Feminism In 'Now We Can Begin'

Up until the early 1900’s, women were seen by society as people with household roles that consisted of cooking, cleaning, and tending their children. As time progressed, the view of women in society gradually changed, but their opinions still did not seem to matter. It wasn’t until 1920, that women gained suffrage with the 19th amendment. This amendment was a huge step in gaining full and equal rights for women, but unfortunately discrimination against them still happens today. There are various different situations in which the issue of gender inequality occurs. Although the law states that everyone has equal opportunities and rights, women are highly discriminated against in everyday roles such as employment, extracurricular activities, military, and in the government.

In Crystal Eastman’s Now We Can Begin, Eastman was successfully able to orchestrate the issues facing women by conveying the significance of social, political, and economical change after women gained the right to vote. Her work was so well written in the 1920’s that it is still applicable today, long after women have gained the right to vote. Additionally, Eastman used ethos, pathos, and logos to motivate and persuade the reader. By the tone and communication of her words, Eastman was able to paint an intricate picture of the issues that women faced in the 1920’s and made the reader feel involved and called to action.

Leading up to the 1920’s and many years after men provided and supported the family though supply of monetary value. Men were born into the right to vote, were able to enlist in the armed services, held positions of superiority in the work place and didn’t have to worry about cooking, cleaning or tending to the needs of the children. “..how to arrange the world so that women can be human beings, with a chance to exercise their infinitely varied gifts in infinitely varied ways, instead of being destined by the accident of their sex to one field of activity -housework and child-raising. ”(Chapman.2012) Although Chapman tends to gravitate towards urging a feminist mindset she also addresses what can be done for those who are content

Throughout the history of this country especially beginning in the 1800s with the women's suffrage movement, women have fought for equality. It is no secret that the role of men versus women have change immensely over the last century however some things have not changed. As a result of the unchanging or slowly evolution of equality feminism has arise.

Starting in the nineteenth century women’s rights was a very hushed subject, it wasn’t really talked about because everyone thought of women as being the homemakers, taking care of the family and making meals while the men went out and worked. During

Starting in the nineteenth century women’s rights was a very hushed subject, it wasn’t really talked about because everyone thought of women as being the homemakers, taking care of the family and making meals while the men went out and worked. During

Women began fighting for equality back in the mid-19th century and have continued through many generations of women wanting what is their rights as human beings. In her essay “Now We Can Begin” written in 1920, author Crystal Eastman addresses the right that had recently been given to women in the U.S.—the right to vote. In it, she examines what women must strive for next to ultimately win over their freedom: choice of occupations, equal pay, equality at home,

As the century immediately following the American Revolution, the 19th century experienced a rise in feminism as it harbored the first feminist movement in America. Although some women chose to embrace their “roots” by retaining their domestic sphere of influence, many women began to show discontent with the limited number of rights women held. Soon enough, the fight for women’s rights resulted in women gaining more prominence in society.

Crystal Eastman was an American lawyer, antimilitarist, socialist, journalist, and most importantly, a feminist at the end of the women’s suffrage movements. Her words inspire the women of America. She breathed life into the Bill of Rights as a major leader in the suffrage and equal rights movements in the early twentieth century. Eastman displays several ideas that propel the ideology of not only the roles of women, and their independence in the work force, but also to the men and their role within the home. Through addressing women and their capacity to work alongside men, an impression of equality and identity is given to women.

Society has long since considered women the lessor gender and one of the most highly debated topics in society through the years has been that of women’s equality. The debates began over the meaning between a man and woman’s morality and a woman’s rights and obligations in society. After the 19th Amendment was sanctioned around 1920, the ball started rolling on women’s suffrage. Modern times have brought about the union of these causes, but due to the differences between the genetic makeup and socio demographics, the battle over women’s equality issue still continues to exist. While men have always held the covenant role of the dominant sex, it was only since the end of the 19th century that the movement for women’s equality and the

Sisters, a collection of biographies, has a central purpose to describe the lives of five crucial characters of the women’s rights movement in the 1800s and early 1900s. This movement began during a period when nearly no one would allow a woman to stand up as a leader, and no one approved of any woman wearing pants; it was only acceptable for women to wear floor length dresses or skirts. Along with the strict dress code women had to abide by to remain sociable, their central duty was to be a house maiden and to care for children. Even the most monumental women in the feminist movement were expected to bear children and raise them the best they could.

Women in America were not always perceived as equals to men. It took a great deal of blood, sweat, tears, and most of all time, for women reach the quality of life in todays culture. American women had always pushed feminism, but it wasn’t until the time period around World War II, that equality for women initiated to more than a vision. From the 1940’s to the 1960’s there were several phenomena that nudged society in ways that would improve women’s life and bring forth the women’s movement.

Women throughout history have almost always been beneath men; unable to pursue an education like men could, unable to do what was labeled as ‘a man’s work’, and unable to have the same rights as men. In the mid-1800’s in the United States those limitations began to decrease due to new technologies and opportunities such as factory developments and even co-ed schooling. Those changes caused a great shift in what women could and couldn’t do while also paving a pathway towards women’s rights.

From major events such as the recent presidential election, to social disputes such as the wage gap, one issue comes into the spotlight: gender inequality. For centuries, society viwed women as the inferior gender. In the 18th century philosophers such as Rousseau and Voltaire spread their ideas on how women exist to obey men; although it took decades, women began to show their discontent with these ideas. They pushed for human rights such as education and voting rights. Nearly two hundred years later, the United States gives women more rights than even before. Unfortunately, women still do not receive all the same rights as men. Today, many women identify themselves as feminists – people who advocate the equal rights

Scholars often classify the contemporary feminist movement into three distinct waves beginning in the late 19th century to present day. However, it is not necessarily a modern phenomenon for women to crusade against their oppression by the dominant culture. Mary Wollstonecraft’s 1792 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is often considered the first feminist text; in it she espouses that, in most facets of life, women are oppressed by their male counterparts through the