education systems bear a great deal of responsibility for shaping gender divisions. Gender differences have faced society since the first peoples, and while progress has been made to level the playing field, men still receive more opportunities in education, the workforce, politics, and other large-scale spheres than to women. In Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre, Jane is an example of an oppressed woman, but she finds a way to free herself from what limits her. Family structure and our school systems are two of the first places where children learn about themselves. If they do not guarantee equal opportunities for men and women, it will be impossible to create a just and gender-equal society. Susan Moller Okin argues that family life is the first factor that influences the socialization of children. Her concerns about the subjugation of women revolve around the view that "gender-structured marriages make women vulnerable" (5), and that unjust families lead to an unjust society composed of members incapable of making decisions free from gender prejudice, "They (theorists of... middle of the paper... are wont to say that they should stick to making puddings and knitting stockings, and playing the piano and embroidering bags" (111). Both Mary Wollstonecraft and Susan Moller Okin would echo these claims, and would no doubt place much of the blame on educational systems and family structure. Without equality in these two areas, it will be impossible to create a fair and just society, just as Wollstonecraft reproached M. Talleyrand his fellow men "for not applying to women the same concern and commitment to 'human' rights and freedom that they have to men" (534) Brontë, Charlotte New York, Penguin Books, 1997. Okin, Susan Moller. . Justice, gender and family. United States of America: Basic Books, 1989. Wollstonecraft, Mary. Women's rights. All Men's Library Edition.