The rights and freedoms that women in the United States enjoy today did not come without struggle, and currently there is nowhere in the world women are treated equally to men. Henceforth the 17th hundreds women have been trying to affirm their position in the fabric of America. Early public policies treated wives and mothers as wards of their husbands and women in general were not considered citizens under the Constitution of the United States, the founding document referred of “men created equal”. Women were oppressed by gender and could not legally acquire land ownership, enter into contracts, initiate legal actions, acquire bank loans and wives that worked, their husbands controlled their money. Furthermore, women were barred from higher …show more content…
Additionally, we have seen the passage of legislation that affect women over three decades with the passing of Tittle VII of the Equal Rights Act of 1964, the 1963 Equal Pay Act, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974. I believe to understand if there is a need for an ERA or any other equality act beneficial to women, we must measure through the passing of the current acts, what have they really accomplished in the way of discrimination, oppression and prejudices against women not just in the US but for women all over the …show more content…
Women have individual desires, thoughts and feelings and they are not all inclusive, but still assumptions are made and often fueled by television, magazine and other media outlets. Furthermore, some of the stereotypes faced by women is the assumption that women want to marry and have children, a woman would not make a good president, because she is too emotional or indecisive, women would not be good in combat, women should be submissive and women want or should be taken care of. Bottom-line prejudices stems from the idea that certain people are worth less and less capable, which leads to discriminatory behavior, whether indirect, direct or
The full text of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) reads as follows, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” (qtd. in Stewart 33). These twenty-four words would become some of the most controversial of the twentieth century. Under the nineteenth amendment, American women obtained the right to vote in 1920. This amendment inspired Alice Paul to draft the first ERA which she then introduced to the United States Congress in 1923. After this first proposal, the ERA would eventually be proposed in each succeeding session of Congress (Stewart 33). Despite its introduction every year for fifty years, the ERA did not accumulate a strong opposing force until after it
Women’s right has been a problem throughout the nineteen century. Women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. Wifehood and motherhood were women's most significant professions, in the 19th century; however, women won the right to vote and increased their educational and job opportunities. Women were long considered naturally weaker than men. Prior to the American Revolution the women were viewed as weak and unable to perform hard work. Also, women place were the house, take care their children, clean the house, organized the house, cook, and take care animals. During the American Revolution many women faced a lot problems because they
In American history, it is not very common to hear about women and their part in history until about 1865 when they began to speak out. Throughout history women were submissive and in the background for most of their lives. Cooking and cleaning while men took the spotlight and made all the decisions. Soon after the Civil War and the 14th amendment, women began to speak out and fight for their rights. Eventually in 1920, the 19th amendment was passed and women were given the right to vote. The ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed women the right to vote, marked a turning point in United States women's history because women’s lives changed from being in the background of men to becoming leaders in their
As the millenniums pass and years go by, the world continues to evolve each day. Across the world, in every society, men and women have specific roles that they carry out. During ancient times, in most cultures, women were inferior to men. This is still true in many countries today. It has taken American women many centuries to have gained the rights and privileges they have today. Women have made many immense achievements, fought for their rights and stood up for what they believed in during the past century. It is very important to understand the role of women in history because they have played an imperative part of how each society functioned. In Classical Athens, women and men were citizens however men were superior to the women.
Should women be treated equal to any other person under the law? Should the United States of America abolish all legal differences of men and women? This is a very controversial topic and the discussion of this goes all the way back to the early feminist movement of the ninteenhundreds. Equality for women could be accomplished if the equal rights amendment is ratified by the states. The Equal Rights Amendment states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” The campaign to pass the ERA has long been a war of feminist versus feminist. One faction focused on the similarities of the sexes and women’s humanity to demand equality and the other feminists focused
In the year 1923, Alice Paul, a famous suffragette, proposed an amendment to the Congress of the United States of America that would explicitly require the United States government to treat men and women equally. This proposed amendment, commonly referred to by the masses as the Equal Rights Amendment, reads as the following:
(Background/context) In the year 1850, the United States did not fulfill the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, “all men are created equal” for all people because both women and immigrants had limited, or even non-existent political and social rights in comparison to the rights of native-born, American men. The ideals of the Declaration were not fulfilled for women did not have political or social rights that could equate to a white men’s, such as being allowed to advance in society or voting. ‘The Rights of Women: Laws and Practices’ by Bill Bigelow talks if the many laws and conditions that impact women in the US during the year 1848.
In the mid to late 1700's, the women of the United States of America had practically no rights. When they were married, the men represented the family, and the woman could not do anything without consulting the men. Women were expected to be housewives, to raise their children, and thinking of a job in a factory was a dream that was never thought impossible. But, as years passed, women such as Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Elizabeth Blackwell began to question why they were at home all day raising the children, and why they did not have jobs like the men. This happened between the years of 1776 and 1876, when the lives and status of Northern middle-class woman was changed forever. Women began to
still lag behind men, we need an Equal Rights Amendment more than ever (Hennessey 3). The real issue, claim some supporters, is the "right to bodily integrity, and without this basic right, women can have no true freedom" (NOW 2). Legal sex discrimination is not a thing of the past, and the progress of the last forty years is not irreversible without the protection of an amendment (Francis 1).Feminist claim that "The ERA's most valuable effect would be the psychological victory it would provide women" (Steiner 35). Women are underpaid in the workforce, required to pay higher insurance premiums and are half as likely as men to get pensions (NOW 4). Supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment remind us of a traditional assumption, Men hold rights and women must prove that they hold them" (Francis 2). Supporter claim amazement that, "Even in the twenty first century, the United States Constitution does not explicitly guarantee that all the rights it protects are held equally by all citizens" (Francis 4). Supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment believe that "unless we put into the Constitution the bedrock principle that equality of rights cannot be denied or abridged on account of sex, the political and judicial victories women have achieved with their blood, sweat and tears for the past two
The progress that lead to the ratification process of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), in 1972, began over a century earlier. The advocates for women’s rights began their efforts in 1848 at the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York , where a meeting of 300 men and women was held which called for justice for women in a society that limited their privileges. By 1900, women had gained the right to keep their earnings and own property. By 1920, they had gained the right to vote. By 1963, women were paid equally to men for completing the same work. In 1964, the Civil Rights Amendment was passed and outlawed discrimination based on gender, religion, and race. In 1972, Title IX
The Equal Right Amendment (ERA) is “Equality of right under the law shall not be abridge by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Section1 of the ERA which was first proposed to congress was in 1923 by the National Women’s Party. The Advocates for the ERA intended it to give women a constitutional protection. The first amendment was submitted to the states in 1972, shortly after it submission to the states, thirty five states had ratified the ERA. However, at the end of the seven year deadline the ERA was three states short on becoming law. During this time the ERA had encountered opposition, the opponents stated that, there are certain inequalities between men and women and some legislation and state policies must be taken
The alteration, which was conceived around the time that ladies were given the privilege to vote, was first presented in Congress in 1923.
Between the years of 1972 and 1982, women and other supporters were fighting one of many fights for the Equal Rights Amendment. “Women and supporters lobbied, marched, rallied, petitioned, picketed, went on hunger strikes, as well as, committed acts of civil disobedience.” One of the very first problems for advocacy was the significant difference of equality for men and women. In this time of history, the Constitution only granted rights to the individuals who had all the power of decision-making and influence: white males. Social traditions and ideas of common law were defined for women from an English influence. With English tradition as the biggest influence, many women were denied many legal rights. Some of these rights included: denied
This article explains the history of ERA and all the consequences and effects that it had on the genders and their equalities. This article goes over the struggles with women’s rights throughout the 19th century, leading towards the victory for woman suffrage. Afterwards, the article transits to the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and goes into depth as it describes how gender equality was nationally accepted more as time went by. This source maintains on the objective side, as it uses only facts that are acquired through the history of the ERA and just goes on describing how it affected the gender roles. This source is different from the rest of the articles because this article has good solid facts over one topic in history while some other articles are focused on the present statistics. I learned a good amount of history behind the whole ERA and the causes and effects of this amendment that soon impacted the nation.
The Equal Protection Clause is part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause provides that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction "the equal protection of the laws". Two landmark 14th Amendment cases are Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education. However, each case treated the 14th Amendment differently and this caused a different outcome for each court case.