Women 's Rights And Feminist Movements

Over a hundred years ago, one event created chaos among gender roles and here are some of the initial factors of how rights for women started as a predicament which later began to evolve into a much larger problem that involved many people around the nations. Over the course of history, many issues had change the world to what it has become today. Many problems led to social, economic, and other changes. One small event is able to cause more obstacles, which eventually leads to larger complications. Even though society had tried to resolve these issues, they still encountered many hardships that were disruptive to their own perspectives as also for other people within the community. Thus, this was an important issue because it had changed

The Fifteen-Year War was a time of great turmoil and uncertainty in Japan. Various facets of the country were tested and driven to their limits. During the occupation, race and gender began to evolve in ways that had not exactly be seen before. War had a tremendous impact on every part of the life of a Japanese citizen. Both men and women began to fill roles that were completely novel to them. Race became a part of the definition of who people were. As the war progressed and American troops landed on Japanese soil for occupation, more drastic changes occurred. Economic hardship and rations befell the people of the Land of the Rising Sun. Prostitution began to rear its ugly head and rape transpired. Through memory, research, and vivid

With the advancement of suffrage to equal pay, over the last century, women’s rights have progressed immensely. Through historic marches and demonstrations across the United States, women protested for their equal place in politics and social progress. Despite the fear-mongering components used in achieving these rights, women’s rights are still thoroughly debated within society today. Over the last century, incredible and unreachable goals have been fulfilled for women, such as the right to vote and a sense of equal state in the “Free World,” and can only improve in the years to come.

2. There were multiple factors which linked the women’s rights movements and the abolitionist movements. Many women joined abolitionist movement as a way to enter public life and have the opportunity to talk about controversial topics. They faced criticism for addressing these controversial issues which prompted them to attempt gain freedom for women as well as those who were enslaved. They tried to use the abolitionist movement as a way to also gain equal rights for a women as there seemed to be a common idea shared between the two.

Early feminism was typically focused only on white women, likely because racism was still extremely prominent at the time feminism began emerging. It was not until Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the term “intersectionality” in 1989 that feminism started to look at oppressed group’s needs (Nash, 2008, 2). Intersectionality is a way of thinking that acknowledges that when a person has identities that belong to more than one oppressed group, it impacts their quality of life more negatively. In this paper, I will argue that intersectionality is important in the discussion of feminist theories and activism because it ensures that feminism is for all women, not just a select group of them. Intersectionality has changed the way the feminist movement handles the overlapping of different identities, which has helped feminist theorists understand the experiences of women of colour much more clearly. While intersectionality has a very important role in the conversation and practice of feminism, there are certainly critiques of the concept that should be brought up. These critiques, however, can offer a way to improve the study of intersectionality.

Many reform movements took place from 1830 to 1860 following the Second Great Awakening. Most notably were the Abolitionist Movement, the Women’s Rights Movement, and the Temperance Movement. The time period from 1890 to 1920 was called the Progressive Era and focused on enacting change in the working environment as well as continuing to improve women’s rights. Both of these time periods pushed for change yet the social reformers during the Progressive Era achieved their goals to a greater extent in part due to the acts created. Both the social reformers in the period of 1830 to 1860 as well as 1890 to 1920 brought attention to crucial subject matters, however the social reformers from the latter period achieved their goals to a greater extent through the creation of several acts, laws, and committees.

Around the years 1848 and 1869, the Feminist and Suffrage movement started to take off, and was named "the emergence of an independent women 's movement in America" (Dubois Title). During these times, societal standards taught that a woman belonged either in the kitchen, or serving her family. This presented few opportunities for education and/or careers for women. In turn, many women realized they didn 't want to only serve their families, or even have a family. They decided to stand up for themselves. This was the beginning of a revolution that is unfortunately still going on today.

Matsumoto, Valerie. "Japanese American Women during World War II." Frontiers: A Journal of Women 's Studies 8 (1984): 6-14.

Women used many different methods to earn the right to vote in the women’s Suffrage Movement. One of the methods is a parade, The parade took place in Washington D.C. on the day that president Woodrow Wilson was going to be sworn in for his second presidency. Large crowds that consisted of many men drinking then throwing the bottles at the women who were marching and riding floats in the parade. Also they were yelling at the women, and this lead to the crowds violently attacking the girls and the police did nothing. At the end of all the fighting there were 100 people hospitalized. But thankfully the newspaper supported the women.

The war provided radical new employment opportunities for women in the U.S. Many took advantage of those opportunities which led to an increased employment among American women. These opportunities contributed in defeating the stereotypical tasks of women such as cooking, cleaning, and motherhood. It allowed women to prove their leadership and worth by working in the military, in governmental departments, and in public transport. On the other hand, Japanese women were treated as objects and presented as gifts to Japanese military troops. They were known as comfort women and were forced into prostitution services. This reveals the differences of women’s roles in America and Japan. American women were offered more noble involvements, and were

In discussing the original debate surrounding the women’s suffrage movement and women’s equality we need to distinguish there are two distinct sides, for and against. People may insist on acknowledging the existence of varying degrees of support for either side, but for the sake of this conversation, we will recognize the prominent two. The first side, in the support of women’s equality, believes that women are people, the same as men, and deserve the same freedoms and liberties as their male counterparts. When discussing women’s right to vote and the suffrage movement Susan B. Anthony questions, “…Are women persons?” and follows with, “I scarcely believe any of our opponents will have the hardihood to say they are not. Being persons, then,

In World War II, Japanese Soldiers widely exploited Comfort Women. While this was a well-known issue, the use of men and women as sex slaves within Japan was ignored for nearly 45 years after World war II ended. It was not until 1992 that Japanese government paperwork acknowledges the use of comfort women by Japanese soldiers (Haas, 1992). Comfort women were often women, and few men, forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Army. They were often taken from their homes, however, at the beginning of the war willing prostitutes were offered monetary support for their willing involvement (Haas, 1992). While comfort women were taken care by Japanese officials throughout the war, nearly half of them did not survive the ordeal (Haas, 1992). Japanese

Throughout history, Canada’s identity has changed in many ways and there have been many historical events that have greatly shaped and impacted Canada’s history and identity. The Women’s Movement and women’s contribution in the past and throughout history has had the greatest impact on shaping Canada into what it is today. Among many identifying qualities like being multicultural, bilingual, and world leaders, Canada is also country that has changed immensely in the way of becoming a country that has learned to accept women, move towards providing them with equal opportunities and treating them equally. Through economic, social and political movements and actions, the contribution from women and the women’s movement have increased, changed and improved women’s rights and equality greatly. Women worked to create independence and equality economically through their contributions to war on the homefront in WWI resulting in greater workplace equality, socially through the actions of the Flappers in the 1920’s giving women currently, the confidence and strength that they need to speak up, and politically, through the work of the Suffragists including the Famous 5 to allow women to have the same political rights as men.

Japan, forced to rebuild itself from the ashes of defeat, was occupied by Americans in the aftermath of World War II. Although it was commonly perceived through the victors’ eyes, in John W. Dower’s novel, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II, Dower summarized his studies of Occupied Japan and the impact of war on Japanese society in the view of both the conqueror and the defeated. He demonstrated the “Transcending Despair” (p. 85) of the Japanese people through their everyday lives in the early stages of the occupation. In chapter three, Dower attempted to comprehend the hopes and dreams – as well as the hopelessness and realities – of the Japanese who were in a state of exhaustion and despair. In chapter four, due partly to the food shortage, crime rates rose as people began to steal. Women turned to prostitution while men turned to the black market. Some Japanese were so desperate that they stripped out of their clothing and exchanged it for food. Dower vividly conveyed the depth of loss and confusion that Japan experienced. On the other hand, Kasutori culture flourished in the 1950s as sexually oriented entertainments dominated the commercial world. In chapter five, the people of Japan turned wartime slogans into slogans for reconstruction and peace. They used witty defeat jokes as a way to escape despair. Even though they were defeated, the people of Japan pushed through the misery and sought to reinvent their identity as illustrated through prostitution, the black market, and “Bridges of Language” (p. 168).

This paper is a review of the book Japan’s Comfort Women-Sexual slavery and prostitution during WWII and the US occupation by Yuki Tanaka. This book was published in 2002 by Routledge. The book deals with the thousands of Japanese, Korean, Chinese and other Asian and European women who were victims of organized sexual violence and prostitution by means of “comfort stations” setup by the Japanese military during World War II.