Since the beginning of the 17th-century and earlier, there has always been different perspectives on women 's rights. Men and women all over the world have voiced their opinion and position in regard to the rights of women. This holds especially true in the United States during the 18th and 19th century. As women campaigned for equality, there were some who opposed this idea. There was, and always will be a series of arguments on behalf of women 's rights. Anti-women 's rights activists such as Dr. John Todd and Pro-women 's rights activist Gail Hamilton argued intelligently and tactfully on the topic. There were many key arguments made against women’s rights by Dr. John Todd, and Gail Hamilton 's rebuttal was graceful and on par with her male counterpart. Let 's examine some of Dr. John 's arguments against women 's equality. Although Dr. John argued against women equality, he did admit that the mind of a woman was sharp or even sharper than some men. He also states that the female mind is “quicker, more flexible, more elastic” than the male brain. Even though Dr. John gives few praises to women, he still holds fast to his position of women 's rights. Mr. Todd believes that God never designed women to be independent of man and that her own instincts would get in the way of her independence. He argued and insisted that women cannot invent. He says that men are inventing all types of things in the current age, such as telegraphing, railroads, steamboats, and machinery. The United States Patent Office receives about five hundred or more applications per week, but they never receive any from women. Mr. Todd takes this fact a step further by stating that women have machines almost numberless, knitting machines, washing, ironing, and... ... middle of paper ... ...e no female Newtons and La Places. I think Gail’s effectivity in refuting Dr. Todd’s arguments laid in relevancy. It should not matter that women were not inventors, because most men were not inventors. Gail even questioned Dr. Todd’s status as an inventor and makes him seem like a hypocrite. More than likely over half the male population of United States were not inventors. She claimed relevancy again when Dr. Todd asked why women weren’t Newtons and La Places. Again, Dr. Todd and over half of the American population were not mathematicians and still had certain rights. Again, she turns him into a hypocrite. Mr. Todd is not a mathematicians. In regards to earning property I think she handled the argument very well by simply stating that women did earn property throughout their role of mother and wife. In all she effectively refuted all major arguments of Dr. Todd.
However, the writers of the Constitution had omitted women in that pivotal statement which left women to be denied these “unalienable” rights given to every countryman. Gaining the support of many, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the leader of the Women’s Rights Movement declared at Seneca Falls that women had the same rights as men including the right to vote and be a part of government. The Women’s Rights movement gained support due to the years of abuse women endured. For years, men had “the power to chastise and imprison his wife…” and they were tired of suffering (Doc I). The new concept of the cult of domesticity supported women’s roles in society but created greater divisions between men and women.
Today, women are not typically seen in higher levels of position in the work force than men. In Anne-Marie Slaughter’s article “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”, she uses her own experience to convey why it is not possible for a woman to work in a higher position, due to women being more emotional than men. People still believe it’s a women’s place to stay at home to cook, clean and take care of the children, while the men go to work to pay the bills. And it’s considered odd if the man is a stay at home father and the woman is working 24/7 and is never home. Even though it is rewarding to be able to always be there to see your child’s milestones in their life. It is always nice to get away from that life for even a moment. I don’t mean going out with the girls or guys, while you hire a babysitter, but helping your husband or wife pay the bills, so you have two rather than one income coming in at the end of the month. In Richard Dorment’s article, “Why Men Still Can’t Have It All” he states that both men and women can’t have it all. I agree with both Slaughter and Dorment, but not entirely. I believe if you want to be a good
Mary Zimmerman framed that women have not had ultimate control over their own bodies and health as a fundamental assumption underlying women’s health movement. Men control and dominate a huge portion of the of decision making roles in the healthcare field, such as health related research, health policy etc. Whereas women are more seen in social positions. According to the article “The Women’s Health Movement” by Mary K. Zimmerman, the concept of medicalization is the “increasing tendency to apply medical definitions and control to phenomena not previously thought of as medical problems (Zola, 1972; Conrad and Schneider, 1980). In the 1950’s a drug called Thalidomide was created by a German company, claiming that it was safe for pregnant women. Although many women were still using this drug during this time, in 1961, reports began to surface that this drug was causing several birth defects and other health problems. The author presented the Thalidomide case as an example of medicalization by showing us the potential consequences of a style medical
The division between what a woman and man can and cannot do is just a barrier our society has set. There are no limits to what each sexuality is capable of doing. A man is not more intelligent, more creative, wiser, or stronger than a female. Likewise he is never less. All humans are given these rights. Lucille Clifton ignored what her society had to offer and continued with what she believed. She is a fearless, strong individual who was ready to take on the world with her hips coming first.
...roblems of integration. If the science world takes advantage of undiscovered female talent, science as a whole will benefit greatly. For example, the original group of ENIAC programmers consisted of 6 women. In 1946, these women helped to develop the first operating stored-program computer.6 If female talent such as this goes to waste because of social neglect, the science world will never know what possible discoveries that could have been made with the help of women. If Dr. Djerassi is accurate with his examples of discrimination, the science world should take note of these problems and attempt to solve them.
Women in America have been described as “domestic household slaves” referring to their status in society. Do the documents support this assertion? If so what is the evidence?
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.
John Todd starts his writing off with the topic of equality between men and women. He begins his paper with, “Nobody pretends that the sexes are equal in weight, in height, or in bodily strength. The bodies of the two sexes seem to have been planned for different ends.” He believes that “God” designed women for a specific purpose which isn't the same as men. He then goes onto say that woman have superior brains than men by stating, “It is quicker, more flexible, more elastic.” These claims are unverifiable and he seems to be using apple polishing fallacy to persuade the reader to join his view point. He then says that women cannot be independent of men because of two reasons, “God never designed you should, and your own deep instincts are in the way.” These reasons are flawed as we know today that women can be independent in todays society, but back in the 1800s people didn't question ideas as much as they do now. Todd says that God didn't intend for women to occupy the same sphere because of how she is physically oriented. Todd then goes on to speak about how women don't have the ability to invent. Gail Hamilton attacks Todd by saying, “one reason why women have never been inventors is, that they have never been artisans' but the matter is utterly irrelevant.” He has a strong point in that women shouldn't have to be able to invent to have equal rights as men. Just because t...
Jane Addams was an upper class woman who thought it was her job to help others. Addams was an advocate of immigrants, the poor, women, and peace. In 1889, she created the Hull House, to help female immigrants become assimilated to the American lifestyle by helping them get a job, learn the language, and receive an education. It was no surprise that in 1915, Jane Addams wrote the life-changing article “Why Women Should Vote.”
The Movement for Women's Rights Inside "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Women have been mistreated, enchained and dominated by men for most of the human history. Until the second half of the twentieth century, there was great inequality between the social and economic conditions of men and women (Pearson Education). The battle for women's emancipation, however, had started in 1848 by the first women's rights convention, which was led by some remarkable and brave women (Pearson Education).
Murray argues that; women’s minds equal those of men, women’s mentality will increase with education, and a Biblical argument is moot. Murray even mentions that strength associated with intelligence fails to discredit women’s intellectual ability because: a) the people working in the fields (such as African American slaves) would then be the most intelligent, and b) masculine women and feminine men exist (Murray 180). Her points, though, come with a caveat. Murray wants education for women, but for women to continue in their same gender defined categories. Women can use their educated minds to occupy themselves during the mundane tasks such as sowing and sweeping. In fact, she argues that women will become more complacent and lose the attributes that annoy men, gossiping and unnecessary visits, and gain characteristics men would prefer, such as discretion and better judgement. Despite her limits on women’s rights, Murray asks a question that rings forth by following generations; “How is one exalted and the other depressed…The one is taught to aspire, and the other is early confined and limited. As their years increase, the sister must be wholly domesticated, while the brother is led by the hand through all the flowery paths of science” (Murry 178). Murray fought for women’s rights through education, and
The entire Women’s Movement in the United States has been quite extensive. It can be traced back to 1848, when the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. After two days of discussions, 100 men and women signed the Declaration of Sentiments. Drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, this document called for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women. This gathering set the agenda for the rest of the Women’s Movement long ago (Imbornoni). Over the next 100 years, many women played a part in supporting equal treatment for women, most notably leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which allowed women the right to vote.
The nineteenth century encountered some of most revolutionary movements in the history of our nation, and of the world – the movements to abolish slavery and the movement for women’s rights. Many women participated alongside men in the movement to abolish slavery, and “their experience inspired feminist social reformers to seek equality with men” (Bentley, Ziegler, and Streets-Salter 2015, pg. 654). Their involvement in the abolition movement revealed that women suffered many of the same legal disadvantages as slaves, most noticeably their inability to access the right to vote. Up until this time, women had little success in mobilizing their efforts to gain the right to vote. However, the start of the women’s rights movement in the mid-1800s, involving leaders such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, paved the path for the expansion of women’s rights into the modern century.
In her essay, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, Margaret Fuller discusses the state of marriage in America during the 1800‘s. She is a victim of her own knowledge, and is literally considered ugly because of her wisdom. She feels that if certain stereotypes can be broken down, women can have the respect of men intellectually, physically, and emotionally. She explains why some of the inequalities exist in marriages around her. Fuller feels that once women are accepted as equals, men and women will be able achieve a true love not yet known to the people of the world.
Challenging the normality, Margaret Fuller rips the chains of women arguing for equal status in marriage, education, and participation in society throughout her essay “The Great Lawsuit.” During the late 1800s to early 1900s, the daily lives of women and men were undoubtedly divided. Based on gender, people were expected to execute specific tasks to ensure that the home and community functioned as smoothly as possible. Men typically worked outside of the house and participated in many city functions. Women, however, were much more limited in their movements.