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Canadian women's rights
Women's movement history
Canadian women's rights
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“Any society that fails to harness the energy and creativity of a woman is at a huge disadvantage in the modern world.” (Tian Wei) The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms says everyone's equal, but society doesn’t. For example, the pay gap. Per every dollar a man makes, a woman makes 87 cents. Women have fought for many many years and have done great things including the group Famous Five, and others like the Suffrage Movement and Women's March.
The Suffrage Movement is the right for women to vote in political elections. Women also fought for the right to run in public office. The Suffrage Movement was the first step for equality in Canada, but even if a woman was to run for office, no man would vote for a woman. The movement started
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At the time, women were not considered “persons”. In section 24 of the British North America Act (Canada’s current constitution) said that only “qualified persons” could be appointed to the Canadian Senate. The Canadian government interpreted “qualified persons” as man only. The Famous Five then petitioned the Privy Council in England, on October, 18, 1929. Later the Privy Council said women were persons and could become senators. “The iron dropped into the souls of women in Canada when we heard it took a man to decree his mother was not a person.” (Mary Ellen Smith) In this time society was so against women’s rights that it took a man to rule a woman’s freedoms. The Famous Five were extremely important to changing the way Canadian society saw women because they had the largest impact at the time, and actually changed the law. A huge step towards …show more content…
(Women’s March) Women’s March also fights for things such as ending violence, reproductive rights, LGBTQIA rights, workers rights, civil rights, disability rights, immigrant rights, environmental rights. The main mission of the women’s march is to harness the political power of diverse women. Personally, I find it sad that women, after hundreds of years, are still fighting for equality. This movement is the most recent movement currently, but I feel that it shouldn’t be necessary to keep on proving we are equal. A woman is as superior as a man and I’m not sure how inequality happened in the first place. Which man decided men deserved more then woman and why would people agree. The Women’s March is very inspiring to all and I hope it can help change society.
Society still says not everyone is equal but the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms says otherwise. Because of how big the Suffrage movement, Famous Five and the Women’s march were with still little impact on society proves my point. “Woman - a human female who does housework; "the char will clean the
In Canada, women make up slightly more than half of the population. However, throughout Canadian history and modern day, women are needing to stand up for themselves and other women to bring about change. Canadian women are strong and have the power to work together and bring about change. Jennie Trout stood up for Canadian women that wanted to be in the medical field, women during WWI made a difference in their lives by entering the workplace and standing for their right to work, Nellie McClung was a leader for women’s suffrage, and The Famous Five campaigned and won The “Persons” Case allowing women to be considered persons under the Canadian Constitution. These women were instigators of change. Change for women only occurs when ambitious and courageous women stand up for a difference that they deserve.
Before World War I, equality for woman and men were very unfair. Woman weren’t even legally “persons”; they weren’t allowed to join parliament or the senate because they weren’t legally “persons”, therefore these jobs were occupied by men only. During World War I and World War II, many men had left for war, thus meaning there were many job openings that needed to be occupied as soon as possible, women then began to take on stereotypical male jobs which men thought women couldn’t do or couldn’t do as well. Women showed their capabilities and realized they shouldn’t be considered less than men. In retaliation of not being considered “persons”, women decided to take action. The famous five brought the persons case upon the supreme court of Canada in 1927, which was finally determined by Judicial Council of Britain's Privy Council in 1929. The “persons” case involved women not legally being “persons”. After the famous five won the case, women were legally considered “persons” then women began to join important jobs such as members of parliament and the senate. Along with becoming “persons”, women were beginning to get their right to vote in provinces slowly. In 1916, four provinces gave women the right to vote provincially and, finally, in 1940, the last province (Quebec) gave women the right to vote provincially. Later, in World War II, there was another change in
Canadian workplaces today seem to be a fairly diverse place, with a blend of many religions, ethnicities, and genders present. However, although people preach affirmative action and melting pots in current times, many inequality and power issues still abound. One strikingly noticeable example is gender discrimination. Women in the workforce face many challenges like smaller wages, harassment, male privilege in hiring or promotions, and lack of support when pregnant or raising children. One half of the planet is women, and it can be assumed the same for Canada, but they still face judgment at work because they lack the authority to dispute against big corporations or even their male supervisor. It cannot be argued that Canadian women’s status has worsened over the past hundred years, of course, thanks to feminism and activism. However, their status is not as high as it could be. Women as a group first started fighting for workplace equality during the second wave of feminism, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Legislation was approved during the second wave to try to bring gender equality to the workplace. Feminists both collided and collaborated with unions and employers to ensure women received fair treatment in an occupation. Quebec had the same issues, only the province approached the conflict differently than English Canada with its own unique viewpoint. It became clear that women were entering the workplace and did not plan on leaving. Second-wave feminism in Canada shifted power from the government and businesses to women in order to try to bring equality, although the discrimination never completely disappeared.
Whereas the women’s suffrage movements focused mainly on overturning legal obstacles to equality, the feminist movements successfully addressed a broad range of other feminist issues. The first dealt primarily with voting rights and the latter dealt with inequalities such as equal pay and reproductive rights. Both movements made vast gains to the social and legal status of women. One reached its goals while the other continues to fight for women’s rights.
What does “movement” mean? There are many definitions for the word. In this case, I am referring to a political meaning. Movement is a series of organized activities working toward an objective. There have been many groups in history to start up movements throughout the decades. One that stands out to me the most is the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Women’s movements are led by powerful, courageous women who push to better the lives’ of women or lives’ of others. Most familiar movements are those involved in politics, in efforts to change the roles and status of womanhood in society. Groups of women also attempt to improve lives of others with the help of religious and charitable activities. Either it was a political, religious, or charitable women’s movement, each woman of each group have made an impact on today’s view of women and achieved greater political involvement.
Women’s suffrage was a defining moment for Canada because women made up approximately half the Canadian population. By giving them the right to vote, it allowed Canada to be a more democratic country. Women getting the right to vote had a huge impact on the election of 1917 because women who were married to soldiers in the war could vote because of the War time Elections Act. It was also a big step for women to get involved more in the society during World War 1. In addition, the women contributed in the war effort a lot by making the products sent over seas to our soldiers, who had left their jobs to fight for their country in World War 1. This also was creating other opportunities for the women to get involved with society by taking the men’s places in the factories.
“Honey, you’re not a person, now get back in the kitchen and make me a sandwich!” If a husband were to say these words to his wife today, he would likely receive a well-deserved smack to the face. It is not until recently that Canadian women have received their status as people and obtained equal rights as men. Women were excluded from an academic education and received a lesser pay than their male counter parts. With the many hardships women had to face, women were considered the “slave of slaves” (Women’s Rights). In the past century, women have fought for their rights, transitioning women from the point of being a piece of property to “holding twenty-five percent of senior positions in Canada” (More women in top senior positions: Report). The Married Women’s Property Act, World War I, The Person’s Case, and Canadian Human Rights Act have gained Canadian women their rights.
Every citizen of the United State was grant the right to vote since their birth in the United State or when they passed
In the early 1900s, many Canadian women were treated with no respect, no rights and were treated as outcasts. Furthermore, these women lived with no equality and were treated as if they had no value. Nevertheless, the lives of Canadian women improved substantially many years later and now, Canadian women are treated with complete fairness all over the country. These improvements that are seen today have taken numerous years to come to fruition, however, many of these essential improvements occurred during the World War II time period. As the men left to fight in the War, a new opening had been created for women all throughout Canada and this eventually led to the numerous improvements. Therefore, the lives of Canadian women improved during the World War II time period as they were allowed to partake in military activities, got better jobs and were given more rights and more respect throughout Canada.
Jane Addams, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. These women lived at the turn of the century, and fought vehemently for a cause they believed in. They knew that they were being discriminated against because of their gender, and they refused to take it. These pioneers of feminism paved the road for further reform, and changed the very fabric of our society.
Women were not treated fairly or equally to men and were supposed to be the perfect stereotype of a lady. They could not be independent all her possessions would either belong to her father or her husband when married. They were supposed to be the caring mother and wife as well not have any say in political issues such as voting. An addition they were paid far less than the men for the same amount of work. With so much injustice taking place the women started to fight back. They form the National council of women of canada and did many things, such as hand out pamphlets, protested, and marched in parades. These actions were not ignored and because of them women now are payed the same as men would as well in 1918 all women could vote.
Social movements refer to informal groups of people who focus on either political or social issues. The goal of the social movement is to change things in society, to refuse to go along with the norm, and to undo a social change. For example, the Women’s Rights Movement that began in the 1840s was geared towards getting women more equality in relation to political, social, and economic status in society (Foner). Along with this, women gained a louder voice to speak out about what they wanted to change and implemented the change. Prior to the Women’s Rights Movement, women were often timid, compliant, obedient, and mistreated. After the 1920s, a movement towards more equality was shifted in society views, however not all were convinced or changed by the new ideas of women. Although women began to get increased rights, the typical gender roles, which they were expected to follow did not loosely lesson. Women still found themselves doing the same gender roles, house roles, and family roles even after the 1920s. It was not until the 1960s when the Feminist movement began (Foner). The literary piece is “Why I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady and the goal of the Feminist Movement was to create new meanings and realities for women in terms of education, empowerment, occupation, sexual identity, art, and societal roles. In short, the Feminist Movement was aimed to gain women freedom, equal opportunity and be in control over their own life.
The women’s suffrage movement was the struggle for the right of women to vote, run for office, and is part of the overall women’s rights movement. In the 19th century, women in several countries most recognizably the U.S. and england formed organizations to fight for suffrage. Beginning in the mid 19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and participated in civil strike to achieve what many Americans considered a revolutionary change in the Constitution.
Beginning in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century women began to vocalize their opinions and desires for the right to vote. The Women’s Suffrage movement paved the way to the nineteenth Amendment in the United States Constitution that allowed women that right. The Women’s Suffrage movement started a movement for equal rights for women that has continued to propel equal opportunities for women throughout the country. The Women’s Liberation Movement has sparked better opportunities, demanded respect and pioneered the path for women entering in the workforce that was started by the right to vote and given momentum in the late 1950s.
women to be considered “persons” and to be treated as human beings. In 1929, it all