Feminism has transferred an impact on the American society. Some of the benefits include restructured views on careers, schooling, and privileges women obtain. The women’s movement was the main triumphant movement of the 1960s and 1970s (Epstein 125). However, without the victory of the movement nothing would be the same as it is these days. In conclusion, women vision themselves differently now then what they did thirty years ago (Epstein 125).
For instance, women pursue infinite amounts of career options that they would have been deprived of in the past. For example, in 2008, Governor Sarah Palin was running as Senator John McCain’s vice presidential candidate (Baxter Paragraph 1). Because of the women’s movement, women like Sarah Palin strive to make the most of it. Possibly someday, in the future, the president could be a female. Women make up four-teen percent of the active duty military force (Velasquez 7).Without that four-teen percent the armed forces could be outnumbered. Women worked their way up to being able to shield their county in a benefitting way. On the other hand, there are more women applying for positions in medical schools all across the country (Chambers Paragraph 1). Any career can be possessed by women these days. In other words, the movement allowed men and women the option to follow their career preferences. Without the women’s movement, women would have been deprived of a prosperous future in a fascinating profession of their choosing.
Additionally, over the years women have progressed in their educational studies. For instance, women currently make up fifty-seven percent of all college students (Marklein Paragraph 2). This proves that women are competent of succeeding and accomplishing more than men. As a result, women have gained the freedom to be able to strive for a degree and be able to be independent. Almost one in four women earns a bachelor’s degree compared to one in seven men (Hechinger Paragraph 2). Women have traveled along way from not even being able to attempt working for an education. Without working women America would have a hard time advancing and keeping up with work demands. Besides, women compromise forty-six percent of the total United States labor force (Perkins 1).This is a testament that women are no longer being discriminated against in any aspect of life.
The once male dominated, corporate, "white collar" America has seen a phenomenal influx of women within the last thirty years. Although a female lawyer, physician, or CEO is no longer considered a rarity in our times, women still face quite a deal of oppression in comparison to their male counterparts. In retrospect, some professions have always been controlled by women, and men have not made a noticeable advance in these fields. In 1970, finding a female lawyer to represent you would be a difficult task, since less than five percent of the profession were women. Today, that number has risen to almost thirty percent. The percentage of female doctors has almost tripled in the course of thirty years. African Americans have not made such a conspicuous progression within the last fifty years, while women have made a tremendous impact on the corporate world. One may wonder, how did women make these extraordinary advances? For the most part, it is due to the education they receive. At the present time young girls are encouraged to enroll in classes dealing with math and science, rather than home economics and typing. As pointed out by Nanette Asimov, in her essay "Fewer Teen Girls Enrolling in Technology Classes", school officials are advocating the necessity of advanced placement, and honor classes for teenage girls, in both the arts and sciences. This support and reassurance than carries over onto college, and finds a permanent fixture in a woman’s life. While women are continuing their success in once exclusively male oriented professions, they are still lacking the respect and equality from their peers, coworkers, and society. The average male lawyer, and doctor make twenty-five percent more money than their female equivalent. Women have always lived with the reputation of being intellectually inferior to, and physically submissive to men. This medieval, ignorant notion is far fetched from the truth. In 1999, high school men and women posted similar SAT scores, being separated by a only a few points. In addition to posting similar scores on the SAT, the average males score was a mere two-tenths of a point higher than an average females score on the ACT. Even though a woman maybe as qualified as a male for a certain occupation , women receive unwanted harassment, and are under strict scrutiny. A good illustration of this would be the women represented in "Two Women Cadets Leave the Citadel.
To begin with, there are many events in United States history that have shaped our general understanding of women’s involvement in economics, politics, the debates of gender and sexuality, and so forth. Women for many centuries have not been seen as a significant part of history, however under thorough analyzation of certain events, there are many women and woman-based events responsible for the progressiveness we experience in our daily lives as men, women, children, and individuals altogether. Many of these events aid people today to reflect on the treatment of current individuals today and to raise awareness to significant issues that were not resolved or acknowledged in the past.
For several decades, most American women occupied a supportive, home oriented role within society, outside of the workplace. However, as the mid-twentieth century approached a gender role paradigm occurred. The sequence of the departure of men for war, the need to fill employment for a growing economy, a handful of critical legal cases, the Black Civil Rights movement seen and heard around the nation, all greatly influenced and demanded social change for human and women’s rights. This momentous period began a social movement known as feminism and introduced a coin phrase known in and outside of the workplace as the “wage-gap.”
The role of American women has changed significantly from the time the nation was born, to the modern era of the 1950s and 1960s. Many people, "... believed that women's talent and energies ... would be put to the better [use] in the new republic." (Clinton 3) Clearly showing that society has seen the importance of the women's talents and that their skills can be very useful, exploited this and thus, the change of the women's role was inevitable. Society has understood that the roles of women played an important role on all parts of life.
But when the “Women’s Movement,” is referred to, one would most likely think about the strides taken during the 1960’s for equal treatment of women. The sixties started off with a bang for women, as the Food and Drug Administration approved birth control pills, President John F. Kennedy established the President's Commission on the Status of Women and appointed Eleanor Roosevelt as chairwoman, and Betty Friedan published her famous and groundbreaking book, “The Feminine Mystique” (Imbornoni). The Women’s Movement of the 1960’s was a ground-breaking part of American history because along with African-Americans another minority group stood up for equality, women were finished with being complacent, and it changed women’s lives today.
In the 1960’s women were still seen as trophies and were beginning to be accepted into the work industry. They were still homemakers, raised the family, and made sure their husbands were happy. That was the social norms for women during that time period. They were not held to high work expectations like men were. But something amazing happened that would change women 's lives for centuries; it was the 1970’s. The 60’s put the equality movement in motion but 70’s was a time of reform where women were finally able to control their own paths. Not only was the 70’s a historical marker for the fiftieth anniversary for women suffrage, it was also a marker for the drastic change of different social norms, the changes of the American Dream, and the
When women chose to venture into the working force, they could only attain menial jobs. Nevertheless, some women chose to go one step further.
In conclusion, if women are brave enough to destroy their own barriers and are with people that really help them, women can attain successful in the workplace; moreover, they will see less sexism in their workplace. In the past, women fought for the right to vote, and they fought for civil rights. Now, women and other people can fight to eliminate discrimination against women in the workplace. The United States fought for the right to eliminate discrimination many times such as after the Civil War and the World War II, and now as a country people have to fight to eliminate the discrimination against women in order to be called “The country of Freedom and Civil Rights.”
The focus of The Women’s Liberation Movement was idealized off The Civil Rights Movement; it was founded on the elimination of discriminary practices and sexist attitudes (Freeman, 1995). Although by the 1960s women were responsible for one-third of the work force, despite the propaganda surrounding the movement women were still urged to “go back home.” However the movement continued to burn on, and was redeveloping a new attitude by the 1970s. The movement was headed by a new generation that was younger and more educated in politics and social actions. These young women not only challenged the gender role expectations, but drove the feminist agenda that pursued to free women from oppression and male authority and redistribute power and social good among the sexes (Baumgardner and Richards, 2000).
A woman’s role in American society has been progressive, yet challenging over the decades. Battling the change of America’s once male dominated society, to a nation where the gender role is equally balanced. Within the nation, it struggles with viewing women as equivalent in the workplace, family life, and economically. While we have improved since the colonial times and the 1900’s, we still have further progress to procreate towards to providing stability and equality of women’s financial, working, and family needs.
Throughout history, women have remained subordinate to men. Subjected to the patriarchal system that favored male perspectives, women struggled against having considerably less freedom, rights, and having the burdens society placed on them that had been so ingrained the culture. This is the standpoint the feminists took, and for almost 160 years they have been challenging the “unjust distribution of power in all human relations” starting with the struggle for equality between men and women, and linking that to “struggles for social, racial, political, environmental, and economic justice”(Besel 530 and 531). Feminism, as a complex movement with many different branches, has and will continue to be incredibly influential in changing lives.
...o become professionals in all business and personal aspects of life. Today, we see women working in all work fields including, lawyers, engineers, doctors, etc. Although, they still faced some type of discrimination especially when it comes to wages, they have achieved what they were trying to achieve many years ago. After the women’s right movement, some privileges such as voting rights, no discrimination of jobs, and equal pay in jobs have been put in the same level as men in today’s society. Actually, we now see men being the “housewives” and the children caretakers while their wives are the ones to work and bring the money to the family. That is how much impact women have in today’s society. People didn’t realize that what a men was capable of doing so could a women. We can now express how women are free and how they were taken for granted in the earlier years.
A women's role has changed tremendously and is making its greatest impact in our society today. Many years ago, women's contribution to society was limited and controlled by men. Women are standing tall and are playing a major role in many important areas. Women's role has changed at an accelerating rate and have part in areas such as Politics, Professional Training Jobs, Medicine,Business and Law. Formerly they were not part of any political matter, but they have advanced in many aspects. For example, women have attained power and have been growing in political office.
What does feminism mean? Is it a dirty word that creates images of angry women refusing to shave their legs? That is nowhere near what feminism is; it is a belief that all people—male, female, or non-binary—are equal and deserve equal opportunities. Feminism has had multiple positive effects on modern society.
Women have had quite a few hurdles to get over since the 1950's. In 1958 the proportion of women attending college in comparison with men was 35 percent. (Friedan,