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More handpicked essays just for you.
women's role in society over the centuries
women's role in society over the centuries
status of women in our society( past and present
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Historically, women have stood in the shadows of men as their companions and supporters. They have been treated as though they were politically and socially inferior; mere pieces of property belonging to the men they were married to. Subdued by men for thousands of years, early modern feminist movements were met with pure animosity. Only in the last hundred years have restrictions on women been lifted, restrictions such as the ones that limited the majority of the American female population to be unable to vote. Even though they composed half of the population, their voices were never heard from. Their individual views were not to be expressed except to their husbands and only behind closed doors, and even then, it was dangerous for them to …show more content…
Howe suggest that women should be treated the same as men because anyone who is forced to follow the rules of a nation should have a say-so in the creation of those rules. Women are an equal part of humanity, neither gender is lesser nor greater than its opposite. Each has a brain that can be used as a benefit to society. As explained in the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions: Adopted by the Seneca Falls Conventions,
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Powerful advocates of the Women’s Suffrage Movement like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony explain how important it is to treat women equally and how they should be able to give consent to the choosing of their government. In addition, in History Vaults article, it explains how, “Anthony founded the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. Around this time, the two created and produced The Revolution, a weekly publication that lobbied for women’s rights. Later the pair edited three volumes of History of Woman Suffrage together.” (History). These influential matriarchs
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Bissell explains, “She must take it all from her husband.”(Bissell). However, not every woman at the time had a husband, and not every wife that did held the same opinions as him. In today’s society, it is becoming more common for women to be unwed. This means there are far more women that have no male head of household to agree with in decision making, such as who they would vote for, because they are the head of their household. In a recent census it was documented that, “The number of unmarried women in America 18 and older in 2014 is about 60 million. This group made up 45 percent of all U.S. residents 18 and older.” (United State Census). If women did not have the opportunity to vote, then 45 percent of American households would go without representation and be unheard
Elizabeth Cady Stanton who is one of the famous women in the movement was born in 1815 in Johnstown, New York. She received her formal education in her college and an informal legal education by her father. On her honeymoon in London, she and Lucretia Mott were angry at the exclusion of the woman. And then they decided to call a woman’s right convention. And for the next 50 years, she played a leadership in Suffrage movement, which is getting the movement to get the right to vote. She wrote “The Declaration of Sentiments.” It was calling for changes in law and society like educational, legal, political, social and economic. She elevated women's status, and demanded the right to vote. In 1851, she met Susan B. Anthony. She is also the woman who was active for a woman right to vote. They were fantastically influential in the 19th Amendment.
A women suffrage amendment was brought to the U.S. Congress in 1868 but failed to win support as well as a second amendment in 1878. In 1869 a woman named Elizabeth Cady Stanton got together with Susan B. Anthony, a women’s rights activist, and organized an association called the National Woman Suffrage Association. With this union they would gather with women and fight for women’s suffrage. Later, in 1890 they joined with their competitor the American Women Suffrage Association and became the National American Women Suffrage Association. “NAWSA adopted a moderate approach to female suffrage, eschewing some of the more radical feminism of other women’s rights groups in favor of a national plan designed to gain widespread support” (3). What the association did was they changed their initial tactic towards suffrage for women so that they can be able to obtain support from all over. Having little to no movement on the national front, suffragists took the next step to sate level. That was when Eastern states granted women suffrage, but hadn’t spread to Western states.
Women throughout the suffrage act were faced with many challenges that eventually led into the leading roles of women in the world today. Suffrage leaders adopted new arguments to gain new support. Rather than insisting on the justice of women’s suffrage, or emphasizing equal rights, they spoke of the special moral and material instincts women could bring to the table. Because of these women taking leaps and boundaries, they are now a large part of America’s government, and how our country operates.
On August 18, 1920 the nineteenth amendment was fully ratified. It was now legal for women to vote on Election Day in the United States. When Election Day came around in 1920 women across the nation filled the voting booths. They finally had a chance to vote for what they thought was best. Not only did they get the right to vote but they also got many other social and economic rights. They were more highly thought of. Some people may still have not agreed with this but they couldn’t do anything about it now. Now that they had the right to vote women did not rush into anything they took their time of the right they had.
It was Theodore Roosevelt, who stated that, “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care”, conveying the idea that with no voice comes no change. In the morning of August 26, 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified, which centralized mainly on the enfranchisement of women. Today, they have the legal right to vote, and the ability to speak openly for themselves, but most of all they are now free and equal citizens. However this victorious triumph in American history would not have been achieved without the strong voices of determined women, risking their lives to show the world how much they truly cared. Women suffragists in the 19th century had a strong passion to change their lifestyle, their jobs around the nineteenth century were limited to just children, family, and domestic duties. It consisted of a very low rate of education, and job opportunities. They could not share their opinion publicly and were expected to support their male family members and husbands during the time. Women knew that the way to enfranchisement was going to be tenacious, and full of obstacles along the way. Therefore a new organization was formed, The National American Women Association (NAWSA), representing millions of women and Elizabeth Cady Stanton as the first party president. This organization was founded in 1890, which strategized on the women getting education in order to strengthen their knowledge to prepare for the suffrage fight. NAWSA mainly focused on the right to vote one state at a time. In 1917, a member named Alice Paul, split apart from NAWSA because of the organization’s tactics and major goals. Due to this split, many other suffragists from NAWSA bitterly divided into a new organization named, National Women’s ...
Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Staton. They started the Women suffrage group in 1869. They gained the right for women to vote by changing the 19th Amendment. The 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920 it granted women the right to vote in all states. Before women were allowed to vote but not in all states. Some states needed women to vote in order to even be a state. This was just the start for Women. Later they would be granted better working conditions and so much more. In the United States, suffrage was one of the biggest issues for women. However, when the movement first began, many moderate feminists saw the fight for voting rights as radical and were scared that it would not go with the goals that wanted to achieve, like some of the goals that were not so controversial such as property ownership, employment, equal wages, higher education, and access to birth control. The difference between moderate and radical feminists started early in America's history and continues to be present in the women's movement for more
The history of The Women’s Suffrage Movement was a long one that first started in 1848. Although it wasn’t until the late 1880s and early 1900s the Women’s Suffrage Movement was close to their goal, although it seemed far from it. By the 1880s the two women’s suffrage groups, The American’s Women Suffrage Association and the Nation Women’s Suffrage Association, were struggling to keep support. During the late at 1880s the two organizations had a great number of women volunteers in middle-class women to extend their reach outside of the home. (568) Taking advantage of this in 1890, the NWSA and the AWSA merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) with Elizabeth Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone as officers. In the same year Wyoming became the first state with voting rights for women. (3)
In 1919, there was a time when all the men got the right to vote, which wasn’t fair to the women. They wanted to do something about it but they couldn’t, it was all about the men. Later in that year, there was a women, two actually, named Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Elizabeth worked with Lucretia to do something about the whole voting situation and they were very successful. The law, Women’s Right to Vote, was passed by congress on June 4th, 1919, and was ratified on August 18th, 1920. Here’s my experience. It was January 12th 1919, the day was sunny with some clouds in the sky and you can smell the scent of fresh roses as you walked down the sidewalk. I closed my eyes as the summer breeze blew through the window letting the air hit my face and suddenly opened them when I heard
In August 18, 1920, the U.S. Constitution Granted U.S. women a right. That was the right of vote. In American history women had no right to vote or be part of government. They were born to be at home and do the house choir and motherhood. They had no right to educate or go out, thus the 19th amendment was approved that gave the women the right to vote (Matthew, 2017). Having the right of votes for women was not easy. It was given to them after years of fighting and struggling, after fighting and protesting so long for their rights they were finally victorious. Women in America were finally given their rights. One of the most important freedom given to women in 19th amendment is their rights. This essay will investigate how women were given the right to be equality, the right to vote and be part of government, and also, how this amendment affected the lives of women.
Society has long since considered women the lessor gender and one of the most highly debated topics in society through the years has been that of women’s equality. The debates began over the meaning between a man and woman’s morality and a woman’s rights and obligations in society. After the 19th Amendment was sanctioned around 1920, the ball started rolling on women’s suffrage. Modern times have brought about the union of these causes, but due to the differences between the genetic makeup and socio demographics, the battle over women’s equality issue still continues to exist. While men have always held the covenant role of the dominant sex, it was only since the end of the 19th century that the movement for women’s equality and the entitlement of women have become more prevalent. “The general consensus at the time was that men were more capable of dealing with the competitive work world they now found themselves thrust into. Women, it was assumed, were unable to handle the pressures outside of the home. They couldn’t vote, were discourages from working, and were excluded from politics. Their duty to society was raising moral children, passing on the values that were unjustly thrust upon them as society began to modernize” (America’s Job Exchange, 2013). Although there have been many improvements in the changes of women’s equality towards the lives of women’s freedom and rights in society, some liberals believe that women have a journey to go before they receive total equality. After WWII, women continued to progress in there crusade towards receiving equality in many areas such as pay and education, discrimination in employment, reproductive rights and later was followed by not only white women but women from other nationalities ...
During America's early history, women were denied some of the rights to well-being by men. For example, married women couldn't own property and had no legal claim to any money that they might earn, and women hadn't the right to vote. They were expected to focus on housework and motherhood, and didn't have to join politics. On the contrary, they didn't have to be interested in them. Then, in order to ratify this amendment they were prompted to a long and hard fight; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the 19th century, some generations of women's suffrage supporters lobbied to achieve what a lot of Americans needed: a radical change of the Constitution. The movement for women's rights began to organize after 1848 at the national level. In July of that year, reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton(1815-1902) and Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), along with Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and other activists organized the first convention for women's rights at Seneca Falls, New York. More than 300 people, mostly women but also some men, attended it. Then, they raised public awar...
The women’s suffrage movement was the struggle for the right of women to vote, run for office, and is part of the overall women’s rights movement. In the 19th century, women in several countries most recognizably the U.S. and england formed organizations to fight for suffrage. Beginning in the mid 19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and participated in civil strike to achieve what many Americans considered a revolutionary change in the Constitution.
Throughout history, women have remained subordinate to men. Subjected to the patriarchal system that favored male perspectives, women struggled against having considerably less freedom, rights, and having the burdens society placed on them that had been so ingrained the culture. This is the standpoint the feminists took, and for almost 160 years they have been challenging the “unjust distribution of power in all human relations” starting with the struggle for equality between men and women, and linking that to “struggles for social, racial, political, environmental, and economic justice”(Besel 530 and 531). Feminism, as a complex movement with many different branches, has and will continue to be incredibly influential in changing lives.
Throughout the 19th century, feminism played a huge role in society and women’s everyday lifestyle. Women had been living in a very restrictive society, and soon became tired of being told how they could and couldn’t live their lives. Soon, they all realized that they didn’t have to take it anymore, and as a whole they had enough power to make a change. That is when feminism started to change women’s roles in society. Before, women had little to no rights, while men, on the other hand, had all the rights. The feminist movement helped earn women the right to vote, but even then it wasn’t enough to get accepted into the workforce. They were given the strength to fight by the journey for equality and social justice. There has been known to be
One can hardly talk of a single united feminism, but rather, manifold feminisms. The US feminist movement ‘s main global struggle has been to enable ‘womankind’ to fully lead her existence and live her humanity by standing against the injustices of the dominant patriarchy and sexist discrimination . Throughout history, the dominant mainstream Feminism ( with capital F) tends to have been related to conform to the aspiration of the educated middle-class heterosexual white women who have traditionally been given unequal power to widen their significance--but the movement has lately had more ramifications. Currently, there are different kinds of feminism whose disagreements stem from fundamental intrinsic understanding of what feminism, sexism or phallocentrism mean. Each trend views it from a different perspective as in accordance with its motives or concerns. Nonetheless, they share common claims as to “the body, class and work, disability, the family, globalization, human rights, popular culture, race and racism, reproduction, science, the self, sex work, and sexuality.”