Summary Of Shirley Chisholm Equal Rights For Women

Shirley Chisholm, first African American woman to be elected to Congress was born in Brooklyn on November 30, 1924. She is one of the most profound and admired women that challenged society not only as a woman, but a woman of color. She made many contributions to the women's movement and society.

Women have long been fighting for their right to be seen as equal to men. Even to this day, women continue to fight for their rights, things such as the right to non-gender discriminatory wages. While there may be some arguments over the state of gender equality in the modern world, it is undeniable that there have been great strides made toward recognizing the female 's worth in the workforce and as a human being. Despite these strides, however, things are still not yet ideal for women and many of the issues females face today are the very same issues that have been plaguing them for decades. While it is unfortunate the oppression of women has been so long-lived, the length of that exposure has thankfully enabled many talented writers to both lament over the fact and emphasize the need for gender equality.

Women have been a vital key to the shaping and progression of our society. Throughout time, women’s roles and opportunities in the family, workplace, and society have greatly evolved. They started from being housewives that don’t have many rights, even in the household, to being valued citizens in our

Women have virtually the same rights as men. However, the fault needing to be recognized in today’s society is the way that women are treated. Even in simple areas, such as jobs, women are put on the back burner. A woman is able to become a CEO of a company, nonetheless, she will struggle twice as hard as a man would. Even as an employee, women are statistically paid less than men are.

Women began to climb the ladder and finally became equal to men, well almost. Women’s rights include, but is not limited to positions that any man can hold, promotions that were not allowed beforehand last but not least socially and legal equality. As women, we can’t continue to yell inequality when we are not on the same playing field as men. We, women, have more leverage than the men. Aspiring to be like men would require us to also go the same extra mile that the male has to also. Women’s right is not for us to be equal while also being held on a pedestal at the same time. Equality goes both ways, it is for us, as well as men.

Since the enactment of the nineteenth amendment, which granted women suffrage during the late 1920s, a woman’s role in society has drastically changed. Perhaps the most drastic shift occurred during World War II when women successfully integrated into the workforce after most of the nation’s men left for war. Fast forward to the 21st century and women are seen in almost any career previously deemed as a man’s job from an engineer, mayor, chief executive officer, and so much more. At the surface, it seems as if the United States has achieved complete gender equality, but that could not be further from the truth. Women certainly have the same opportunities as men in this country, but we do not have the same resources.

Many people of several generations before us fought a long and tumultuous battle to attain the civil rights for women that we have today. For many years, women had no rights. They had no rights to vote. They had no rights to property. They basically had no rights to themselves, as they were considered men's property. Due to these degrading circumstances, women over the years began to fight back. They started creating civil rights movements to help pursue their goals to fight against discrimination and to gain full citizenship rights. However, it wasn't easy for women to gain equal rights or the independence they deserved. The autobiographical accounts of Septima Clark and Casey Hayden and the oral interviews given by Diane Nash, Mary Dora Jones, and Earline Boyd, in Through Women's Eyes on pgs 656-664, demonstrate the trials and tribulations experienced during the civil rights movement that helped define these women's lives and experiences.

On February 15, 1820, Susan Brownell Anthony was born in Adams, Massachusetts. Seventeen years later, Anthony enrolled at Deborah Moulson’s Female Seminary in Philadelphia to further her education. She only attended it shortly before moving back to help her father pay off his debts. Then in 1845, Anthony and her family moved to a farm in Rochester, New York. Their family farm in Rochester became a popular spot for many abolitionists to meet, thus pushing her to become more active in the fight for equal rights for Blacks. Towards the end of the 1840s, while teaching at a school in Canajoharie, New York, she discovered that male teachers made ten dollars a month, while female teachers made a measly two dollars and fifty cents a month. After

After Civil War, many southern states continued to treat AFrican-Americans as second class citizen. They carried out many laws that separate black people and white people during that time.These laws become known as Jim Crow Laws. The other laws prevented many black people from voting. As a result,in the history of United States, there are many movement that fighting for equal rights. Women’s right movement and African- American Civil right movement are significant in US history.

In the speech “Equal Rights for Women”, the author, Shirley Chisholm, takes the position of defense for women’s rights. She addresses the House of Representatives with claims of prejudice against women. Prejudice is an assumption or preconceived opinion made about someone without any facts or evidence behind it. The author explains that prejudice against women is commonly found in the work place, and she references the well-known question, “Do you type?”. She claims that these opinions and ideas come from the “happy little homemaker” mindset, implying that women are only good for work around the home.

Around the world many women faced and still continue to face oppression. But in the United States, a movement geared toward women sprung up took their attention captive in the 1960’s. This became known as Women’s Liberation. What pushed this into momentum was that women in the U.S. were seen as the person who cooks, cleans, and takes care of the kids. However, in an address to the House of Representatives in May of 1969, a woman gave a speech to speak out against the way women were seen, and to change the way the male mind viewed women.

In the speech "Equal Rights for Women," the author, Shirley Chisholm, argues why women are discriminated against and should have equal rights. She describes why the statement, “Do you type?” is prejudice against women by suggesting that women can’t have jobs that involve more than typing. She says that there is an assumption that women don’t have the same executive ability, orderly minds, stability, and leadership skills as men. Chisholm explains how women and black people are not all happy with their roles in society. She then goes on to say that she is more discriminated for being a woman than for being black.

This is quite a simple concept of giving equal opportunities to all qualified applicants despite gender, race, religion etc. but it is the way its said that makes it powerful. A person should be hired on the basis of ability and production rather than gender or race. I was not aware that women had used the Civil Rights Act to gain some equality and opportunities, such as hiring processes (men and women treated equally), and also women’s ability to move up and be promoted. We also saw the categorical requirements, such as height and weight, removed. Once women were inside the workplace they faced a new set of problems, sexual harassment, poor treatment and no accommodations for pregnancy. Women being encouraged or even forced to wear provocative clothing, being sexually harassed and being on the end of lewd jokes was another obstacle women had to overcome. I believe this is where popular culture comes into play more than anything. If all ideas about women in the workplace stem from a time period where they were discriminated against and looked at to be lesser than men, then once they arrive in the workplace they will most likely not be treated fairly. It must have been tough for the pioneers of women in the workforce having to deal with all these obstacles. Pre-existing thoughts, viewpoints, ideas and assumptions based on popular culture made it that much more difficult for women to break down the barrier in the workplace.

Women fought very hard for their rights in the workplace. Some of them, including Susan B Anthony, went above and beyond the norm. Yet, today our rights are still not the same as a man’s. At one point women weren’t allowed to work at all, and today they are allowed to have jobs while still being home makers. Although improvements have been made, there are still several dilemmas that need to be addressed. A women earns less than a man when doing the same work, and that is extremely unfair. Another issue in the workplace is that men underestimate women due to lack of strength and discrimination. There are also the issues of pregnancy and sexual

The generation now has made it easier to equalize men and women but there is still a substantial amount of places where gender inequality is still happening in the workplace and where females still face discrimination. Women are often discriminated in the workplace and are usually not promoted as quickly as men are and they also receive less pay. History shows that women have not always been defined as property and thought of as second class citizens. But in the 21st century many have seen a drastic change in the so called “traditional” family ways where women are suppose to stay home and take care of the household chores, food, and children and men are suppose to work to support their family and provide financial stability. Many assume that in the workplace women are more vulnerable and less competent than men because women 's instincts are to put their family before work or anything else. Whereas men are the ones who will usually stay the late hours to work. People on both sides of the political spectrum and everywhere in between seem to be fearful of what is to come and more fearful of others than they are often willing to admit.