Women's Freedom In The Progressive Era

Madam Roland famous remarks “O Liberty! Liberty! How many crimes are committed in thy name!” (Voice of Freedom 92) sums up the women struggle and their feminism movement. In the United States, women are fighting for their rights and freedom from more than two centuries. Women movements continued in Reconstruction Era, Gilded Age, Progressive Era and it is still going on right now. Women fought for right to vote, right for education, equal pay and equal rights as men, hold office, and right to work. Women are still fighting in the current time for crime against women, sexual harassment, equal pay and other feminist issues.
In 1865, after the end of civil war, United States entered an era of Reconstruction. For the first time, the new born

nation became “wholly free”. During this period, definition and interpretation of freedom became the point of conflict between white and black and for women. As mentioned in the book, “Seneca Falls convention, women’s suffrage had become an intrinsic part of American understandings of freedom” (Give Me Liberty 912). Women activists saw Reconstruction as a good opportunity to claim their rights and freedom. After the civil war, black men got the right to vote by the Fourteenth Amendment and the Fifteenth Amendment outlawed voting discrimination based on race. Women leaders like Susan Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton opposed the amendment changes and demanded to include them for the right to vote. During this time, women activists also started the debate on how to achieve the liberty for married women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafted an essay on the idea of equality. She insisted “Genuine liberty for women required an overhaul of divorce laws and an end to the authority men exercised over the wives” (Voice of Freedom 16). Advocates of women rights demanded for liberalizing divorce laws, and the other main issue of woman’s control over her own body. The question arises with the other half of the family which stringer and in control of laws, treasury makes the rules and regulation that suits them. As John Stuart Mill says male cannot tolerate the idea of living with an equal female partner. He feared that equality will upset the family relation if women gets power. Men in that were not ready to recognize the concept of female equality inside the house and outside. The woman’s transition period from slavery to equality and freedom continued in Reconstruction era and in a Gilded Age. Conservatism were fearing that women’s progress to quality will destroy the family.
Gilded Age was more on the economy freedom, the nation experienced economy growth, innovations, construction of railroads in the nation and also saw rise of business houses.

It also witnessed suffering of working class, formation of unions to fight rights for working class. Women in this ear did not get right to vote but got economic freedom almost same as men. Women’s freedom changed at the end of Gilded Age and in the Progressive Era of 1920s. “The 1890s launched what would later be called the women era” (Give Me Liberty 676). In 1890s, Colorado and Idaho passed the law to extend voting right to women. Women’s were still fighting for their political rights but they were successful in getting liberty to work as men, economic independence and played a greater role in the public life. Almost all states gave women rights to own property, make separate wills and over their

wages.
In Progressive Era, the working women become the symbol of female emancipation. Charlotte Perkins Gilman who was a feminist social critic mentioned in her book that growing number for young working women is an evidence to a coming transformation of family life and economic independence. As mentioned in the book, “Gilman devised plans for communal nurseries, cafeterias, and laundries, to help free married women from “house service” (Voice of Freedom 86). Gilman writing made a string impact on the young women in that era. She argued that women as a housewife was an unproductive parasite and experiences oppression at home. Confining women in a home handling household responsibility making them incapable of enjoying their own life, freedom and in this way, they cannot help and contribute anything to the community.
The word “feminism” started to be used in the political vocabulary during the Progressive era time.

Emma Goldman, an immigrant from Lithuania proclaimed, “I demand freedom for both sexes, freedom of action, freedom in love and freedom in motherhood” (713). A woman activists Margaret Sanger helped to place the birth control movement at the central on the feminism movement. She started clinic in 1916 to distribute contraceptive devices to poor working women. Some individual states started to change the law banning birth control. The Progressive ear witnessed several changes in the political system including election of senators directly by the vote instead of elected by state legislators and the constitution amendment enfranchising women. It witnessed the largest expansion of democracy in the United States history. Women’s movement became the central part of politics and they challenged the political and social barriers to exclude them as part of the Progressive government. After 1900, the woman suffrage campaign became a mass movement and moved to engage women from working class, unionists, and social activists. This group helped in broadened the movement of right to vote throughout the country. Wilson proclaimed, “Shall we admit them only to a partnership of suffering and toil and not to a partnership of privilege, and right?” (751). In 1920, women’s demand of getting the right to vote has ended with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment barring states from using

sex as a qualification for the suffrage. More women getting educated and started getting work assignments outside the house. Also, women begin to smoke during this Progressive era. The behavior of smoking in the public was new for the women. They started becoming more fashionable. Along with right to vote, women got more freedom in their life economically, socially and politically. During the period of President Franklin D Roosevelt, he reclaimed the word freedom from conservative. “Through the 1930s, he consistently linked freedom with economic security and identified economic inequality as its greatest enemy” (186). His New Deal programs were designed to bring economic security to the people. It helped in bringing more women in the government and organizing feminism. They helped president to shape the public policy. Mass unemployment during the great depression period, forced many people to think that women are taking men’s job so federal government agencies prohibited married women whose husband earned from working. Author Norman Cousins wrote, “"There are approximately 10,000,000 people out of work in the United States today, there are also 10,000,000 or more women, married and single, who are jobholders. Simply fire the women, who shouldn't be working anyway, and hire the men. Presto! No unemployment. No relief rolls. No depression" (194). This was an assault on the working women, to oust women from the jobs and to make them dependent on the man. But this condition changed during World War II, when the demand for labor grew and it drew millions of women into the workforce. Several new opportunities opened in several industrial and professional positions for women. After the World War II due to the return of soldiers, women started to lose their jobs that they had performed during the war. In 1950s, concept of traditional family life that is woman as housewife persuaded as an American value. Advertisers were showing the advertisement showing woman as a suburban housewife. Family size increased to the average of 3 and more child per family. This baby-boom lasted till 1960s after the end of the war. In 1966, the National Organization for Women started the movement known as the “second wave” of feminism to give equality to women. Betty Friedan’s publication “The Feminine Mystique”, chapter “The Problem That has No Name” painted a devastated picture of educated, smart women trapped in the world. She mentioned that “We do not accept the traditional assumption that a woman has to choose between marriage and motherhood, on the one hand, and serious participation in industry or
the professions on the other” (1011). She tried to bring the focus on the fact that there is gap between rhetoric of freedom and the reality that millions of American felt that they do not enjoy the real freedom that was promised to them. The second wave of feminism continued in the 1970s. It evolved into women’s liberation movement and it tried proposing changes in the family life. Redstockings organization founded in 1969 helped women to discuss their issues, concerns, questions with each other. Redstockings identified male supremacy as the primary reason for female inequality. They said, “We call on all our sisters to unite with us in struggle. We call on all men to give up their male privileges and support women’s liberation in the interest of humanity and their own” (315).
Today, the age when women and men are married rose to all time high. The number of divorce exceeds the number of first time marriage. Also, American birth rate is declining, because of women’s increase in their aspirations, accessibility to legal abortions and using birth control methods. Women now gets equal opportunities ont only in the education but also while working. The working women percentage steadily climbing, as mentioned in the book, “In 1960, only 20 percent of women with young children had been in the workforce. The figure reached 40 percent in 1980, and 55 percent in 1990” (1037). Woman is considered as a pillar of the family which in turn stabilizes society. So, it is important to support woman in its fight for equality, in achieving her dream and to become successful in each step of her life.