Today, we live in a society that believes women can do anything men can do. Women can vote, work, and were granted all the same rights and freedoms as men. But, our society was not always this way. In fact, there was a time when women were not even considered people. Many events influenced this change, but there was a few main events that significantly impacted women’s rights. Women’s suffrage, The Persons Case, and women’s fashion helped change our society and our views on women’s rights . Since World War 1, women’s rights have drastically changed for the better, due to new laws and a revolutionized way of thinking.
The women’s suffrage movement gave women the right to vote in federal elections. In 1917, the military voters
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Women did not have the same rights and freedoms as men, were not allowed to work, vote or get paid, and were not treated the same as anybody else. One woman, Mary Ellen Smith from British Columbia, reacted to the news of women not being considered people saying, “The iron dropped into the souls of women in Canada when we heard that it took a man to decree that his mother was not a person.” (“famou5”) . Although, in time, everything changed. A very important constitutional ruling established the right of women. This was called The Persons Case. The Persons Case played a very important role in women’s rights and how we got to where we are today. In 1893 the National Council of Women of Canada is founded. It works for social rights of women and children. The famous five was a group of five women who became famous for their efforts to fight for women’s rights. Emily Murphy, a member of the Famous Five said "We want women leaders today as never before. Leaders who are not afraid to be called names and who are willing to go out and fight. I think women can save civilization. Women are persons." (“Fashion and Women’s Liberation”) . Both of these groups played a significant role in the success of declaring women people. In 1957, equal pay legislation was passed in Alberta. This means that women were able to work and were granted the say pay as a men who did the same job. Although it does not seem like a big deal now, at the time this was one of the biggest moves forward in fighting for women 's rights. In 1987 systemic discrimination in the hiring of women was found to be unlawful, and more women than ever before were