Explain Why The 19th Amendment Was A Turning Point In Women's History

1016 Words5 Pages

Throughout history the inferiority of women can be seen everywhere in society. That is why the ratification of the long hard fought 19th amendment to the Constitution in 1920 guaranteeing women the right to vote was a major achievement on the path to equality. But, however it was a minor turning point in United States women’s history. It was a minor turning point in United States women’s history because before the amendment was ratified most women only participated in the domestic household parts of their lives and never really had to earn money or make their own decisions. The 19th amendment changed women’s history to a minor extent in the United States because directly after the ratification even though the women had increased political …show more content…

But the things that did change only happened for a short period of time before reverting back to “normalcy”. Because of the boom of the economy in the 1920s women started changing their style from normal demure everyday ware to flapper dresses and other risky apparel. They starting bypassing traditional dating methods and standards and were employed in more jobs that were not available to them as much before such as secretarial work and other white collar jobs. Women also weren’t legally limited on their working hours which meant that women had more freedom to earn money and make a living. But, then close after these bounds in women’s roles in society however, the Great Depression of the 1930s set in and most of the change that happened in the 20s reverted back and women became more conservative because of the economic woes and hardships that overcame their lives. Women’s roles really did not change much or mark a turning point immediately after the ratification of the amendment. But, because of the amendment, in the future women's roles really started making an impact on society. The impact of the Rosie the Riveter icon on American history was shown as a symbol of American women’s power and strength. While further on in the future the rise of Woman Politicians and even a Woman Presidential candidate from a major political …show more content…

For the most part women’s history stayed the same from immediately before and immediately after the ratification of the 19th amendment. For example, even though women did have the newly gained right to vote not all of them used it and many women did not vote and would rather go out and have a good time. So, the laws and the politicians that were elected probably did not change or were not affected very much by women gaining the right to vote. Also although more and more women were starting to join the workforce a majority of the women still were housewives and worked domestically within their homes. So, even though they had the newly found freedom of the amendment women still heavily relied on their husbands in all aspects of their lives and many women would vote for a person just because that was the person that their husbands voted for. Furthermore, the way that women were seen compared to men mainly stayed the same directly after the ratification of the amendment as well. Equal pay and equal opportunity for men and women were also not seen as a result of the amendment. Many of the things that women hoped to gain as a result of the amendment like better birth control as demanded by Margaret Sanger and a better more equal position in society did not happen until after the amendment had been passed for quite a long time. So, many of the other