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How Did Women's Rights Change Australia

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The first women in Australian that were able to vote were in South Australia, in 1895 , and quickly, other states and territories followed. This leap in women’s rights changed Australia into a nation of equality, and moved the nation into the next stage of cultural independence. Vida Goldstein was a Victorian citizen who followed in her mother’s footsteps in becoming a social reformer and a suffragist. She was firmly encouraged by her parents to become educated and independent, and this led her to become the leader in Victoria for women’s equality. She was an excellent public speaker, and this enabled her to grasp her audience and effect and change their opinions on women’s equality. Although she was campaigning for overall women’s equality, her main priority and passion was achieving women’s right to vote. She regularly stood for parliament, and in 1902 she helped in gaining women the vote. Even though Vida stood for parliament on many occasions, she was …show more content…

The suffragettes petitioned for equal rights for women in the workforce, due to the inequity of pay and the lack of female employees. In the 19th century, women counted for only 20 percent of the people in the workforces, but were slightly higher in urban areas, raising to 30 or 40 percent. Most of these women worked in factories or on farms, while the others stayed at home, cleaning and looking after the children. The suffragettes lobbied for women to have higher standard jobs and jobs with higher statuses that were usually given to men. Through the two World Wars, women were expected to join the work forces to claim the men’s positions, but were also expected to drop their jobs when the men returned . Through this, society was shown the capability of women and their desire to succeed. As society has changed, women in the workforce have changed as well. Women are now seen in a lot more key positions, but not as much as

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Women participated in the military services, got the education to work in skilled labour so that they did much better than before and received popular recognition step by step because of their own hard work. “You learn a lot from living in with a group of girls; we were all much enriched by the experience. Better people for it. You were not just yourself, you behaved, became party of something much bigger than yourself.” Sheila McClemans in Patsy Adam-Smith Australian Women at war said.

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Muriel Mattes was a propionate figure in the Feminism Movement, who campaigned the vote for women in the early 1900s, though her work was mainly recognised in Britain she is an Australian born suffragette. Muriel Matters pulled of quirky, bold and brave actions which forward the movement, the influences from Muriel matters effected society then as was the beginning of the first wave this also effected society today as women have the right to vote. During the early 1900s Muriel Matters was largely active in the Feminism Movement. Her influences in which she became were based when “Muriel met ‘anarchist prince’ Peter Kropotkin who challenged her to use her skills for something more useful stating that, ‘Art is not an end of life, but a means.’

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In addition to this, unions of the time also continued this movement as predominantly male trade unions began to accept female members. (Fieldes, 2013) This left-wing source possesses bias that places disproportionate emphasis on the importance of unionisation, yet still remains relevant. However, this movement towards liberation experienced widespread traditionalist opposition, one such man writing to the Argus, “Would they [women] not be better fitted for jobs too often held by men in the city shops?” (Guthrie, 1941, pg 7) Despite aforementioned opposition, the movement for equal pay and opportunity for women flourished. Women were greatly liberated from previous roles during World War Two as their increased financial equality allowed for greater freedoms, including the foundation of auxiliary

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In the year of 1873, Susan B. Anthony had been arrested for casting an illegal vote at the last presidential election. This time period was known as the Women’s Rights Movement. Many women were beginning to acknowledge that they were treated unfairly by society’s standards against them, and had began to stand up for themselves and their fellow women. At this time, women were not allowed to vote. Most were stay-at-home mothers because men did not find them suitable for most jobs the men accommodated, and society discouraged them from even getting a real education.

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Document 4 shows a petition made by the London Workingmen’s Association in an attempt to, “enact that every person producing proof of his being 21 years of age shall be entitled to have his name registered as a voter.” In 1838, the time that this petition was created, it was mainly nobles and upper class citizens who had the right to vote, so it makes sense that the working men of Europe wish for male suffrage because then they have the ability to elect people whom they believe will better improve their lives. Document 5 introduces a woman activist, Flora Tristan, who wants universal working rights for all citizens in the, “universal union of working men and women.” Document 8 introduces another woman activist, Pauline Roland, who claims that, “as soon as a woman comes of age, she has the right to arrange her life as she wishes.” Women have historically been undermined in the working society through such laws as the Factory Law or the Mines Act, which left women without work or having less hours.

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Even though the message included gaining the support of the people to achieve a common cause of women getting the right to vote, Florence Kelley developed her argument through the community’s status dealing with child labor. The use of rhetorical strategies persuaded the audience -the Association accompanied by men and women across the country- to act in order to discontinue the practice of child labor. Additionally it conveniences the audience of the importance of the women’s point of view in the government. Other women in the National American Woman Suffrage Association exhaustingly fought in order to make their voice heard.

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They saw no reason to withhold rights from the opposite sex when they did the same things that men did. When some recognized these issues, they sought to fix them and henceforth created a new standard for ladies – a new way to be considered proper. As this era continued, women’s rights were leaps and bounds ahead of where they had previously stood; however, even by 1897 there was still an issue that had to be tackled for the ladies (see Document 6). The right to vote was endlessly sought after since it would be the only way for women to protect their other newly-gained rights. Ladies continued to protest, lobby Congress, and go on hunger strikes to draw attention to and reach their goal.

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When she first started public speaking, Nellie McClung spoke of her success as an author, but later went on to speak about the suffrage movement and trying to encourage people to join and support the cause of improving rights for Canadian women. One of her most famous speeches was in 1914, called, “should men vote?” This speech was delivered by McClung at the ‘mock parliament’, which was performed by a group of the suffragettes. Nellie McClung used her humor to effectively get the message across to the audience. When she delivered this speech it was a huge turning point for the suffrage movement.

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While some countries today have advanced towards women’s equality, it is still something that many countries still in the modern world today do not practice. It wasn’t until 1893 when New Zealand became the first country to allow women to vote. This prompted slowly, but progressively an advancement towards rights for women; with countries like the United States granting women the right to vote later on in 1920. Unlike some countries today and pre 1893 worldwide practices, women played an essential role in the lives of the Native Americans.

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Finally in 1920, the nineteenth amendment was presented and allowed the women in the United States the right to vote (Kirk, G. & Okazawa-Rey, M. (2013). When thinking about how the women felt about not be able to speak up with voting situations is horrible. We are truly blessed that there were women who spoke their mind and changed the women’s lives for the

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The first suffrage Association appeared in Toronto in 1877, disguised as a Woman’s Literary Society and by 1918 all women over the age of 21 had a federal and most provincial ballot” (Bacchi, 2002). During first wave feminism many people had different opinions, some women wanted the vote, an education, the right to own property, to be able to appear as a witness in court, sue in court, have the same political rights as men and have a wider range of job opportunities. Women wanted and fought for greater control over their person, and greater sphere of influence. There were plenty of reasons why women wanted the vote and argued that “giving the vote to women, especially to married women, increases the weight of the family vote and so of the solid, stable element in political life” (Bacchi, 2002). While a portion women believed that women having the vote would help the family, several women just wanted to have a voice of their own, it could be argued that the home protection argument was largely rhetorical design to make the movement more palatable to the public.

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Once the First World War started in 1914, many men went off to fight leaving a shortage of workers in factories, shops, and manufacturing companies. Women helped fill the void by taking jobs as workers in various fields. Many women manufactured weapons and ammunitions to help with the war effort. Women who worked during the war were paid exceptionally less money than men who worked those same jobs. The lower pay was frustrating for suffragists, but not a huge concern of the government at the time.

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It was an enormous social change for women to take part in public decision making, and gave them a voice to abolish unjust laws. The suffragettes in Australia argued that they were intelligent enough to vote, that it was unfair for them to be taxed without representation, and that they were equal to men therefore should have equal rights. In contrary, the suffragettes’ opponents alleged that women already had indirect power through manipulating their husbands and father’s voting choices at the ballot box, that women were equal but different and that women could not fulfil the duties of citizenship therefore should not vote. The suffragettes encouraged people to sign their petition, as well as held meeting and debates in order to gain supporters. Women in Australia used civil methods of protest, and didn’t adapt the more radical methods used by suffragettes in other countries.

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A woman was fundamentally not a citizen, as she held no say in the election of Parliament, the passing of Legislation and also the legal right to vote. The first flyer subject by the Victorian Women’s Suffrage Society during their movement for the enfranchisement of women, gave examples of when women were considered to be citizens and when they were not. An example of this is: 'Are women citizens? Yes, when they are required to pay taxes. No, when they are asked to vote '.

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Women. Women’s involvement in the working world have contributed to many items that would be missing from the world today; if they had not been allowed to work.. Women have struggled with sexism in the workplace since before they were even given the chance to try to work. They were taught from a young age that their job was to provide children, cook, and clean for their husbands, while the husband worked and provided the money. What men did not know however was that women were capable of so much more(Jewell, Hannah).

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