Women who attempted to circumvent the established rules would often find themselves shamed and ridiculed, or in some cases, charged criminally. A soldier's camp was not thought to be the place for a woman of high social status. Women who broke the mold were an insult to mainstream society. Women who took on male roles were not considered to be socially acceptable, but the fact that Sarah was not court marshaled, but instead received her pension that was due demonstrates that the underpinnings of a shift in societal attitudes was beginning to weave itself into the fabric of society and the traditional definition of masculinity was being threatened (Vettel-Becker). The first sign of the societal changes that were about to come was a softening of strictly held paradigms.

The story of Sarah Edmonds supports the thesis that that Civil War marked the beginning of a shift in attitudes towards women, their traditional roles and their place in the world. The story of Sarah Edmonds is...

Sarah Edmonds broke tradition and had it not been for her courage to do so, the civil war many have taken a different turn than it did.
Works Cited

Civil War Home. Sarah Emma Edmonds. < http://www.civilwarhome.com/edmondsbio.htm

Accessed April 29, 2010.

Lemaster, T.M/Othering Children. Genders. Issue 47. 2008.

http://www.genders.org/g47/g47_lemaster.html. Accessed April 29, 2010.

National Archives. "CMSR for Franklin Thompson, Second Michigan Infantry; and Enlisted Branch file 3132 C

1884, both in RG 94, NA" Women Soldiers and Nurses of the American Civil War. <

http://americancivilwar.com/women/>. Accessed April 29, 2010.

Vettel-Becker, P. Clarence Holbrook Carter's War Bride and the Machine/Woman Fantasy.

Genders. Issue 37. 2003. http://www.genders.org/g37/g37_becker.html Accessed April