Women's Rights: The Equal Pay Act Of 1963

Over the course of history, there have been many movements centered around women’s rights. These movements have affected the world as we know it historically and politically. It is thanks to these movements that women have as many rights as they have today. These movements have many names and faces but differ across the world. They range from Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her Seneca Falls Convention, the first women’s convention, in the United States (1848), to Malala Yousafzai and her advocacy for female education in Pakistan (2009). Each of these movements argued for something specific such as voting rights, equal pay, or the right to education, but these movements also fought for something higher, for something more meaningful,

Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA). The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was first introduced in 1942 where it was not passed but would continue to be an issue until 1963. The Equal Pay Act was an important act because it made it illegal to pay people differently based on their gender. This was a big deal because a woman might be more qualified for a job but would get paid less than a man who has never done that job in his life. Feminist activists saw this and began immediately fighting for it. Four years after it was not passed by Congress, women in the United Electrical Workers began to strike for equal

Feminists have not only changed the world historically, but also politically. As a result of strikes, marches, and many other protest, many countries create statutes, or laws, to help protect women’s rights, and to give women more rights. It started in 1707 in Germany when Dorothea Von Valen argued against couverture, a legal doctrine that stated that upon marriage, women’s legal rights and obligations were subsumed by the husband, through her book A Life for Reform. In A Life for Reform, Dorothea made claims that damaged the current count palatine, “a count having jurisdiction in his fief or province” (DICT), Karl III Philipp. As a result of her efforts, Karl III Philipp abolished couverture. This is not the only example of feminists fighting for a change in the law. Mary Wollstonecraft also fought for women’s rights through her book, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, in which she argues that “women are not inferior to men as many believe, they only seem inferior because they lack education.” She also continues to say that men and women should be treated equally. She expresses in her book that intellect will always govern and that women should endeavour to acquire strength, both of mind and body