Women's Rights DBQ

DBQ Communism and Women’s Rights
Adelaida Urrea

In the twentieth century, communist movements encouraged the involvement of women to their societies, depending on them for the development of modern societies based primarily on equality. Therefore women started to gain political equality and economic power through the different opportunities given by the Communist Party that allowed them to incorporate as respectable members in society. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the 20th century, there was still certain discrimination against women, who have always been associated with a submissive position; however communist leaders understood the importance of giving women public recognition in order to improve their rights, change these past

For instance, many women worked within the Bolshevik government, giving them a figure of authority rarely seen before in a powerful and influenceable country. This can be seen through the condemning tone used by Mariia Fedorovna to accuse individuals who see women as inferior against the ruling government. The point of view presented in this document is that respectable people think of all members in their societies as equal, with governments that make their primary goal to give all of their citizens the same resources and opportunities. Also, the high percentage of women among research and professional personnel in the Soviet Union demonstrates the true economic power women gained during the communist Soviet Union, being one of the primary forces driving the Soviet Union’s economy(Doc.4). Women were highly involved in education, giving them the power to encourage equality as a primary value, pursuing nationalism. They were the communicators between the government and the citizens, enforcing socialist ideas and communist values. Similarly, in the United States women made up 45.9% among all research and professional categories in 1955, while in the Soviet Union women made up 36% in the same year. The main difference between is that in the United States, women

Especially in the United States; in 1961, when President Kennedy established the Commission on the Status of Women to improve women’s employment, education, and social security. Additionally, in 1963, the Equal Rights Movement was established to prohibit difference in wages between men and women in the same establishment. From the 1970’s to the 1980’s, countries socialist countries, with less strategic geographic positions, invoked for more changes with women’s policies. In Cuba, with a Federation of Cuban Women, Fidel Castro, the president, encourages to strengthen the revolution by transmitting the values it portrays towards equality, addressing even minimal discriminations and the impact and sacrifice Cuban women have made towards the revolution efforts, qualifying them in higher revolutionary status than men (Doc.6). Fidel Castro, a president that had a special connection with the Soviet Union, tried to implement the same values and governing style as in this nation. With this statement, Fidel Castro is making a call to action for women to demand what they can achieve and gain high status and positions in society, implying they should pursue this revolutionary values to achieve a truly communist country, where all members of society are viewed and treated as equals; as in the Soviet Union. He takes advantage of the occasion, the