The Second Wave Of Feminism

The entire Women’s Movement in the United States has been quite extensive. It can be traced back to 1848, when the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. After two days of discussions, 100 men and women signed the Declaration of Sentiments. Drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, this document called for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women. This gathering set the agenda for the rest of the Women’s Movement long ago (Imbornoni). Over the next 100 years, many women played a part in supporting equal treatment for women, most notably leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which allowed women the right to vote.

The convention was organized by two women, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who were barred from a World Anti-Slavery Convention in London because of their sex. This motivated them to establish a women’s rights movement in the United States. At the Seneca Falls Convention, which was held in upstate New York, women were advocating for women’s rights and raising awareness about women’s suffrage for the very first time. Stanton drafted a document called “The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments” which was read at the convention and offered a greater understanding of the freedom and liberties they were fighting for. One of the most important things they were fighting for was a women’s right to vote.

In July 1848 the Seneca Falls convention, the first women’s rights convention in the United States, is what sparked the Suffrage Movement. During the Seneca Falls convention women talked about the social, civil and religious conditions that women have to deal with. The Suffrage movement is a group of women that decided to come together and fight for the right to vote. This paper will talk about what sparked first wave feminism and the events along the way to get where they are today.

Stanton’s most memorable convention was the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 where one hundred men and women gathered for the historic convention. There she introduced her manifesto, the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, which proclaimed that men and women are equal and women need more protection under the law. The document also called for expansion of employment and educational opportunities along with the right to vote for women. Stanton’s manifesto was inspired by the United States Declaration of Independence, The press was not fond with the Seneca Falls Convention and complained that all the women that attended were sour maids and childless women. Although the media did not approve of her remarkable meeting, it brought attention to the women’s rights movement on the political standpoint. (Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Women’s Suffrage issues became prominent in America’s culture when women began leaving their traditional roles as homemakers. Women became more involved in their communities by seeking jobs and fulfilling leadership roles in which they could improve society. In the 1830’s, thousands of women were involved in the movement to abolish slavery. The first organized gathering devoted to women’s rights in the United States was held in July of 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York. Elizabeth Stanton would draft a “Declaration of Sentiments, Grievances, and Resolutions,” based on the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming, “All men and women are created equal” (History.com).

Women's fight for rights began in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York at the first Women's Rights Convention. The Seneca Falls Convention was led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a mother of four, and Lucrieta Mott, a Quaker abolitionist. About one hundred people were in attendance. Stanton wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, outlining their grievances and setting an agenda for the women's rights

In the early 1840s, women began standing and fighting for the basic rights they deserved. Women had always been viewed as lesser than men, and many women of the time were ready to object that idea. Some women were fine with how they were being blindly mistreated, but Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the women ready for a change. With the help of her colleague Lucretia Mott, Stanton organized the Seneca Falls Convention in her hometown of Seneca Falls located in upstate New York. This event was the first of its kind; therefore, it took very strong and dedicated women to compose the convention. The convention’s main focus was Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments on

The women 's suffrage movement, the time when women fought for their rights, began in the year 1848 and continued on all the way through the 1860s. Although women in the new republic had important roles in the family, the house, and other obligations, they were excluded from most rights. These rights included political and legal rights. Due to their gender, they have been held back because they did not have as much opportunities as the men did. The new republic made alterations in the roles of women by disparaging them in society. During this era, men received a higher status than women. Because women were forced to follow laws without being allowed to state their opinions, they tried to resist laws, fight for their freedom and strive to gain equality with men. This leads to feminism, the belief in political, social, and economic equality between men and women. It is the feminist efforts that have successfully tried to give rights that men had, to women who have been denied those rights. Upon the deprivation of those rights, the Seneca Falls convention and the Declaration of Sentiments helped women gain the privileges and opportunities to accomplish the task of equality that they have been striving for.

The women’s rights movement has been around since the beginning of the United States. Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her husband, John Adams, saying that women will not be suppressed by this nation for long, that women will eventually rise up to get the equality they deserve (“Abigail Adams Urges Husband to ‘Remember the Ladies”). Almost a century later, Elizabeth Cady Stanton became a crucial activist in the women's rights movement for both suffrage and equal rights. The First Women's Rights convention was held in New York City in 1848 where Stanton made a speech entitled, “Address on Women’s Rights” which became a famous address for women’s rights. This was Stanton’s first public speech. In this address, she confront the issues of gender equality (Address by Elizabeth Cady Stanton on Women's Rights September 1848).

Other than the obvious time differences between first and second wave feminism, the real contrasts are found in what it was the women, and men in some cases, were fighting for. First-Wave feminists mainly fought for suffrage, while their Second-Wave sisters fought for a wider range of women’s rights.

“You cannot be a humanist unless you are a feminist. You either advocate equality for all or you are a misanthrope” (Michael A. Sherlock). From women’s suffrage to abortion laws feminism has evolved with contemporary battles and a variety of approaches. The

Feminism by definition means the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social and economic equality to men. But many a time’s people restrict the boundary of these forgetting the very important element of diversity of women living in different places and in varied situations.

When referring to the history of feminism in the manner of the first, second, or third wave, one is undermining the experiences that were ongoing during, in middle of, and before those waves that history defines. What ideologies of oppression were being spoken of to raise awareness and whose experience was being excluded/diminished? The articulation of feminism in using the metaphor of waves to describe how the ideologies peaked and rescinded, is incorrect because it focuses only on the voices of those who were able to bring their problems to the surface and excludes those who had a different experience or may have brought awareness in a quieter manner. There are many feminisms and each interpretation is defined by the collective oppression, rather than looking at the situation in an individual perception, which is what creates disagreements and division between feminists. Many definitions of feminism, feminisms, exist simultaneously because it is evolving as fast (or, well, as slow) as the world is changing and if one group of people are to speak of others experience of oppression (or lack of) in place of them, the result can be the glossing over of experiences and therefore, undermine experiences of others.

The idea of women being equal to men has been debated for a very long time. Even when civilizations were just starting, most women were treated very differently from men. When women started fighting against this oppression they were called feminists. Feminism can be separated into three waves. The first wave of feminism was from the mid 1800s to the early 1900s. The second wave was from the 1960s to the 1980s. The third wave of feminism started in the 1990s, but its end is unclear. Some people believe it has ended and the fourth wave of feminism has started, but others believe it continues today. The different waves have been very different in some aspects, but very similar in others. The main differences between the first and third wave of feminism are what they fought for, how they protested, and society’s reaction to their cause.

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,