S. Constitution to include women's rights in the document. Over and above, abolitionist women drew parallels between the conditions of slavery and those of women. Anti-slavery activist Angelina Grimke wrote in 1836:
"The investigation of the rights of the slave has led me to a better understanding of my own."
That growing understanding of the conditions of women led to the holding of the first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls in New York in 1848 (Guianoulis 2002). In their Declaration of Sentiments, the women progenitors demanded equality in law with men, education and the right to vote. But their disadvantaged status did not progress very much. The middle class woman continued to confront a dilemma, which was captured by Betty Friedan in her powerful book, "The Feminine Mystique," published in 1963. This book marked the second wave of feminism, which expressed the deep longing of the women and girls for a more meaningful role than cheerleaders and helpmates of men and caretakers of their children. Women put in their minds and resources in developing an ideology of women's liberation. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion and national origin. Women began forming consciousness-raising groups that discussed specific concerns. The isolation of women began to tear down. This gradually replaced the previous competition and mistrust placed upon them by the traditional patriarchal society. Betty Friedan and her associates formed the National Organization for Women or NOW in 1966, which threatened males from diverse sectors laughed at and belittled. The feminists responded by declaring that "the personal is political (as qtd in Guianoulis)," the phrase that became the very basis of the women's liberation movement. It meant that every individual life has political meaning and each individual personal action requires and entails responsibility. By the early 70s, the NOW had more than 400 chapters all over the U.S., working to change laws oppressive to women and to raise their consciousness about their own and separate potential. One consequence was Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibited sex discrimination in all federally-funded education programs. It was an act, which promised to revolutionize women's education. The following year, the landmark Supreme Court decision in Roe v Wade made legal abortions available to women throughout the U.S. And put an end to decades of dangerous and traumatic illegal abortions and unwanted pregnancies and childbirths (Guianoulis).
Women of color and working-class women also had to fight for their place in the women's liberation movement of the late 70s (Guianoulis 2002). Although the movement was started and built around the largely white university-educated women, working-class women and women of color were more affected by the issues raised and sponsored by the movement. These included pay and advancement at work, abortion and birth control within the body, and domestic abuse. This led the white feminist leaders to confront their racial and class biases. The advances made or gained by the efforts of the movement in the 70s appeared negated by those of the 80s....
Foundation An extensive period in US history has witnessed specific segments of the nation's population (such as females, Blacks, etc.) deprived of voting rights. The female suffrage movement or struggle for winning voting rights for females continued throughout the major part of the 1800s and into the early 1900s[footnoteRef:1]. While a few states allowed female participation in elections, both as contesters and voters, before the 19th Amendment's enforcement, its ratification on
19th Amendment Suffrage was another important issue that women struggled with in the 19th and early 20th century. The inability to cast their vote was evidence of the fact that they had been victims of patriarchic society. Their second-grade citizens status was however completely unacceptable to some dynamic souls even in the 19th century when most women were not even allowed active participation in the workforce. The early suffragists however understood
14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments of the United States Constitution took quite a long time to be fully realized for a number of reasons. The principle one, of course, is that the U.S. was designed to operate as a patriarchal, Anglo-Saxon-based society to benefit its principle citizens, white males. A cursory review of the recent court decision in which a Hispanic white male shot and killed an unarmed African-American
Amendment XIX Enactment of Amendment XIX and its contribution to the achievement of equal female rights The enactment of the 19th amendment empowered women on many fronts. They were allowed to vote and consequently seized the opportunity to influence political decisions. The enactment saw the legalization of contraception and even abortion. There was economic empowerment too in the process. The more common availability of reproductive services and education doors increasingly opening up,
Women's Isolation Despite representing half of the human population, until very recently women were not afforded the same rights and freedoms as men. Furthermore, in much of the world today women remain marginalized, disenfranchised, and disempowered, and even women in the United States continue to face undue discrimination, whether in the workplace, at home, or in popular culture. However, this should not be taken as a disregarding of the hard-fought accomplishments
Women The sphere of women's work had been strictly confined to the domestic realm, prior to the Industrial Revolution. Social isolation, financial dependence, and political disenfranchisement characterized the female experience prior to the twentieth century. The suffrage movement was certainly the first sign of the dismantling of the institutionalization of patriarchy, followed by universal access to education, and finally, the civil rights movement. Opportunities for women have gradually unfolded since the
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now