Women's Institute

873 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Revolution of women in agriculture

Where women were often divided by politics, religion and language, one of the few organizations which admitted all women was the Women’s Institute (Spencer, 2006). What started off as a sister organization to the Farmer’s Institute by a mother, who was concerned about the science of hygiene, grew to become the largest women’s group in the world. But what exactly is the Women’s Institute, and how have they become the largest women’s group in the world? For 117 years, Women’s Institute (WI) Members have actively worked together for family, home, community and country (www.fwic.ca). The WI is a not-for-profit charitable organization with affiliations around the world, working with and for women in rural and small towns (www.fwic.ca). Through education and support programs and services, the WI’s purpose is to include personal growth opportunities, government lobbying and health and community wellness projects (www.fwic.ca). And as a result, each year thousands of individuals become more knowledgeable on various social, health, domestic and environmental matters (www.fwic.ca). The WI offers educational programming and community support; advocate for social, environmental and economic change, and work towards the personal growth of all women, for home and country (www.fwic.ca). Members belong to a network that connects Branches to Districts and Areas, as well as to the provincial (FWIO), national (FWIC – Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada), and international (ACWW – Associated Country Women of the World) levels of the organization (www.fwic.ca). Membership offers a wide range of opportunities, including monthly meetings, a variety of activities, WI’s Home & Country ROSE Garden newsletter, the FWIO Facebook Group, and the o... ... middle of paper ... ...nded together in the WI. Women who joined WI’s felt a responsibility to become involved in society and challenge social issues. When times were tough, for example when losing a job, WI provided comfort in that time of need and the women found comfort with each other in a safe place. The WI is a fantastic movement as it empowers women as there is strength in numbers. In isolated farms and small communities, where women welcomed the opportunity to get out and meet other women is where education and community were at the heart of Women’s Institute activity (Spencer, 2006). The Women’s Institute enabled women to educate themselves while improving the quality of community life. Why did the Institutes grow so rapidly to become the largest women’s group in the world? According to Michael Welton (2013), “the simple answer is that rural women wanted them” (pg. 86).

Show More
Related

  • How important was Phyllis Schlafly’s role in the defeat of the U.S. Equal Rights Amendment?

    2097 Words  | 5 Pages

    “National Women’s Conference.” Off Our Backs 8, no. 1 (1978): 2-3. Accessed February 12, 2012. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25792578.

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast Women’s Suffrage Movements

    1322 Words  | 3 Pages

    Today, nothing remains of the former social role of women. Nearly all professions are open to women. The numbers of women in the government and traditionally male-dominated fields have dramatically increased. More women than men earn bachelor’s degrees. Many women's groups still prevail and are major political forces. Although the two movements hoped to achieve different things and used different tactics, they still came together to gain women’s rights and have achieved more than anyone would have ever anticipated.

    Read More

  • Success of the National Organization for Women

    1829 Words  | 4 Pages

    The fight for gender equality along with women’s rights has been a battle for centuries. Over time many, women activists and organizations have step forward to help in advancing women’s progress in the world today. One organization that has made a tremendous contribution and has been extremely influential for women is the National Organization for Women (NOW). The organization has been around since 1966 and has more than 500,000 members and more than 500 local and campus affiliates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia (National Organization for Women, 2012). NOW’s organization claims that there is a social problem of gender inequality and women’s rights and their goal is to “take action” by bringing about equality for all women. The National Organization for Women has six priority issues and they include: constitutional equality amendment, reproductive rights, racism, lesbian rights, violence against women and economic justice(National Organization for Women, 2012). The organization has been quite successful in raising awareness and creating social change over the years. By using the Social Problems Process to analyze the organization it would then become evident as to why NOW has been so successful, where they still need to improve and where they are heading.

    Read More

  • Female Roles In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the nineteenth century, Edna Pontellier lived in a society that imposed strict roles and had high expectations on women. Frequently referred to as the “women sphere”

    Read More

  • Women Rights in Canada

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    Currently, Canadian women are helping women in third world countries gain the same rights Canadian women have received. Some well known foundations are ‘Because I Am A Girl’, donations are sent to girls in the third world country so that they can obtain food, shelter, and an education, allowing them make a change in their society. Canadian women would not have been able to create projects to help women in other nations gain their rights if not for The Married Women’s Property Act, World War I, The Person’s Case, and Canadian Human Rights Act. These key milestones in Canadian history have allowed Canadian women to continue fighting for women rights on a global stage.

    Read More

  • Women's Movement Of 1960's

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Feminist Theory - There is No One Definition of Woman

    1399 Words  | 3 Pages

    When posed with the question “What is woman?” it seems a daunting task to lay an umbrella statement to describe an entire gender. Upon further reflection, however, it seems that this overwhelming inability to answer the question, may in fact, be the answer to the question itself. Within the past two decades Maria Lugones and Elizabeth Spelman, Caroline Whitbeck, Geraldine Finn, and Helene Cixous have addressed the meaning of woman. There is not a concrete answer to “What is woman?” either produced by women or produced through men’s perceptions of women.

    Read More

  • Women’s Influence in Medicine

    2258 Words  | 5 Pages

    There are many women who had huge influences in the advancement of heath and medicine. Many people don’t realize how much women do and how much they have contributed to the medical world and its advancements. From Lillian D. Wald, who worked with the less fortunate and children in schools, to Virginia Apgar, who worked with mothers and their newborns and also came up with the “Apgar Score,” and Eku Esu-Williams who is an immunologist and an AIDS Educator. Even though women did so much, many people were sexist and didn’t want to acknowledge what they did or give them the chance to do things, such as become doctors. I want to inform people on how much these women have contributed to the world of healthcare and medicine so that people won’t be so sexist towards women.

    Read More

  • women's suffrage

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women had an arduous time trying to demand the rights they deserved to have. Women suffragist made associations and paraded down the street to endeavor rights. Two associations were made up, the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Women Suffrage Association. The National Women Suffrage Association is also known as NWSA was developed by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. This association work for suffrage at the federal level. They tried press for more extensive institutional changes, such as married women being granted right to own land. The American Women Suffrage Association is also known as AWSA was developed by Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe. This association aimed to secure the ballot through state legislation. The ladies at NWSA refused to endorse the amendment because it did not give women the ballot. However the ladies at AWSA argued that once the black man was enfranchised, women would achieve their goal.(Buechler) With making associations, suffragist would march together in a parade down streets. All women who believed in the women’s suffrage movement came together, not caring what class each other are in since the demands were the same for all who marched. The intent of the parades were to dazzle and impress observers and gain recruiters, as well grab the attention of legislators who ignore the suffragist petitions and dispel unfav...

    Read More

  • National Organization for Women

    2250 Words  | 5 Pages

    The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the largest feminist activists’ interest group of United States that seeks to protect the individual rights of women. The influential success of NOW can be understood through following factors. Its’ concrete background; nearly half century worth of history as foundation; well structured organization; membership incentives; the function and approach of NOW/PAC and NEP; up to date Statement of Purpose; high priority to key issues that benefits society as a whole; and lastly the services that NOW provides on the global scale.

    Read More

  • Women's Right Movement

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the mid nineteenth century America was going through an age of reform. The person who would be the center of these reforms would be the women in society. Women soon realized that in order to make sure that all the reforms went through they would need more power and influence in society. The oppression and discrimination the women felt in this era launched the women into create the women’s right movement. The women fought so zealously for their rights it would be impossible for them not to achieve their goals. The sacrifices, suffering, and criticism that the women activist made would be so that the future generations would benefit the future generations.

    Read More

  • women activism

    1327 Words  | 3 Pages

    History accounts for the great contributions of women in promoting social justice, particularly in uplifting the morale and functions of women in the society. From being the oppressed gender, various women managed to change the traditional roles of women by fighting for their rights to be heard and for them to given equal opportunities. These women boldly stood against gender stereotypes of women and proved the entire world that they could defy conventions. Particularly at the turn of the 20th century, women battled against the oppressions brought by patriarchy in different ways. These activist women had crusaded for the promotion of their civil rights, sexual freedom, and pursued careers which were once forbidden to them.

    Read More

  • Vindicating the Suffering Revolutionary Women in Mary Wollstonecraft’s Maria

    1976 Words  | 4 Pages

    Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Autumn, 1980), pp. 17-20. JSTOR. 2

    Read More

  • Women and Gender Studies

    640 Words  | 2 Pages

    A growing population of women’s activists can be attributed to the growing number of courses being offered and information available. Only a few decades ago this would not have been heard of. It is due to the increasing amount of awareness on the topic of women’s status as second class citizens that activism has increased. Through various media, we have learned of topics such as the “glass ceiling”, the working conditions of women in Third World countries, the current injustices against women being carried out in the First World, reproductive rights, as written about by Angle Davis, and other limitations imposed on women.

    Read More

  • The Women's Liberation Movement

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    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).

    Read More

More about Women's Institute

Open Document