Evolution Of Women's Rights

As the United States was continuing recovering from the Civil War and embracing the expansion of the West, industrialization, immigration and the growth of cities, women’s roles in America were changing by the transformation of this new society. During the period of 1865-1912, women found themselves challenging to break the political structure, power holders, cultural practices and beliefs in their “male” dominated world.

Women’s rights have evolved over time; beginning with being homemakers and evolving to obtaining professions, acquiring an education, and gaining the right to vote. The movement that created all these revolutionary changes was called the feminist movement. The feminist movement occurred in the twentieth century. Many people are not aware of the purpose of the feminist movement. The movement was political and social and it sought to set up equality for women. Women’s groups in the United States worked together to win women’s suffrage and later to create and support the Equal Rights Amendment. The economic boom between 1917 and the early 1960s brought many American women into the workplace. As women began to join

The Women's Rights Movement was a significant crusade for women that began in the late nineteenth century and flourished throughout Europe and the United States for the rest of the twentieth century. Advocates for women's rights initiated this movement as they yearned for equality and equal participation and representation in society. Throughout all of history, the jobs of women ranged from housewives to factory workers, yet oppression by society, particularly men, accompanied them in their everyday lives. Not until the end of the nineteenth century did women begin to voice their frustrations about the inequalities among men and women, and these new proclamations would be the basis for a society with opportunities starting to open for

During the late 19th century and early 20th century, many American women began to feel a sense of hope that one day, they would achieve the same freedom as men had. However, women quickly realized that in order to gain the freedom they desire, they would have to change the social expectations of their time. History played a major part in helping change the social expectations, especially during World War 1 and World War 2, when women went to work and took on the jobs previously performed by American men who were fighting overseas. Many factors have contributed to the changes of social expectations concerning women’s roles in society due to the personal efforts of individual woman and groups of women who band together to fight for their independence

Throughout time women and their rights have varied among where they are living and the people that surround them. Some of the major changes with women’s rights is giving them the right to vote, reproductive rights, and the right to work for equal pay. Another thing that varies throughout time is women’s roles. For example 100 years ago the only jobs that women could have was to either be a housewife, nurse, or a teacher. Until about 1910, women didn’t really fight for their rights and what they could do. In 1910, women started to voice their opinions in society and fought for the right to vote. Though things have changed greatly today, there are still women in the world that believe in the “traditional way” and prefer to still wait on

It was not until after the Civil War that these ideas started to change in America. “Dozens of women’s colleges were founded after the Civil War, and many formerly all-male colleges began admitting women.” (Shi and Tindall, pg. 569) By 1900 nearly one-third of college students were women (pg.569) In the early 1900’s women began to liberate themselves from the home, their social roles, and even some of their character traits. New public venues for female interaction were created, from charitable associations to women’s clubs. The increase of female interaction brought a means to change the lack of female influence in government. In 1869 the National Woman Suffrage Association was founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, which not only campaigned for woman suffrage, but also for new laws to make an abused wife get a divorce easier and for female workers to get higher pay (pg. 712-714) It was not until the spring of 1919 after WWI that the Nineteenth Amendment was passed giving women a Constitutional guarantee of their right to vote (pg. 775). Women gaining the right to vote was one of the greatest social developments that happened in America because since women made up forty percent of the electorate they had the capability to change the course of politics (pg.

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

“A wider freedom is coming to the women in America” (Foner, Give Me Liberty, 677). An influential figure in the women’s movement was Charlotte Perkins Gilmen who wrote ‘Women and Economics’ in 1898 which set forth and challenged the ideas of gender roles that a women’s life was not to be bound to her husband and children in her home but is to be out in the workplace earning her own wages and be able to experience firsthand, true freedom. In her book, she stated “If that change is for the advantage of individual and the race, we need not fear it”, (Give Me Liberty, 710). Another shift in the women’s era was the idea and use of birth control for women. Social reformer Margaret Sanger advocated for the right for women to be able to enjoy sexual intercourse without the worry of falling pregnant and provided sex education to those in the urban poor communities. She also gave out contraceptives to poor immigrants but was later jailed for corrupting the minds of women with the birth-control movement. Having or not having children was an issue for all women regardless of social status, it brought together women part of the poor, middle and upper class economic society. Women could work but having a child made it more difficult for the women to do so, thus the birth control movement gave women so many more options than just being a wife and mother. They can now go pursue their careers, enjoy their

During the early 20th century, women due to their lack of political power did not possess the ability to successfully impact society. This reality prompted nationwide reform, which became the main agenda of the American public due to the brutal societal conditions which women and

Author and activist, Ruth Rosen in her novel, The World Split Open: How the Modern Women's Movement Changed America, skillfully composed an engaging, insightful and comprehensive review and analysis of the 20th century women's rights movement in America. The narrative covers the chronicle of women’s rights movements from Betty Friedan’s, The Feminine Mystique, all the way through the 1990s. While this novel embraces a large scope of women’s rights, Rosen’s main ideas are the path to the erasure of the cult of domesticity, how women made their way into the workforce, as well as the rising political influence women had on culture and society. American women who embraced the message Friedan was sending in her 1963 publication, that being that women were silent victims of the oppressive domesticity, which subsequently limited their freedoms, and sent them 20 steps backwards in the battle for equal rights. Additionally in The Feminine Mystique, Rosen

Introductory Paragraph: The focus of the first movement in the 1840s-60s concentrated mainly on women’s right to vote, while the focus of the second women’s movement in the 1960s-80s targeted the reduction of discrimination in the work force, education, civil rights, reproductive rights. Historically and traditionally, women’s role had been in the home as homemakers, mothers, and non-compensated laborers. The domesticity of women appeared to be a satisfactory balance with men who were viewed as the primary wage earners. Given that most nations of the world had not given women the right to vote in 1840’s to 1860’s, the women’s movement in America was not terribly successful.

America is the land of opportunity. It is a place of rebirth, hope, and freedom. However, it was not always like that for women. Many times in history women were oppressed, belittled, and deprived of the opportunity to learn and work in their desired profession. Instead, their life was confined to the home and family. While this was a noble role, many females felt that they were being restricted and therefore desired more independence. In America, women started to break the mold in 1848 and continued to push for social, political, educational, and career freedom. By the 1920s, women had experienced significant “liberation”, as they were then allowed to vote, hold public office, gain a higher education, obtain new jobs, drastically change

Dominated by men and having little to no voice at all, women were unable to express themselves freely during the late 1800’s. Kate O’Flaherty married Oscar Chopin in 1870 and lived in Louisiana until he died. Her works were influenced by the events and the lives of the women around her. Chopin was known for her literary works that gave readers an insight on the truth as she viewed it. In both The Story of an Hour and The Storm, Chopin gives an understanding on how physical, historical, and geographical setting impacted the characters’ lives and their response to their circumstance.

Until the mid-19th century, women were considered possessions of their husbands, and had no control over their money or property. Thanks to the women’s right movement, this has all changed and things run a little differently now. Spouses are now equal under the law and property is shared between them.

In 1776, the then First Lady of the United States was the first to raise her about women’s rights, telling her husband to “remember the ladies” in his drafting of new laws, yet it took more than 100 years for men like John Adams to actually do so. With the help of half a dozen determined, and in this case white upper-middle-class, women the first-wave feminism, which spans from the 19th century to the early 20th century, finally led to their goal after 72 years of protesting. The Nineteenth Amendment, which secured the rights for women to vote finally passed in 1920. This grand victory brought other reforms along, including reforms in the educational system,