The word feminist can be though of in many ways. Some people can hear the
word in a positive way, and think of it as a woman standing up for her gender’s rights. Other people can think of it in a negative way, as a woman who is too high strung and opinionated. The word feminist is actually a female who has opinions on the way her sex is treated. Modern feminism will be discussed, along with using some examples such as Susan B. Anthony.
As to the history of feminism, the beginning will be with what is called the “Feminist Revolution” (Rappaport 28). This revolution began in 1837 in New York. Women banded together for the first time at an anti-slavery convention. These women were considered “abolitionists” after being humiliated at a conference in Britain for being unladylike. Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. This conference demanded woman suffrage, equality for wives, and the right to practice any profession they chose. Some feminists include Elizabeth Blackwell, Sojourner Truth, Emma Willard, Frances Wright, Mrs. Stanton, Ms. Mott, Mrs. Adams, and Susan B. Anthony.
A brief moment should be spent on a few of the notable women. It started with Emma Willard; she opened up the door for girls to get the same education as boys. She opened schools for females only. Following her is Elizabeth Blackwell. Ms. Blackwell pushed open the doors for women to be professionals. She became the first woman doctor to earn her MD in 1849 (Archer 47). Francis Wright was a Scottish-American reformer who advocated equal education for women. She once stated, “Unless women assume the place in society which good sense and good feeling alike assign to them, human improvement must advance feebly.” Her words gave influence to women to earn their first college education.
Other than Ms. Anthony there are three very notable women: Mrs. Elizabeth Cody Stanton, Mrs. Sojourner Truth, and Mrs. John Adams. The three ladies advanced the movement so far that, without them, women would not be anywhere near the liberty of today. Mrs. Stanton began the revolution of women; and also started the Women’s Rights Conventions. It was at one of these conventions in 1851 that a freed black female slave named Sojourner Truth spoke. It was probably the most famous speech ever remembered ...
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...ovement seems to have turned on women and away from men. There is more of a fight over moral issues and less about rights. Susan B. Anthony once said, “Failure is impossible.” Today’s suffrage efforts are continuing with her drive and now have a larger base of support. When today’s suffragists speak to the House or Senate, they at least can address women as well as men in these bodies. This is what Ms. Anthony wanted to accomplish.
Works Cited
Archer, Jules, Breaking Barriers New York: Penguin Group, 1991.
Barry, Kathleen, Susan B. Anthony New York: New York University Press, 1998.
Duby, George, A History of Women London, Belknap Press, 1993.
Hanmer, Trudy J. Taking a Stand Against Sexism and Sex Discrimination Sydney:
Franklin Watts, 1990.
Linthwaite, Illona, Ain’t I A Woman Auckland: Bedrick Books, 1993.
Michelson, Maureen, Women and Work Korea: New Sage Press, 1951.
Rappaport, Doreen, American Women: Their Lives In Their Words New York: Crowell
Junior Books, 1990.
Smith, Margaret Chase, Gallant Women Toronto: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1968.
Weisberg, Barbara, Susan B. Anthony/Woman Suffragist Philadelphia: Chelsea House
Publishers, 1988.
Susan B. Anthony is the most well known name in women's rights from the 1800s. Most people who are not familiar with the history of this time are aware of Susan's reputation and nearly everyone of my generation has seen and held a Susan B. Anthony silver dollar. For these reasons I was greatly surprised to learn that Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the original women's rights movement spokeswoman and Susan B. Anthony her protégé.
Today, women and men have equal rights, however not long ago men believed women were lower than them. During the late eighteenth century, men expected women to stay at home and raise children. Women were given very few opportunities to expand their education past high school because colleges and universities would not accept females. This was a loss for women everywhere because it took away positions of power for them. It was even frowned upon if a woman showed interest in medicine or law because that was a man 's place not a woman’s, just like it was a man 's duty to vote and not a woman 's. The road to women 's right was long and hard, but many women helped push the right to vote, the one that was at the front of that group was Susan B. Anthony.
Susan B. Anthony believed that women should have the same rights as men. She fought for this right in many different ways, but she is most famous for showing civil disobedience by voting illegally. Unfortunately, Anthony fought all her life for women’s rights, but her dreams were not fulfilled until 14 years after she died (“Susan” Bio).
...re and an American hero she devoted her life to working towards equal rights for all women. Through writing, speaking, and campaigning, Anthony and her supporters brought about change in the United States government and gave women the important voice that they had always been denied. Any study of feminism or women’s history would be incomplete without learning about her. She fought for her beliefs for 50 years and led the way for women to be granted rights as citizens of their country, Thanks to Anthony’s persistence, several years after her death, in 1920 women were given the right by the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution. I do believe she was the key figure in women getting the right to vote. “She will forever stand alone and unapproached, her fame continually increasing as evolution lifts humanity into higher appreciation of justice and liberty.”
In the beginning of the 1840s and into the 1850s, a rather modest women’s reform was in the process. This group was full of visionaries that began a movement that would soon lobby in change and this movement was the groundwork of equality for women and their right to vote within in the United States. Despite their efforts this movement required a length of seventy years to establish this necessarily equality and the right for all women to vote along the side of men. According to the CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION “After male organizers excluded women from attending an anti-slavery conference, American abolitionists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott decided to call the “First Woman’s Rights Convention.” Held over several days in
As an ambitious, disciplined, and devoted woman, Susan B. Anthony was a prominent women’s right activist who established the women’s suffrage movement in the nineteenth century and advocated equal rights for all women and men throughout her life. Born and raised in a Quaker family that considered women equal to men, Susan B. Anthony developed a sense of impartiality and wanted to ignite equality throughout all men and women. After teaching for fifteen years, Anthony became active in the temperance movement and the anti-slavery movement. However, since she was a woman, her right to speak publicly was denied which is one of the most significant concepts that encouraged her to become an effective woman’s suffrage leader. With the help of her
Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. In simple terms, it is the ideology of women being equal to men and it is often misinterpreted as the belief of women being above them. Feminists believe in diminishing patriarchy which is a system of society and or government in which men are considered more powerful than women. When people are against feminism they are supporting sexism which is why it is important to educate ourselves on the matter and to understand why we need it.
Lucy Stone, an abolitionist, is one of the most important workers for women's suffrage and women's rights. When the Bible was quoted to her, defending the positions of men and women, she declared that when she grew up, she'd learn Greek and Hebrew so she could correct the mistranslation that she was sure was behind these verses (Lewis) Doing so she showed the translations were unfair to women. Because her father couldn’t support her education, she saved her own money to go to college and was the first woman in Massachusetts to graduate, proving to women they have the ability to have equal education as men. Right after being first woman to graduate, she was the first to give her public speech in Congregational Church, not having yet her rights, and is now recognized as an honorable speaker. Lucy Stone portrays female dominance by going against the law to earn women's rights. Lucy was hired at AERA, but her speech in 1850 converted Susan B. Anthony to the suffrage cause, later split with Anthony over strategy and tactics, splitting the suffrage movement into two major branches. She continued to be an editor for the Woman's Journal. Lucy Stone's radical move to keep her own name continued to inspire, she is still remembered, today, as the first woman to keep her own name after marriage.
The need for women’s rights began back in colonial America where women were referred to as “inferior beings”. This era, though it is not particularly noted for it’s feminist movements, did hold such people as Margaret Brent, who was a wealthy holder of land in Maryland and was a strong, but unsuccessful voice in securing a place for women in the legislature of the colony. It was also a period where Quakers, and many other individuals, such as famous American patriot, Thomas Paine supported the rights of women, but at the time it was not enough to make a significant difference and it wasn’t until the 19th century that women would get the real chance to make a difference.
The term feminist is seen with a negative connotation because people use it as an insult against women in an effort to make them seem irrational and unfair, but in reality it is the exact opposite of that. Feminism is defined as the “belief in or advocacy of women’s social, political, and economic rights, especially with regard to equality of the sexes.” (Feminism). There is no reason that there should be a negative connotation to this belief or participation in advancing this belief, yet there is. This battle and struggle for equal rights has been going on for a very long time, but it really took off in the 1920s. The 19th amendment and The New Woman really helps to show how quickly women and their rights progressed in the United States. Many
Jane Addams, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. These women lived at the turn of the century, and fought vehemently for a cause they believed in. They knew that they were being discriminated against because of their gender, and they refused to take it. These pioneers of feminism paved the road for further reform, and changed the very fabric of our society.
Achieving equality between men and women was a long and arduous task. In the 19th century, an organized women’s rights movement began in the United States. Perhaps its most famous leader was Susan B. Anthony, a champion of women’s rights until her death in 1906. Susan B. Anthony’s work established and inspired the institution of many women’s rights, and she remains one of the most influential women in history.
Susan Brownell Anthony was considered one of the first women activist. She fought for the abolition of slavery, African American rights, labor rights and women’s rights. Susan Anthony fought for women’s rights by speaking up and campaigning for women and serval others around the United States. She devoted her time and attention on the needs of women. Ms. Anthony helped reform the law to benefit women and improve our conditions, and encouraged the eliminations of laws that only benefited the men of our country. Susan B. Anthony helped change the life of African Americans and women in the United States with her morals and influential beliefs in equality.
Man hating and unhygienic are the words typically used to describe a modern-day feminist, but the words that should be used are passionate and righteous. Incomprehension of the meaning of feminism leads to a lack of necessary female empowerment. Feminism, by definition, is the belief in social, political, and economic equality of the sexes (Issitt). When women participate in feminism, instead of working against it, they can tackle the everyday issues that try to silence women in society. Women were finally given the right to vote in 1919 and have gained more prominence in society today. Though, they still face many issues and many walls that have to be broken down before they can be given the equal life opportunities that men are granted at birth (Lee). Feminism is still prerequisite in the world today to battle against the iniquity in financial, social, and political aspects so gender equality can be achieved.
“Feminism”, as defined today, is “1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes,” and “2: organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”2 Many critics claim that feminism has been active longer than the word itself has existed.3 The word, “feminist” was not in true use until the late 1800s and early 1900s, but activism for women’s rights was alive and well a...