Women 's Struggle For Equal Rights

Women have been fighting the fight for women’s rights for a long time. In fact, evidence can be traced back centuries of women’s desire for equality. Specifically, women have fought for their rights in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Women have always been fighting for their rights for voting, the right to have an abortion, equal pay as men, being able to joined the armed forces just to name a few. The most notable women’s rights movement was headed in Seneca Falls, New York. The movement came to be known as the Seneca Falls convention and it was lead by women’s rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton during July 19th and 20th in 1848. Stanton created this convention in New York because of a visit from Lucretia Mott from Boston. Mott was a Quaker who was an excellent public speaker, abolitionist and social reformer. She was a proponent of women’s rights. The meeting lasted for only two days and was compiled of six sessions, which included lectures on law, humorous

During the time of the French Revolution, yet distinct from the political revolt against the Bourgeoise, the women of France took up a revolution of social nature against the established patriarchy. Olympe de Gouges, the author of a piece entitled "Declaration of the Rights of Women," applied the same claims to women as the National Assembly had claimed for themselves in "Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen." Statements like "Woman is born free and lives equal to man in her rights.," and "The purpose of any political association is the conservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of woman and man; these rights are liberty property, security, and especially resistance to oppression." 5 exposed the irony of the French political revolution by demonstrating that while the National Assembly had claimed equality for men, they had not also effected it for

Throughout history, battles and wars have been fought to gain some type of rights or freedoms. In 1775, the American Revolutionary War was fought for independence; In 1865, the American Civil War was fought to end slavery. Although no wars were fought, many battles were waged for women 's rights. The struggle for women 's rights begin in the mid-late 1800s at a time when women were not allowed to vote or own property. Women, as with African-Americans, during this period were not recognized as having any legal and political rights as men and whites, respectively. This attitude towards women, at the time, was ascribed to the “gender rules in the 1700s” where men thought of “women as fragile creatures always in need of male protection and always denied access to the public sphere." (Lecture 2, 6:19). If women wanted to gain their individualism, rights, and freedoms they were entitle to; they would have to unite and create opportunities to do so. The inequalities women faced was the foundation of the Women 's Suffrage Movement and many other organizations in support of women.

This investigation has enabled me to gain a perception into some of the techniques used by certain historians, as well as to the difficult task that historians encounter when undertaking historical investigations. I feel I have developed the skill of critically and carefully analyzing sources which is essential in the study of history. In order to carry out this investigation, I read books by well-known and praised historians on the subject of women’s rights and analyzed statistical evidence.

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,

Eyes on the Prize, is about how our African American people fought to have equal rights. They went through harsh times striving for their goal. The goal was to end segregation. I believe that they were slowly attaining their goal by: starting boycotts, refusing to get up at lunch counters, and fighting for integration in schools.

The Women’s Rights Movement inspires me to write because it was a very memorable part of history that effected a large portion of the population. I feel very passionate that we have the partial equality now and even though this event happened from1848 to 1920 we are still struggling with some of the same equalities and stereotypes in today’s age. Not many people believe that even in the 21st century there are still women who only believe the women’s job is to cook and clean for the husband all day but they are. Since America has a lot of immigrants many of these women come to America and barley know anything of the culture here. When women can be independent from their husbands they learn that they do not need to remain in a loveless marriage

The women’s rights movement was about making equal rights for both men and women. Starting in 1848 and ending 1920, allowing women to vote. Even though women are able to vote, we still don't have full equal rights, meaning men are still superior to us women. For example, people see women as weak figures and think we need help from men. Many women  protested in order for us to have equal rights.

From the beginning, women have been the ones to stay at home, cook, clean, and raise the children; since then, women stepped out of their comfort zones and made a voice for themselves. As the skirts came up, the women came out; voicing opinions was a new norm and women’s rights was a huge item throughout the entire decade. The 19th Amendment was ratified by Congress, which granted women the right to vote. This was a huge milestone in the Women's Rights Movement.

It is inspiring to see how hard women went to get equal rights and try to acquire the same rights men had. Women had tried hard to get colleges, then after colleges they tried hard to get jobs that were becoming men dominated such as doctors. Women in the 1840’s also defied the odds and started working outside the homes. Women were seen as the ones who stood in houses and took care of the house and children while the men went out to work. The women who defied those odds must have been very brave. It was also inspiring to read that women were helping women and giving them the help other women needed. That doesn’t happen very much in 2015, women seem to be more to themselves and some are even self-centered. The Grimke sisters were also inspiring.

Since 1848, women have been trying to fight for equal rights. Today women still do not have equal rights to men. Women have been fighting for equal rights so women can have a fair pay in jobs and the same education as men.

Olympe de Gouges, a playwright of France at the time of the Revolution, spoke for not only herself however several of the women of France, when in 1791 she herself wrote and publicized the "Declaration of the Rights of woman and of the Citizen” .

Many women were involved in the uncertainty of women's rights during the French Revolution between the years of 1789 and 1804. Exploration of the unfolding struggles of France managed to turn my head in the direction of woman's rights more than once in my discovery. Perhaps because of the persistence of the women during this time period and their straight forwardness in their mission, was I so determined to see a positive progression in the fulfillment of their needs. "Even during a revolutionary time like this, equal rights for women seemed out of reach. Women had to struggle for a position in the revolution" (Ajaibu 2001, 1).

The French Revolution led to reconsidering women’s place in society because the idea of the French Revolution was to find new ways to govern a society. Pre-revolutionary, the social norms for women was to stay home, take care of the children, and be dependent on their husband. Although women had some form of political rights, they were insignificant compared to men. During the French Revolution, women hoped that there would be social, political and economic change away from social norms, but it is seen that women were still experiencing inequality. Feminists like de Olympe de Gouges and Marquis de Condorcet had such difficulty persuading men to recognize women as equals. Even with the influence of ideas of the Enlightenment period, women’s rights were still ignored due to the perception of women being unfit in politics and being more fit in the role of a mother and a wife. The Declaration Rights of Women (1791), published by Olympe de Gouges, challenged the social norms and countered the declaration for men. Soon after, women again were backlashed for trying to obtain rights after Napoleon came into power.