Feminism Definition Essay

What is feminism? The definition is often argued over by feminists and anti-feminists. Feminists believe that the expectations for women are far too high to be attainable for most—they are expected to be the perfect weight, the perfect height, the perfect everything in the eyes of society in order to be seen as worth anything. Feminists believe that women are seen by society as less powerful, less smart, simply less than men. Feminists also believe that feminism promotes gender equality, not misandry. They aim to fix this. Anti-feminists, on the other hand believe that feminism is women being obnoxious and putting themselves above men. They think feminism in 2015 in unnecessary. Women already have the right to vote, what more could they possibly want? This oppression is just one reason why feminism exists and—in my opinion—is extremely important in today’s world.

Just one hundred years ago, women in the United States were not allowed to vote. The 19th amendment was not ratified until June 4, 1919. The 19th amendment granted women the right to vote. Women activists had been fighting decades to have such a right. There were many factors that made the 19th amendment possible such as women’s rights organizations, advocates, conventions, and marches. The women’s right movement paved the way to accomplishing the ratification of a female’s right to vote.

Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton knew that they were being discriminated against because of their gender, and they refused to take it. "In 1869, however, a rift developed among feminists over the proposed 15th Amendment, which gave the vote to black men. Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and others refused to endorse the amendment because it did not give women the ballot." (Grolier). Stanton and Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association to work for suffrage on the federal level and to press for more extensive institutional changes, such as the granting of property rights to married women. (Grolier)Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), one of the main leaders in the women's rights movement, she worked for over 50 years to help women achieve the right to vote. She gave speeches to make her views known to everyone. On January 18, 1892, she spoke before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary. The speech was highly favorable, both within and outside the woman suffrage movement. (Solitude of Self)Susan B. Anthony registered and voted in the 1872 election in Rochester, NY. As planned, she was arrested (Susan B. Anthony Petition)

Women’s suffrage in the United States began in the nineteenth century and continued into the twentieth century until the nineteenth amendment was passed in 1920 to give women the right to vote. Women’s rights activists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony protested the fifteenth amendment that was passed in 1869 because the amendment unfairly did not include women. While Anthony and Stanton protested this proposed amendment other activists such as Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe fought against the women’s suffrage movement by saying that if African-Americans got their right to vote women would gain theirs soon after. The conflict that arose from the two sides butting heads gave way to the formation of two organizations, the National Women’s Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association. The National Women’s Suffrage Association fought for women’s right to vote at a federal level, they also fought for married women to have the same rights as their husbands in regards to property. The American Woman Suffrage Association took a slightly different approach by attempting to get women the right to vote through much simpler means of the state legislature. The women involved in these movements finally got their day in Washington on January 12, 1915 as a women’s suffrage bill was brought before the House of Representatives but

right to vote. They were considered the more radical of the two groups.. The AWSA was

The movement became popular in 1848 with the first gathering for the subject in Seneca Falls. During the Civil War, the movement was placed in the back corner but emerged in full force after the Fifteenth Amendment was passed. Groups such as the National American Woman Suffrage Association and the National Women's Party both fought for these rights, although using drastically different tactics. The usefulness of women during World War I helped their argument, and the Nineteenth Amendment was passed on August 26, 1920. It may be argued that due to pay gaps and other issues, total equality is not present in today's society, but these brave women allowed us to obtain the rights women have

Equal rights have long been sought out by the people of America and they continue to be chased after today. Several of our freedoms were originally seen by the Constitutional to be inalienable, so ingrained in what the founding fathers saw as American values that the Bill of Rights has set them in stone. Unfortunately for some, universal suffrage was not one of those rights. While voting was largely limited at the founding of America, citizens, namely white males, slowly gained the right to vote without discrimination towards age or social status. However, women remained barred from the ballot, regardless of race. Though the suffrage movement started as a woman’s social movement, it evolved into a driving force that would hold the power to put in place a nineteenth constitutional amendment.

The Amendment was passed August 26, 1920. Their fight to vote started sometime in the 1820s. In the 1820s american women were titled to be a perfect housewife which included cooking for the men and children, cleaning, looking after children, and should be submissive towards the other gender. They were not allowed to have paying jobs because men thought women could not handle that things except for taking care of their family. In 1851 Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton work together to fight for women’s rights. A lot of people were against what they were trying to accomplish and still are. They worked together in making a newspaper to promote the idea of women’s rights. Around 1869 the National Women’s Suffrage Association was formed

Who were the main people involved? Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott initiated the first Women's Suffrage Movement, July 19, 1848 at Seneca Falls Convention, New York. At this convention Elizabeth Cady Stanton echoed the preamble of the Declaration Of Independence. “ We hold these truths to be self- evident: that all men and women are created equally.” Proving that when we declared our independence it was for everyone not just men. In 1866, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed an American Equal Rights Association. The Association was dedicated to the suffrage goals regardless of race or gender. Lucy Stone fought about the 15th Amendment, Ratified in 1870, and that the Amendment states that, “ The right of citizens to vote shall not be denied on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.Many of the women involved in suffrage began political work in the antislavery

The battle for suffrage was a long and slow process. Many women tried to initiate the fight for suffrage, like Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. “These were the New Suffragists: women who were better educated, more career-oriented, younger, less apt to be married and more cosmopolitan than their previous generation.” (pg 17) Eventually, in 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified; allowing women to vote, but it was not any one person or event that achieved this great feat. It was the confluence of certain necessary factors, the picketing and parades led by Alice Paul, militaristic suffrage parties and the influence of the media that caused the suffrage amendment to be passed and ratified in 1920. But most importantly, they successfully moved both

To illustrate, the women’s movement transformed into the Suffrage Movement and continued to advocate for women’s rights and better living conditions for women. Furthermore by 1917, the movement was more than 2 million members strong, and finally in 1920 with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, the right to vote for women was secured. The statistics of women voting after the amendment was passed, was considered low in comparison to the voting of men, however, today more women vote then men in the United States.

The Women’s Suffrage Movement of the 1920’s worked to grant women the right to vote nationally, thereby allowing women more political equality. Due to many industrial and social changes during the early 19th century, many women were involved in social advocacy efforts, which eventually led them to advocate for their own right to vote and take part in government agencies. Women have been an integral part of society, working to help those in need, which then fueled a desire to advocate for their own social and political equality. While many women worked tirelessly for the vote, many obstacles, factions, and ultimately time would pass in order for women to see the vote on the national level. The 19th Amendment, providing women the right to vote, enable women further their pursuit for full inclusion in the working of American society.

During the late 19th century, women were in a society where man was dominant. Women did not have natural born rights, such as the right to vote, to speak in public, access to equal education, and so forth, did not stop them to fight for their rights. Women's lives soon changed when Lucy Stone, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony played a prominent role to help bring about change.

Women’s suffrage, or the crusade to achieve the equal right for women to vote and run for political office, was a difficult fight that took activists in the United States almost 100 years to win. On August 26, 1920 the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified, declaring all women be empowered with the same rights and responsibilities of citizenship as men, and on Election Day, 1920 millions of women exercised their right to vote for the very first time.

Accordingly, frontier women gained the right to vote and over time other states granted females suffrage, in full or in part. Women became influential in elections and had an effect on who was elected into Congress. These members were then more obligated to vote for a women’s suffrage amendment to the Constitution. Finally, in 1920 the 19th Amendment was passed in part due to these members of Congress and because women had played a major role in supporting the country during World War I. The amendment stated that nobody could be denied the right to vote based on their gender. This was a great stepping stone for females that allowed them to participate in the world of politics and decide who their leaders were. No longer was the woman a voiceless bystander.