Womans Essay, Research Paper

Abstract/Introduction

The manner in which adult females are seen today, in America, is really different

from the manner they were seen two hundred old ages ago. Back so adult females were non allowed

to talk every bit frequently as they would hold liked to. They were expected to be care-givers, have

and raise kids, and do household responsibilities such as cleansing and cookery for the household.

Basically that was a adult females s typical function, work forces were invariably seen as being manner above

adult females, so therefore they would ever be the 1s who commanded or had the concluding

word in what would be done. Womans were seen as inactive and weak, and non as able to

accomplish physically or mentally all that work forces could.

This is in complete contrast from the manner in which society sees adult females today. In

this state adult females have the ability and pick to make their ain lives, ain concerns,

go what they ve ever dreamed, talk their heads, or equilibrate a household and a

calling. If we put in the attempt we are able to carry through all a adult male can carry through, or

possibly even more. It is of import to look back upon history and value the actions taken

by adult females in the 19th and twentieth century to acquire society to where we are today. It is besides

important that we look at the events that took topographic point, because the advancement that adult females have

made has been due to the manner adult females fought for their rights, and the fortunes that

came our manner.

Womans in America, Social Change and The Legal System

It all started back in the revolutionist epoch which brought adult females duty

because work forces were off at war. Women found themselves capable of pull offing

families, concerns, and estates. But when the work forces returned place, more frequently than

non, adult females were expected to return to their original functions. Because of the new

innovations and the new agencies of communicating throughout the 1800 & # 8217 ; s, adult females were

given more clip to fight for their cause. The post-war coevals came with food-

canning, the telephone, gas light, the Linotype machine, which made office work

easier for adult females, and the bike which opened the door for more comfy apparels,

railwaies besides made travel more easy. These innovations decidedly gave adult females more

clip, and made adult females s lives easier. Women s magazines besides gave adult females a voice and

character, for the first clip people became interested in what adult females were believing and

making as individuals alternatively of merely homemakers. As the century progressed more and more

colleges began to accept adult females, hence enabling adult females to go educated and

obtain resources that would do them leaders, authors, poets, and so on.

These alterations besides brought adult females to new realisations. It stirred adult females up, and

gave them the desire to be heard and acknowledged. July, 1848 brought five adult females

together, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Martha Wright, Jane Hunt, and Mary

Ann McClintock. This group met for a societal afternoon in Seneca Falls to discourse the

legion grudges suffered by adult females. The Seneca Falls Women s Right Convention

took topographic point on July 18th and 19th in 1848. These five adult females had written up a Declaration

of Women s Rights and displayed it to the 1000s of adult females who showed up for the

first convention, and the conventions that were to follow. From these conventions

1000000s of adult females were inspired and decided to fall in the motion, one of these was

Susan B. Anthony.

Susan B. Anthony joined Mrs. Stanton in runs by request and bombarded

the province legislative assembly with signatures of 1000000s of adult females who wanted their rights. ( 1850-

1920 ) Susan B. Anthony besides organized the aggregation of four hundred 1000

signatures pressing the transition of the 13th Amendment which would get rid of bondage. Susan

B. Anthony was an influential leader in the Women s Movement, every bit good as the Civil

Rights Movement and encouraged others to make similarly.

When the Civil War began, the motion was put on clasp temporarily. Angstrom

adult female s function became that of nurse, dressmaker, husbandman, worker, and so on. About four

100 adult females enlisted themselves to contend in the war as work forces. Some adult females went in

disguised, and fought for our state without being recognized. When the war was

eventually over, and veterans returned to their families many adult females lost the occupations they had

taken over, and if their hubbies or boies had been killed at war they were left without

money, places, or ownerships. With all of this traveling on Susan B. Anthony organized

The New York Working Women s Protective Union in 1868, this brotherhood was made to

protect adult females against unjust patterns and employers.

In 1870 the adult females s suffrage motion continued on deadlock when the 15th

Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. It gave the right to vote to all work forces

irrespective of race. Although work forces of different races, chiefly black had been given the

right to vote, and this was a measure frontward, black and white adult females had still been denied

equality. This angered many adult females, particularly those who were leaders of the

motion, some felt discouraged while others felt even more divine to set their all

frontward for the cause.

From this convulsion two adult females s right to vote groups were formed. Miss Anthony and

Mrs. Stanton formed the Woman Suffrage Association, and the more conservative Lucy

Rock formed the American Women Suffrage Association in Cleveland. Lucy Stone felt

she wanted the right to vote, nevertheless a adult female s topographic point needed to stay behind her adult male,

and in the place. She was non for equality, but felt that adult females should be encouragers of

peace therefore they needed the ballot to carry through this. Finally in 1890, these two

groups combined. Compromise was cardinal here, the groups felt they would carry through

more together than individually so both Stanton and Stone found common land. As

adult females from England came over, they were more abrupt in their combat. Because the

14th Amendment stated that no province shall do or implement any jurisprudence which shall foreshorten

the privileges or unsusceptibilities of citizens of the United States the adult females from England, as

good as some from here claimed themselves to be citizens, hence they attempted

to vote under this amendment. It worked in New Jersey for a short piece, but the New

Jersey legislative assembly passed a new fundamental law that would non let these adult females to

continue to vote under the 14th Amendment.

World War I began on April 16, 1917 and adult females s lives began to alter

drastically. Many suffragists continued with their attempts to win the ballot, nevertheless many

adult females turned their attempts into obtaining peace. Some did non like the thought of the

state being at war one time once more, and directing their loved 1s off over seas was a

hard thing. Other adult females reacted otherwise, they found war occupations enabling them to

brand rewards that they had ne’er made before on topographic points like farms, war workss, or

car companies. It became normal to see a adult female being merely every bit successful as a

adult male in these occupations that were chiefly looked at as work forces s work. An of import result

of holding adult females come ining these occupations was that the authorities established a Women in

Industry Service in June of 1918. This invited adult females to function on the Women s

Committee of the united States Council of Defense. The motion seemed to be doing

more and more advancement as the months rolled by.

By 1920, much advancement in the Women s Right Movement had been made.

Womans had been granted the right to talk in public, attest in tribunal, and preach from

the dais, entree to equal instruction, control of personal rewards and belongings, legal

detention of kids and entryway into some professions and right to vote. The first four provinces

to give adult females the right to vote were Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho. On May 21,

1919 the House of Representatives passed the Federal Woman Suffrage Amendment ;

originally the 16th Amendment, but now the 19th. Womans were really excited about their

new political power and the National American Woman Suffrage Association was turned

into the National League of Women Voters. Many adult females p

lanned to travel along with the

bing political system, but in 1923 one adult female by the name of Alice Paul planned a

whole new system of equality. At the seventy-fifth day of remembrance of the Seneca Falls Convention,

she reread the Declaration of Rights of Sentiments and proposed a new amendment

claiming that Men and Women shall hold equal rights throughout the United States and

every topographic point topic to its legal power. In the first two old ages of the 1920 & # 8217 ; s adult females

seemed to revolt.

Socially adult females s dressing changed due to the fact that working in a war works

have oning immense skirts was impossible, so adult females changed into overalls and breechess as

good as cutting their hair, this gave adult females a new expression, besides giving them a new liberated

image. Dances such as the Charleston and bunny clinch became really popular among

adolescent misss during the 20 & # 8217 ; s. Their skirts went from being down to their mortise joints to being

above the articulatio genus, and it wasn t rare to hear about make outing in the back place of household autos.

Womans besides daringly began imbibing spirits and some went even every bit far as smoke

coffin nails. The fad of Hollywood and theatre besides began during this clip, and adult females

took functions in composing award-winning dramas, novels, poesy, and short narratives. Womans

besides became actresses, and were extremely admired for their beauty. The innovation of the

wireless gave adult females a voice in society, going besides became more gettable so it wasn T

excessively long before adult females began going overseas to Paris or other states to prosecute

their dreams. At this clip in history adult females besides began to fall in athleticss, and pattern

often to go successful in sports. On August 6, 1926 Gertrude Ederle was the

foremost adult female to swim the English Channel, and she did it in less than 14 hours,

which broke the male record. Courage in the field of air power was demonstrated by

Amelia Earhart in 1932 when she became the first adult female to wing a topographic point across the

Atlantic. This was a great and progressive clip for adult females, but on October 24, 1929 the

stock market crashed which began the Great Depression of the 1930 & # 8217 ; s.

Two adult females stood out during this clip of lost prosperity, First Lady Eleanor

Roosevelt and Secretary of Labor Francis Perkins. Many people became stateless

because they could non pay their rent, they had lost their occupations since railwaies, industry,

and Bankss were going insolvent. Peoples throughout the United States became

hopeless and discouraged. Along came Eleanor Roosevelt who traveled across the

state conveying good will and reassurance to people everyplace by listening,

apprehension, and merely caring. Miss Perkins was assigned to office by President

Roosevelt in 1933. She expanded the Bureau of Labor statistics and made it possible

to explicate labour statute law acceptable to everyone concerned.

Once once more adult females took over work forces s work when World War II began, and the

depression ended. This clip over 260,000 adult females enlisted to fall in the war, and the 1s

who stayed place either continued to work towards peace or joined the Civil Defense

Plan which would supply first assistance or community organisation. After this war

adult females were one time once more forced out of occupations they had taken over, or merely volitionally gave

them up because society continued to see a adult females s topographic point in the place. Many

adult females returned from war and were bombarded with magazines that showed adult females as

buyers of contraptions, detergents, cosmetics, and house-cleaning merchandises which

would one time once more place them in the place. Womans who were fantastic married womans and

female parents were the 1s who were non preoccupied with universe intimacies or callings. At this

point the homemaker began to experience trapped. She realized that she was populating in a Man s

World where work forces made the Torahs and ran the state. Some reforms needed to be made

because adult females wanted to experience and be seen as peers.

The Kennedy Commission on the Status of Women was headed by Eleanor

Roosevelt in 1961, and was formed to convey about alteration so that adult females could experience like

citizen s of the province. At this point the Equal Pay Act of 1963 needed equal wage for work forces

and adult females for equal work performed on equal conditions. President Kennedy began to

support adult females s cause and with that came the adding of sex to race, colour, faith,

and national beginning in the Civil Rights Bill in Title VII.

By June 1966 the National Organization of Women was formed, and continues to

exist today doing certain that equality takes topographic point among sexes. In the 1970 & # 8217 ; s Sexual

favoritism instances began to come up in federal tribunals. Under the Equal Pay Act over

30,000 adult females employees were found to hold been underpaid by more than $ 18 million.

Finally all sections of society including churches, industry, universities, Bankss,

magazines, and advertizers began re-examining policies towards adult females. Membership

in labour brotherhoods increased by 333,000 from 1970 to 1972, adult females were determined to take

a base against any sort of sexual favoritism.

Sexism in text editions and kids s books besides came under fire, what had usually

been used, such as he to embrace both genders was no longer seen. In school misss

were being granted the chance to play athleticss with the male childs and vie against

one another. Finally on March 22, 1974 the transition of the Equal Rights Amendment

took topographic point. Besides in March of 1974 A Alliance of Labor Union Women was formed with

adult females from 58 labour brotherhoods fall ining together to do a base against sexual

favoritism, and to work toward more policy-making places in brotherhoods, towards

statute law to supply kid attention installations, and to promote more adult females to fall in.

From 1974 to today alterations continues to happen, and adult females continued to contend

for equality. Today adult females work aboard work forces in occupations runing from school instructors to

truck drivers, vino shapers, telephone line crew adult females, Equus caballus trainers, city managers, minsters,

and governors. Although it took a long clip to obtain this position, adult females eventually pulled it

away. We live in a state where equality among sexes and races is emphasized and

protected. There still is a batch of work to be done though, the bulk of the offices in

authorities continue to be male-dominated, and it is frequently seen that work forces are more

likely to be foremans, directors, or in a leading place. Percentage-wise adult females are

besides more likely to raise and pass more clip with kids, do more family jobs,

and be the 1s who put a clasp on their callings to concentrate on the household. Although adult females

bashs have their callings, they are still expected to be good care-givers and married womans. Where

adult females are today can be looked at from both places ; how much we ve accomplished,

and yet how much there still continues to be done.

Decision

Womans are seen really otherwise today from the manner they were looked at

two hundred old ages ago. Today adult females voice their sentiments, have callings, travel where

they want to travel, and do what they want to make. Womans have taken control of their ain

lives, and are able to do their ain determinations. Although there continues to be a batch

of outlooks for adult females, and some functions have remained the same, overall adult females have

broken away from being weak, naif, or inactive and gone into being independent,

intelligent, and powerful.

It was a long, difficult battle for adult females to obtain equal rights, but equal

rights were obtained because adult females ever kept their eyes on the cause and ne’er

gave up. It is really admirable to see the manner in which adult females like Susan B. Anthony,

Alice Paul, Mrs. Stanton, and Eleanor Roosevelt had a cause and they stuck with it.

Although these are the names we are familiar with when we think of the motion, it

is really of import to besides retrieve those adult females who were ne’er mentioned, yet

supported the cause with much energy. The same type of spirit continues to be today

as we see adult females equilibrating callings and a household life. This is non an easy undertaking, yet many

adult females pull it off fabulously, and if it wasn T for those adult females back in the twenty-four hours, we

would non even acquire a alteration to try that balance.