Women's Rights From 1877 To The 1970s

For more than one hundred years’ women have been fighting for equal rights as men. Over the years’ women have organized countless committees and groups to fight for their rights. Many people may think they won in 1920 when the 19th amendment was put in place, but this piece of law did not change the countries mindset. Even with laws that state women have rights it is challenging to change a country’s way of thinking after centuries of thinking an alternative way. Although, it has been a challenging task the women never gave up and even today women fight to be viewed as equal.

The 19th century was an important period for women especially in Europe and North America. It was a crucial time for demand for change and women were at the forefront of it all. Viewed only as a homemaker, women found it difficult during this time to show society what they were capable of. Limitations on their capabilities created by gender stereotypes called for change. To understand the significance of the 19th century for women, one must consider the conditions women were living in that desperately needed reform, review the issues they were faced with, and look at the women leading for a much-needed change.

Women in the mid-1800s had nearly any rights they could not vote or hold office. If women were to get married their husband got all of the property he owned all her wages if she worked the husband could hit his wife long as it did not injure her. Women held many rallies and other events to try and get equal right. The Women's Rights Movement allowed women a chance to go to college and other schooling opportunities. Finally women got the same jobs as men they got paid the same they owned all of their property and wages.

Darkness reigned over America as women fought for their freedom. Women suffered from discrimination based on gender for decades, always subordinate to men. This led to protests across the nation during the Progressive Era, and started a 72 year long dispute. After years of discrimination, an amendment finally passed in the states granting women more freedoms and less gender discrimination. Due to the change, America was led into a better future. The Nineteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was finally passed which legalized women’s right to vote and created a voice for women.

Since the early 1800’s women began to fight for their rights. They began to get tired of their everyday life and decided to change things up. They began with wanting to be seen as equals with the men. They wanted to work and make their own money. But most of all they wanted to vote.

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

Women have historically had a rocky relationship with governmental, cultural, religious, and social rights. The Women’s Rights movement has been in effect since approximately 1792, with the publication of the first feminist work, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, by British writer Mary Wollstonecraft” (“Women’s Rights Movement”). While social changes have occurred and more progressive laws have been put into place throughout the years, there is still not equality between the sexes. Additionally, gender roles in different countries differ greatly. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the major causes and concerns of the Women’s Rights movements throughout the decades, as well as denote the differences between more progressive societies and their less accepting counterparts.

In terms of having rights in the 20th century, women were very limited. They were mostly considered as housekeepers, mothers, spouses, and could not be equal to men. The main goal of this segment is to illustrate women Abolitionism. After many researches into their background, women in the early 1900 where useless in the society and to gain their equality, they went into a serious battlefield which caused a civil right movement just to meet their goals.

In colonial America, most positions of power outside the family were available only to property-owning men, and this carried on in American culture for generations to come. After the creation of the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave African American men the right to vote, feminist leaders such as Stanton and Susan B. Anthony set out to expand woman suffrage. “Anthony attempted to vote in 1872, but was arrested, found guilty, and fined.” The fact that Anthony was punished for trying to vote shows that America betrayed its core values at this point in history. If “all men are created equal, and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, woman should have had the right to vote long before the 1900s. “During World War I, the support for woman suffrage increased due to the progressive movement and inspired many suffragists to focus exclusively on the federal government's failure to approve a woman suffrage amendment.” The right for women to vote was finally approved by congress in 1919, and the Nineteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution on August 26, 1920. The fact that women were denied the right to vote goes again all of what America stands for; therefor this amendment was long

To declare that the women’s rights movement in the United States failed to accomplish its goals in the early-mid nineteenth century because the slavery issue was never resolved is an invalid statement. Aimed to eradicate gender discrimination and change traditional societal values of women (gaining more legal rights), the women’s rights movement was overshadowed by the anti-slavery movement. (not true – they were successful). The Abolitionist Movement pledged to eliminate slavery and free all African American slaves. It was largely a male-dominated reform effort, however, many women publicly supported this movement. For those women involved in the abolitionist movement, they started to draw similarities between their own personal lives and the lives of slaves. Women and slaves “were expected to be passive, cooperative, and obedient. In addition, the legal status of both slaves and women were unequal to that of white men.” In the early-mid nineteenth century, women began to demand change in American society, as they challenged the traditional roles of women

The late 1800’s in America life for woman was not as easy or fulfilling as it is for woman in America today. Women were looked at differently than man, and were treated as such. There have been many women in our past that have helped shape who we are as women today. Many groups have contributed to women’s rights as well. Women were not allowed to do a lot of things we as women are allowed to do today. Women in the late 1800’s in America were treated indifferently because: they were refused the right to vote, they were treated differently than men, and in marriage they had separate spheres than the men.

In the late nineteenth century, women were beginning to take a stand for their equal rights in society. The term “new woman” was used to describe these women, openly proclaiming their independence from men. It was a woman’s way to threaten the conventional ideas of society, and to bring about their own changes (Buzwell). Following their well-known suffrage movement, women claimed their freedom sexually, physically, and in the workplace. For many years’ prior, women were expected to be the typical housewife, watching over the house, cooking, and cleaning. They were property of their husbands. During their equal rights revolution, women pursued careers like doctors or lawyers and fulfilling their sexual desires for purposes other than bearing children. As today’s society may never know the struggles and misfortunes during the Victorian era, Dracula leaves a time capsule behind to elaborate on the realities during such a prominent generation (Podonsky). Considering this given criteria, a new woman comes in a variety of forms; some women represent a stronger sexual desire while others demonstrate character traits on equality in work and education. In the case of Dracula, the two main female characters take two different forms; one blatantly sexual and one chaste (Humphrey). Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula portrays the ideas of a “new woman” in a modern society, utilizing Mina’s and Lucy’s characters to display opposite characteristics of the feminist movement which draw attention to

During the Progressive Era, there was a rise in advocates for various issues of the period. A prime example of a progressive advocate is Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who through her writing encouraged more social, political, and economic rights for women. Gilman specifically advocated for women to not only participate in their domestic duties but for women to also serve as active members of society; both politically and financially. To convey these points, Gilman wrote and published many books that illustrated the issues to the public and started conversations and controversies which brought more attention to women’s rights. In her works, Gilman consistently advocated for economic power for women; however, she supported women being involved and equal in every aspect of society; including having the same domestic power and rights as their husbands, women’s suffrage to match male counterparts, and the ability for women to be financially independent and self-supporting. Gilman’s writings acted as a significant part of the women’s rights movement during the Progressive Era by bringing the controversial issues to the public eye.

Women’s rights have not always been the way they are now. They have changed majorly throughout time. During the 1900s and 1920s, women were not able to vote, have the same education, or be employed at the same rate men were. Many women throughout history have come together to participate in rallies, marches, and protests with the purpose of being able to gain the same rights as men.

The 1920s was an era of rapid change and major success for the American people. Many factors such as women’s rights contributed to the advancement of America. The 1920s was a age of social and political change that embodied the beginning of modern America by presenting “Lost Generation” literature and innovative technologies such as the Model T Ford.