Women 's Rights By Doris Humphrey And Ruth St. Denis

Women in the nineteenth century lived in a time characterized by gender inequality. At the beginning of the century, women could not vote, could not be sued, were extremely limited over personal property after marriage, and were expected to remain obedient to their husbands and fathers.( women’s suffrage movement 1) In most situations, the men would have to go to work and bring home the money, and the women would have no choice but to stay home, clean the

In her report, Veronica Loveday writes about Women’s Rights Movement, during World War two, and many restrictions women faced. Women’s rights movement in the U.S. begun in the 1960s as a reaction to the decades of unfair social and civil inequities faced by women. Over the next thirty years, feminists campaigned for equality, such as equal pay, equal work , and abortion rights. Women finally gained the right to vote with the passage of the 19th amendment to the constitution in 1920.

In the early 1800s, women were second-class citizens. Women were expected to restrict their area of interest to the home and the family. Women were not encouraged to have a real education or pursue a professional career. Also, women were considered unequal to their husbands and all males legally and socially. The day-to day lives of men and women were quite clearly divided during the late 1800s. Woman in the late 1800s were treated inhumane because of society, class, and their rights.

Women were confronted by many social obligation in the late nineteenth century. Women were living lives that reflected their social rank. They were expected to be economically dependent and legally inferior. No

The place of women changed drastically during the nineteenth century. Many factors such as the market revolution and the second great awakening impacted the way they were in the family, at work, and society. The role of women changed in a way that they were treated differently not just by society but in the house as well. They were beginning to be noticed and they fought to be independent from men, which took a long time to achieve, but they did it. Women believed they were just as able as men to work and be able to vote which is also one of the big differences during this time.

Women’s rights did not officially begin to be a problem until 1848. Many believe that it’s been a problem from at most the 1600’s. Colonial women didn’t give a thought about their rights, but there were some female political leaders. Margaret Brent, a woman who had been given power-of-attorney from Lord Baltimore. Judith Sargent Stevens Murray, the writer of the United States’ first feminist theory. “Will it be said that the judgment of a male of two years old is more sage than that of a female the same age? I believe the reverse is generally observed to be true. But from that period what partiality! How is the one exalted and the other depressed…. The one is taught to aspire, and the other is early confined and limited.”

During this time, society acted against women. Women weren’t allowed to hold a political office, nor were they allowed to vote. In addition, they were virtually submissive to their husbands because they couldn’t do anything without their husbands’ permission. Also, women didn’t have as much freedom when it came to choosing a profession (most ended up being teachers or writers). “The legal status of women was essentially that of a white child or black slave” (Hippocampus). Many women began to notice what little rights they had. Margaret Fuller, a transcendentalist and the editor of The Dial, wrote, in Woman in the Nineteenth Century, about how women were beginning to question what they truly needed in life, and why they didn’t have it. The first American feminist movement soon came underway.

Between December 1st and 2nd 1900, John Hossack (a farmer from Warren County, Iowa) was murdered with an ax by his wife while in bed (Iowa Cold Cases, Inc). This play was inspired by the true story of Margaret Hossack, an Iowa farm wife who was charged with the murder of her husband John. One of the reporters, Susan Glaspell, decided to write a literary version of this investigation and “Trifles” came to be. Susan Glaspell is a feminist writer from Davenport, Iowa who started off writing for a newspaper called Des Moines Daily News. Later on in her literary career she left the journalism industry and founded a theatrical organization called ‘Provincetown Players’ on Cape Cod, Massachusetts (Waterman). In Trifles, Susan Glaspell exposes women’s suffrage through a feminist voice by covering issues regarding female oppression and patriarchal domination and symbolically illustrating the 19th century married woman as a caged bird.

Ruth Denis was born on the 20th of January, 1879 on a family farm located in Newark, New Jersey. Ruth lived with both her two parents, Ruth’s father was a persistently unemployed machinist. Ruth St Denis’s mother (Ruth Emma Denis) on the other hand was a physician, renowned for being Ruth’s motivation. She taught Ruth the basic foundations of ballroom and skirt dancing and at the age of 10, Ruth performed her first solo performance produced by her mother. Denis then began truly committed herself to dance, including training of Delsarte technique, ballet lessons with the Italian ballerina Maria Bonfante, social dance forms and skirt dancing.

Thesis: A “true women” in the 19th Century was one who was domestic, religious, and chaste. These were virtues established by men but enforced and taught by other women. Women were also told that they were inferior to men and they should accept it and be grateful that someone just loved them.

Women in the nineteenth century lived in a time characterized by gender inequality. At the beginning of the century, women could not vote, could not be sued, were extremely limited over personal property after marriage, and were expected to remain obedient to their husbands and fathers.( women’s suffrage movement 1) In most situations, the men would have to go to work and bring home the money, and the women would have no choice but to stay home, clean the

Men, in the 19th century did not have respect for women. After the marriage, the women was consider as a "toy" and as an "animal" to men. "Essentially, the wife "belonged" to her husband. He had a right to the person and prosperity of his wife; he could use gentle restraint upon her liberty to prevent improper conduct, he could beat her without fear of persecution. Thus, it was very clear that the wife is dead in law"-Barbara Welter, The American Woman. Women had to suffer all this treatment because it was their choice. They would get marry and be financially secured or they would be single and support themselves. Most of them choose the first choice because; working was worse then some

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, women such as Loïe Fuller, Ruth St. Denis, Doris Humphrey, and others courageously rejected the constrained nature of classical ballet and challenged social norms. Fuller is a pioneering woman of modern dance because she defies gender norms by tearing off corsets, dancing with bare feet, and allowing an idea of feminist aesthetic to fuel her movements (Au 88). Rather than torturing her body into the restricted constructs of a male-designed paradigm, Fuller wore “a large piece of billowing fabric material which is an extension of physical body” (Bennahum). Just as professor Bennahum explains, “she used fabric to take herself out of the conversation about women not wearing Victoria dress.”

During the long history of science fiction, one of the most common themes is the utopia. Many feminists used utopia to convey their ideas. Two of these stories, Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and "When It Changed" by Joanna Russ portray feminist utopias in different ways. Herland shows a society lacking men, and makes this seem positive, while "When It Changed" shows an all-female society that mirrors a world with men. Through their respective stories, the authors are saying that women should be considered equal to men. Gilman points out that women should be accepted because they can survive on their own, while Russ suggests that women can be as

In the 19th century a woman's main duty was to take care of the household. They were in charge of the cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. During this time, most women didn’t work, and weren’t supposed to spend their time on getting an education. Since women couldn't get educations, they had to be married because they weren’t able to support themselves. The women were in charge of the family and house, while the man was in charge of some duties in the house and making money to support them. In the