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Womens rights movement in the usa
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In this paper I will be going over issue 17, “Has the Women’s Movement of the 1970’s Failed to Liberate American Women?”. Sara M. Evans and F. Carolyn Graglia each voice their opinions about the issue. They talk about the history of the women’s movement throughout time and the effects it had in our country. F. Carolyn Graglia writes about how she agrees the movement has failed to liberate American women. Her views on feminism concluded that the feminist movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s was a reasonable but a faulty idea, in that it was based on a worthy opinion (that all men and women should be equal).
As mentioned before, many feel as though women still face discrimination in the workforce. However, it is no question that attitudes towards the feminist movement have become less critical overtime. In fact, 51% of men and 69% of women currently identify as feminists, according to the 2015 poll by YouGov. Many celebrities have pushed for women’s rights, which has contributed to its recent acceptance. Overall, there were several components to the rise of the women’s rights movement in the period 1940-1975.
During the 19th and 20th centuries Men reigned supreme. The lack of rights for women and poor people sparked protests and were the cause of the appearance of rights activists. Civil liberty issues in the American past have been resolved in the aspects of women’s rights and poor people’s rights but based on perceptions, little has been resolved. Women’s civil liberty issues have been resolved through Women’s rights activists and many years of pushing for constitutional equality.
"It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent." —Madeleine Albright. In the 19th century, women did not have many rights to their name. They could not vote, they could not own property, and even speaking in public was looked down upon. Anti-slavery advocates existed, but women’s rights advocates did not. However, women began to speak out for their beliefs and slowly but surely, a women’s rights movement arose.
From the earliest of times in society, females have had to consistently fight for equality in society. The mistreatment of women often included violence, abuse, financial inequalities, harassment, voting inequalities, and many more inequalities that men have not had to face compared to females. These unacceptable actions that are often seen as “normal” in society are a grim reminder of what women endured and still have to endure today. Many women never had a platform to fight for change and call out injustice in fear of their safety, shame from others, and the threat of breaking “social norms”. However, many influential women risked many things for the basic rights that men have been enjoying for centuries.
The women suffragists created organizations and led marches to gain support for women 's rights. But the fight was not over and their lives were not perfect after the movement. Women tried to stick up for themselves earlier, but nobody listened. Women could not vote, could not get the jobs or the education they wanted, and they could not earn respect from men. As Martha E. Kendall wrote,“not all women married for love” (24).
One of the most momentous reform movements that our country has experienced has been the Women's Rights Movement. This movement has had influential effects on the economic, social, educational, and political aspects of women's lives. If the pivotal reform of women's rights had not occurred, then our world and lives today could look a lot different. The Women's Rights Movement started gaining momentum in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention in Seneca Falls, New York with the “Declaration of Sentiments''. This document stated that all men and women are created equal and women should have equal rights to vote, own property, and seek employment.
“Women are coaxed, flattered, courted, but they are not respected by many men as they out to be; neither do they respect themselves as they should” (Horace Greeley ”Women’s Rights”). After the Revolutionary War women’s rights did not see a dramatic change. Some states allowed women to vote while others did not. With the adoption of the Bill of Rights, these amendments only attain to white males only. It wasn’t until the mid-1800 that Elizabeth Stanton began to lead for women right movements. In 1848 “three hundred men and women attend the convention in the Wesleyan Methodist chapel; of those one hundred signed the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments” (Alison Parker, The Seneca Falls Convention).
The biggest winner of the whole event is Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Both of them put almost their lifetime concentrating on women’s right that heavily effects on United States as well as other countries afterwards. Without those helps from those associations and suffragists, perhaps United States still struggle with women’s legal rights
During the mid-1800’s and late 1900s, women’s sovereignty organizations were important centers of involvement in advocacy. These organizations gave women a convention to address their issues, relate similar stories to oppression, and plan for action. Many feminists set out to voice multiple issues that afflict many women’s day-to-day lives. These were issues such as gender equality, the limited rights they had as women, and social attitudes towards them. Through this, women from multiple religious and cultural backgrounds came to fight for their rights and pursue fulfillment without having to undergo a title as a housewife.
For years women were treated extremely unfairly and just seen as an accessory. The article, “The 1960s-70s American Feminist Movement: Breaking Down Barriers for Women”, references many struggles that women went through. The article stated that one struggle that women had is they were treated with very little respect and were just used to have a family. Women were supposed to stay at home and take care of the kids. They did not have any jobs in the workforce.
When the men came back, the women went back to their less supportive jobs and positions at home; however, the spark had been ignited. This spark was nurtured by the best of nature and carried all the way to a powerful fire roaring for equality. Thanks to adversity and the willingness to master it, women were made relentless in their cause and created results that changed the course of American history. Today, American women have the support of the Women’s Right Act because of these impressive
Imagine a world where women are objectified, treated as property, and have their opinions ignored. Visualization is hard, is it not? Prior to the Women’s Rights Movement, women were denied basic rights, such as the right to vote. As of 2014, 50% of all marriages end in divorce, but before the movement, women were not allowed to divorce their husbands. Even those who had committed crimes against them, such as rape (even though marital rape was not criminalized until 1993) or domestic abuse.
Fortunately, due to the tireless work of decades of activist’s, laws have changed, amendments added to the constitution, and rights granted to those who were previously unjustly denied. One of these victories for women’s rights occurred when women were granted the right
The women’s rights movement being an extensive movement helped women to occupy better jobs and higher positions “Increased access to leadership positions is an important achievement because – in terms of gender – the field is more level now: some women will be allies, some are not, but no one is excluded only for being a woman”. Today, women can choose to occupy the jobs that were once titled only for men and they have an equal employment opportunity “Because of workplace rights, women enjoy freedom to work in almost any position they choose. They join the armed forces, work as cab drivers, own businesses and become executives in large corporations” Women can now become ministers, juries, senates, and even the president “1975 — In Taylor v. Louisiana, the court denies states the right to exclude women from juries….1981 — Sandra Day O’Connor is appointed as the first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice… 1997 — Madeleine Albright is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State. She is the first woman in this position.”
