Women's Cultural Identity

The evolution of women’s rights in America gave me the opportunity to attend college, vote, and join the work force. These rights helped me shape my identity as an American, college student and most importantly a woman. The independence that certain rights have given all gender roles and different races in very important with all the identities that makes up a person. Cultural influences also help shape a person and I believe that this event is a good representation of what has shaped my person cultural identity.
The historical event that I will be talking about is August 18, 1920. This date is known as when the 19th Amendment was granted to the United States, allowing women the right to vote. Women had been repressed in society for a long

time and they decided to fight back. This was called woman suffrage. While women were called suffragettes during this time, they put a lot of effort to being heard. Campaigning in Washington D.C, and New York was very common to get politicians attention to this movement. In 1920, finally they were heard and were granted the right to vote. The right to vote was huge in terms of how women were being seen in society. Places that they could now excel in were, socially, economically and politically.
Women were now seen in a different light, they were taken more seriously and had higher expectations. This impacted women socially everywhere. Women were now being more daring and could get an education, jobs and just had more freedom to do what they pleased. This would help them with interpersonal skills and they would have more meaningful bonds with people. Gaining the right to vote helped women in America make a stand in society.
Workforce was always a difficult place for women before the 1920’s, they were suppressed into staying in private and having the male be dominant in the workforce. After the right was given to women to vote, they started to take male dominant professions including; lawyers, doctors and business professions. When women were finally starting to get into the workforce, salaries were given to them and they could start supporting themselves if needed. Although the pay wasn’t equal, it was a step back then and helped women establish an economic standpoint in society. Confidence also would be gained for being in a field that women typically didn’t dominant at the time. Promotions were opportunities now and money came with more independence.
Lastly, the right to vote helped them gain a right into politics. They could openly reflect about what they wanted to see in America and they could have a say in all the possibilities. Voting was something that women wanted to be equal for everyone and be apart of to help shaped society and having women being able to vote opened a huge range of possibilities as discussed above.
The first concept that I thought was relatable to this historical event was femininity traits.

This concept in the book, Difference Matters by Brenda Allen, states that, “Femininity themes are: appearance still counts; be sensitive and caring; accept negative treatment by other; and be a superwomen” (Allen pg. 45). This stood out to me because these themes are seen as how women should act and after the right was given to women to vote and after everything that women were benefited from being able to vote, you would think that this stereotype on femininity would go away. Women are seen to be weak but in a sense strong by being so called superwomen. Women are still portrayed as being sensitive and we have to live up to a standard of beauty. In the women rights movement we were not steered away from these traits that we are reminded of

everyday.
The second concept that I picked was the ideology of separate spheres.

Brenda Allen explained that this meant, “Underlying these attitudes is the idea that women belong in the private domain of society, where they should maintain the household and raise children” (pg. 44). This quote is stating that back in time, women should of stayed out of society or more so in a “private society” to be stay at home moms. The women’s right movement was so that women could step out of these spheres and become equal in society. Spheres to me, was a great word to describe how it was for men and women before this movement. They had different expectations, views and even rules. Men were considered dominant and women were in a different place. A quote I found that also described perfectly how men and women were seen back then was a quote from an article called, “Women Get the Right to Vote” by Kate Tuohy. This article stated that, “There are two great oceans; in one is the black man and in the other is the women”. I love this quote because it’s to the point of how there were two completely separated places and it gives a good

comparison.
Thirdly, the concept that I picked was patriarchy. Brenda Allen states that patriarchy states that, “Structural dominance of men that is built in to the institutions of society” and also she states that, “Most men enjoy masculine privilege” (pg. 44). I also picked this to tie into my event because it also gives a good example of how things were back then and even though Americans try to step away from these views on men and women, in some cases they are still provident. In time men have been seen as being dominant and that has stuck in society because that is what people knew and were taught. This theme was built like Allen stated above into society over time. The second quote stated that men enjoy masculine privilege and this is complimentary to the first quote because the reason they enjoy it is because that’s the way they were taught throughout the years.
Lastly, the last concept I picked was the ideology of white supremacy. This concept stood out to me the most out of the entire book because it made me realize that it is an ongoing theme in society today. Even though women have had the right to vote for a long time now and gained so much more independence there is still a barrier and I believe it starts from the ideology of white supremacy. Brenda Allen states, “an internalized belief that white people are superior to all other races” (pg. 72). I picked this because the women rights movement ended a fight against women’s rights but I believe it didn’t end a fight against white privilege. I found a quote in Huffpost Women, “Is There Room in Women’s Rights for Women of Color” by Ronda Lee that, “White women earn 78% of their white male counterparts. Black and Hispanic women earn even less, 64% and 54% respectively”(Lee). This accurately shows that white women have a privilege over women who have an ethic background.
Now how does all of this relate to me? I picked this historical event for many reasons. One reason is that it spoke to me as an American. Being an American has given me many rights and opportunities and this was a huge bookmark in history. This started a movement that has shaped how women are perceived in today’s society. It has given the united states a better name to be more equal and to show that we accept all gender roles in society as being one. Furthermore, this historical event relates to me because I am a woman. This movement was all for women to have the right to vote and later gain more and more rights and freedom from the private society they once were apart of. As stated before with the concepts, women still face stereotypes because of what was built into society over the years but having the 19th amendment has shaped my identity as whom I am today. I have the chance to be whoever I want to be and excel in whatever profession I choose after college. My identity as women has endless opportunities such as; I can say what goes on in the world, express myself in dress, birth control, marriage, divorce and protection with sexual violence. This is all possible because of the women rights movement. Lastly the other identity that ties with this historical event is how I’m a college student. When women got the right to vote, it opened a whole other door with females getting the proper education. Women started to go to college and get meaningful educations that will soon help them achieve higher job levels with better pay. This moment in time as helped me shaped whom I am because today I can go to college and get an education that back in the day wasn’t available. Women can get equal education has males; pursue the same major and graduate with the same degrees. I have so many great opportunities with my education and it all started with the first university allowing females in which was Oberlin College. All these identities make up who I am and I believe that this historical event has shaped that. These gender roles have influenced me that I have independence in my society to be the person I want to be.
My person identity is made up of many things and I believe that this event and these concepts that Brenda Allen has helped explain how that event has shaped my values and personal beliefs and overall my identity. The concepts from the book have main points that help explain how far women’s rights have come and what is still seen today as a stereotype. Even though women have many rights in today’s society we still face inequalities in the work force, white privilege, stereotypes of the traits women should hold, and beliefs that males are dominant while women are held in a private society. The rights women have gained the past have led me to success and continuous opportunities to expand my person identity.