Rights Of Women In The 19th Century

Women in the mid-1800s had nearly any rights they could not vote or hold office. If women were to get married their husband got all of the property he owned all her wages if she worked the husband could hit his wife long as it did not injure her. Women held many rallies and other events to try and get equal right. The Women's Rights Movement allowed women a chance to go to college and other schooling opportunities. Finally women got the same jobs as men they got paid the same they owned all of their property and wages.

In the late nineteenth century, women were beginning to take a stand for their equal rights in society. The term “new woman” was used to describe these women, openly proclaiming their independence from men. It was a woman’s way to threaten the conventional ideas of society, and to bring about their own changes (Buzwell). Following their well-known suffrage movement, women claimed their freedom sexually, physically, and in the workplace. For many years’ prior, women were expected to be the typical housewife, watching over the house, cooking, and cleaning. They were property of their husbands. During their equal rights revolution, women pursued careers like doctors or lawyers and fulfilling their sexual desires for purposes other than bearing children. As today’s society may never know the struggles and misfortunes during the Victorian era, Dracula leaves a time capsule behind to elaborate on the realities during such a prominent generation (Podonsky). Considering this given criteria, a new woman comes in a variety of forms; some women represent a stronger sexual desire while others demonstrate character traits on equality in work and education. In the case of Dracula, the two main female characters take two different forms; one blatantly sexual and one chaste (Humphrey). Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula portrays the ideas of a “new woman” in a modern society, utilizing Mina’s and Lucy’s characters to display opposite characteristics of the feminist movement which draw attention to

Over time women's rights have grown, however this has not happened without the difficulty of time and tradition. The original role of women was not equal to man, instead their role was to act as the housekeeper, the mother of children. Due to this stereotype, women were unable to gain many rights, and much of the protests against how unfair this was were unheard. To begin, what is known of women's rights during the 1800s is, women in society were subservient to men. Women were only allowed to have access to a minor education, which was not enough to build a life off of much less a job.

Women in the United States during the nineteenth century organized a variety of reform movements to free slaves and to secure equal rights for women. The abolitionist sisters, Sarah and Angelina Grimke of South Carolina did not approve of slavery; they joined many abolition groups and fought persistently to secure the rights of slaves. They were the first two women to speak publicly in the United States. They argued that white woman had a bond with black women; specifying on slaves. A few of the Grimke sisters methods were that they criticized slavery and racial prejudice, which was risky even for vital protestors of the nineteenth century. This is because women were supposed to be seen as “busy bodies” and they believed that Christ himself forbade speaking in public especially about a topic that was not permitted.

Has equality between the sexes changed? Have women enjoyed the same rights and freedoms as men, throughout history? Unfortunately, no they have not. Depending on time period you look at you will quickly notice that, as the societal norms change, women remained oppressed in different ways. Customs have come a long distance since then, and their place in society continued to change. In the 1960s women were not as oppressed as they were once, in the decades before , still they were not given the full rights, opportunities and freedoms that a man would have.

Previously, women have existed in a society ruled by man and have been put under the expectation to be at home raising the children and taking care of the home, while men were expected to go to work and provide for the family. Since the beginning of civilization, women have been victims to prejudice that eventually “compelled women at last to throw off the political, economic, intellectual and social shackles that bound them” (Joshi 13). The complexity of women’s hardship during the nineteenth century, in the fight for equality, resulted in many women getting arrested and looked down upon from their communities. Although the consequences seem treachery, many women risked their livelihood and pushed forth determination and will power to

In the early ages during the 19th century as well as the early 20th century, women did not have many rights. During the 19th century, if you were a women of wealth you would be busy running your household as well as keeping your servants organized. Women were able to begin getting their education, as the churches provided schools for the young women. Women did not gain equal rights with men, until the 20th century. Not until 1918, after all the men fighting for the women to be allowed to vote is when women were able to vote. Living in the world today, is much rather different than what it would be like to live in the world in the 19th century.

Today, women benefit from many basic rights such as voting and the ability to own property while married. But in the 1800s, females struggled to achieve these rights and the status of citizenship. However, women were not meant to obtain the rights to citizenship, or at least, not in a society that had never included women in the definition of citizenship. As a result, the debate of women’s equality grew to be one of the biggest issues in the nineteenth-century. As a male-dominated society continued to influence others, to strike fear onto others, and to establish women’s position in the law, women’s rights in America became a major controversial subject in the nineteenth-century because women were on the verge of shattering the preexisting definition of citizenship.

Martin Luther King Jr. once reasoned, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Women’s rights and abolition were both major social movements during the 19th century. Although the women’s rights movement is meaningful, the abolition movement is the more influential campaign.

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening addresses the role of women within society during the late nineteenth century. The novel is set in South Louisiana, a place where tradition and culture also play a vital role in societal expectations. The novel’s protagonist, Edna Pontellier, initially fulfills her position in society as a wife and as a mother while suppressing her urges to live a life of passion and freedom. Edna’s relationship with her husband, Léonce Pontellier, represents her expected role in a marriage that lacks passion and excitement. Edna’s relationship with her lover, Robert Lebrun, represents her indulgence in her passion and freedom. Chopin juxtaposes the

Women in the nineteenth century began to fight for their rights as they were inspired by other abolitionist movements. Women were denied basic natural rights that were given to men. For example, women were not allowed to vote or own property. They also earned less money than men, even if they were working the same job. Men also had a more variety of opportunities in regarding jobs and careers. Women were expected to care for the children and the household. This unfair treatment inspired women to start abolitionist movements to gain equal rights to men. Although it was strongly opposed by most men, the women’s rights movement of the 1800’s was ineffective

The 19th century was time of great changes in American culture. Individualism freed people from traditions and allowed them to pursue their own livelihood. Religion was changing; people left organized religion in hopes of self-realization, while others joined new religious groups that gave them meaning. Abolitionism and women’s rights presented the idea of equality between the races and sexes. Each of these new ideas helped drastically shape 19th century American culture by causing reforms in American traditions, and the effects are still evident today.

Throughout history, political and social life were all controlled and regulated by men. As a result women often lived their life in silence and were banned from participating in their society. However, from the start of the 20th century, this cycle of white male dominance was quickly challenged by various minority groups. The Women’s Rights Movement, Gay Liberation Movement, and the African-American Civil Rights Movement to name a few all demanded basic human rights and to be treated equally as their straight white male counterpart. In 1977, Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist, became the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California (he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors). About year later, on June 25, 1978, he gave a powerful speech on the steps of the San Francisco City Hall demanding equality not only for the LGBTQ community but for everyone. Similarly, on September 5, 1995, Hillary Clinton, the First Lady at the time, transformed the world as she delivered a moving speech on women’s rights. It was at the U.N 4th World Conference On Women, where she uttered the famous line, “Let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are

It would be a huge understatement to say that many things have changed when it comes to women's rights, positions, and roles in our society today since the 19th century. Actually, very few similarities remain. Certain family values, such as specific aspects of domesticity and performance of family duties are amongst the only similarities still present.

There is still gender inequality today, but we have come so far within the last century. Women have gained the right to vote and to do whatever they want. We still have some way to go, but things change and they change fast. I can only imagine what the old fashioned men from a century ago would react if they were