Equality for women has been an argument for many years and unfortunately it is something that is still an argument today. As a woman, we are to continue to stand up for women’s rights and continue to bring out the inequality to the light. We are no longer only house wives with no education. We are powerful, vocal, and, bigger than a box that our society has put us in for many decades. It is our job to keep continuing the fight for equality and justice. Women’s roles in America have always been limited since before our time. It has been a fight for many years and today it seems as if we are taking steps back from the progress our ancestors have made. The uproar for women’s equality started in 1848 by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. …show more content…
Brilliance in a woman was most often always over looked by everyone. She could not be a lawyer, doctor, or anything of a government standing. (Tindall, p.207) Women were not recognized for any brilliant work they did. Instead it was over looked or a man took the credit for his own. Elizabeth Blackwell fought for many years to become a physician, instead she was mocked by many people of her time. In 1849 she was finally able to pursue her dream of being a physician, and graduated at the top of her class at Geneva Medical College (Tindall, p.207). Blackwell was taken as a joke but did not fail to prove everybody wrong. Today women are still treated unjust, we are still taken as a joke, we are still discriminated against in education, but there are many women that are independent, …show more content…
I would fight for the right to education, the right to vote, and the right to independency. In The Declaration of Sentiments; Elizabeth Cady Stanton states “He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education, all colleges being closed against her” (“Declaration of Sentiments”). This limited women’s education and independency in the late 1940’s. They were unfortunately only seen as a property and nothing more. Not a single person can really make a change without the rights to vote or without a voice to be heard. When The Declaration of Sentiments was presented to the thousands of delegates it started the first uprising of women even though it was denied (Tindall, p.206). With advocating and petitioning for equality for women, different states started to make changes for the future of women. “ The state of Mississippi was the first state to grant married women control over their property in 1839. By the 1860’s eleven more states had such laws” (Tindall, p.206). Now at a point that we are today I feel as if time is moving backwards and women are being restricted on our rights we have today. We have a lot of work that still needs to be done because there is still inequality between men and women. Many men still have the stigma that we should only be in the home and nothing more. That way of thinking needs to break and from there more changed can
In the 1840’s, most of American women were beginning to become agitated by the morals and values that were expected of womanhood. “Historians have named this the ’Cult of True Womanhood’: that is, the idea that the only ‘true’ woman was a pious, submissive wife and mother concerned exclusively with home and family” (History.com). Voting was only the right of men, but women were on the brink to let their voices be heard. Women pioneers such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott wrote eleven resolutions in The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments; this historical document demanded abolishment of any laws that authorized unequal treatment of women and to allow for passage of a suffrage amendment.
During America's early history, women were denied some of the rights to well-being by men. For example, married women couldn't own property and had no legal claim to any money that they might earn, and women hadn't the right to vote. They were expected to focus on housework and motherhood, and didn't have to join politics. On the contrary, they didn't have to be interested in them. Then, in order to ratify this amendment they were prompted to a long and hard fight; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the 19th century, some generations of women's suffrage supporters lobbied to achieve what a lot of Americans needed: a radical change of the Constitution. The movement for women's rights began to organize after 1848 at the national level. In July of that year, reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton(1815-1902) and Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), along with Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and other activists organized the first convention for women's rights at Seneca Falls, New York. More than 300 people, mostly women but also some men, attended it. Then, they raised public awar...
Sixty- nine years after the Declaration of Independence, one group of women gathered together and formed the Seneca Falls Convention. Prior and subsequent to the convention, women were not allowed to vote because they were not considered equal to men. During the convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivered the “Declaration of Sentiments.” It intentionally resembles the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal…” (Stanton, 466). She replaced the “men” with “men and women” to represent that women and men should be treated equally. Stanton and the other women in the convention tried to fight for voting rights. Dismally, when the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced to the Congress, the act failed to be passed. Even though women voiced their opinions out and urged for justice, they could not get 2/3 of the states to agree to pass the amendment. Women wanted to tackle on the voting inequalities, but was resulted with more inequalities because people failed to listen to them. One reason why women did not achieve their goals was because the image of the traditional roles of women was difficult to break through. During this time period, many people believed that women should remain as traditional housewives.
The fight for women’s rights began long before the Civil War, but the most prominent issue began after the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments joined the Constitution. The rights to all “citizens” of the United States identified all true “citizens” as men and therefore incited a revolution in civil rights for women (“The Fight for Women’s Suffrage”). The National Women’s Suffrage Convention of 1868
Since the Seneca Falls Convention, women have accomplished a lot regarding rights to vote and exercise their citizenship rights; as well it's equality to men regards the laws that rule this country. However, women are still fighting for equality and support on the work force, and therefore, still fighting to resolve some of the issues within the “Declaration of Sentiments”, over one century and half later. Let's explore further some of these statements and how they have yet to be resolved; the “Declaration of Sentiments” (1848) stated the following:
The androcentric view of history often fails to acknowledge the achievements of notable women who have made profound impacts that have revolutionized the way in which we see the world, as well as the universe. Although the modernized 21st century society is more apt to recognize the achievements of women with an equivocal perspective with men, it was not always so. During the early 20th century, women were consistently denied equality with men due to a perverse androcentric, male-dominated perspective that deemed women as subordinate and insignificant. This androcentric perspective limited the opportunities available to women at the time, leaving them only with domestic occupations that were deemed acceptable for women such as nurses, teachers or clerics. Very few women aspired for higher education, and even fewer achieved it. There were very few colleges that accepted women at the time, save for those erected for women alone. It is because of this, women rarely e...
There were many women who fought for female equality, and many who didn’t care, but eventually the feminists won the vote. Women today are still fighting for equality in the home, in the workplace, and in society as a whole, which seems like it may take centuries of more slow progress to achieve.
Susan B Anthony, one of the first women to participate in the women 's right movement said “I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand.” For a long time women were seen as inferior to men. They weren 't capable of the things that men were. They were expected to stay in the household and tend to the children. They were subjected to their own oppression and for a long time they just let it happen. That all changed when a group of women organized an event at a church in Seneca Falls. The Seneca Falls convention impacted the women’s rights movement rights by establishing the foundation arguments for the movement,
The “Declaration of Sentiments” was issued by the women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, NY in July 1848; the main goal was to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of American women. The Declaration of Sediments clearly states that all men and women are created equally, and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. It also states that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who are suffering from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government. One of the main ideas suggested here as a motive behind the women’s rights movement is the fact that women were suffering; they were not treated as they should have been treated. Women back in the day could not have a voice or say in anything. Their jobs just consisted of cooking, cleaning, etc. for their entire lives. They were not allowed to vote, or have a verbal opinion of politics, or whatever was currently going on that was important to men. However, when the “Declaration of Sentiments” was issued by the women’s rights conventions, and multiple valid points were made, it was then that people started to realize the seriousness and importance of our American women. They then reconsidered the issues and rights of the women, and gave them more freedom (slowly but surely)
There is a continuing debate worldwide regarding the topic of women’s rights and equality. Some have stronger opinions than others but in the long run it is shown that women have come a long way since the Seneca Falls convention in 1848 as well as the Civil Rights Movement in the 1920’s. Since the civil rights movement, women have struggled with religious freedom, equality, schooling, voting, stating their voice in government, and family life. Over the past generations dramatic social and legal changes have been pursued to pave the way for women’s acceptance today; changes such as affirmative action, reproductive rights, abortion, and the pursuit of higher education. Generations of women have come together to help build stronger ground to address women’s rights by participating in civil rights meetings, petition drives, lobbying, public speaking and non-violent resistance acts. Women have also overcome hardships such as rejection, isolation, discrimination, and unfair treatment in the workforce. In today’s society women now have more opportunities then ever before such as invol...
However, women desired a higher education. Elizabeth Blackwell is a prime example of women’s fight for a medical degree, one of the first STEM environments available to women. In order to kick-start her education she wrote to all of the doctors that she knew, requesting advice and help. However, most of the doctors replied that they thought it impossible, that a woman would not be able to endure the rigors of a medical education, and that they feared the competition that women doctors would bring. Elizabeth persisted, finally making her way to Philadelphia, a city famous for its study in medicine, to stay with Dr. Elder, one of the few supporters of her education. Once here she continued writing letters and actually found many friends who agreed to support her cause, but unfortunately universities were not included in this list of friends. Elizabeth then pursued an education at the University of Geneva in New York where the Medical Faculty and students agreed to accept her. While at first the university cared about the press coverage that Elizabeth’s spot would bring, she eventually established her rightful place as a student there. Although she encountered some resentment among the wives of doctors and other people living in the small town, Elizabeth ...
Women’s equality rights have a deep history in America, but women started to stand up for themselves and started the women’s rights movement around 165 years ago. According to the The Women’s Rights Movement, 1848-1920 article, “The first gathering devoted to women’s rights in the United States was held July 19–20, 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York” (The Women’s Rights Movement, 1848-1920). The main leader at this gathering was Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a feminist and mother of fo...
Women have been treated unequally since the beginning of time. Just recently have things began to change for the better for women and the future of our society. The increase in women’s equality rights will take time, but some day women and men will be treated equally. This cannot happen until each of us is able to look at a person and just see another individual, not a male or a female, white or black, rich or poor… a person as just a person.
“The history of the past is but one long struggle upward to equality,” this was stated by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a very crucial women’s suffragist. Over time, women’s history has evolved due to the fact that women were pushing for equal rights. Women were treated as less than men. They had little to no rights. The Women’s Rights Movement in the 1800’s lead up to the change in women’s rights today. This movement began in 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention. For the next 72 years, women continually fought for equal rights. In 1920, they gained the right to vote which ended the movement and opened the opportunity for more change in women’s lives. Because of the Women’s Rights Movement, women today are able to vote, receive
From the beginning of time, females have played a powerful role in the shaping of this world. They have stood by idly and watched as this country moved on without them, and yet they have demanded equal rights as the nation rolls along. Through the years the common belief has been that women could not perform as well as men in anything, but over the years that belief has been proven wrong time and time again. So as time marches on, women have clawed and fought their way up the ladder to gain much needed equal respect from the opposite sex. However, after many years of pain and suffering, the battle for equal rights has not yet been won. Since women have fought for a long time and proven their importance in society, they deserve the same rights as men.