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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. " Margaret Mead For many generations it has been believed that woman's place is within the walls of their own homes. How can we ask this of the women in a culture that is constantly changing and which makes a need for women to extend their responsibility outside their own homes. Life isnt just handed to someone on a silver platter, there are never ending responsibilities not only for men but for women too. Women should have the same rights as any other human in society.
The staggering changes for women that have come about over those seven generations in family life, in religion, in government, in employment, in education - these changes did not just happen spontaneously. Women themselves made these changes happen, very deliberately. Women did not it on their behinds waiting for a miracle to change the laws. Seven generations of women have come together to affect these changes in the most democratic ways: through meetings, petition drives, lobbying, public speaking, and nonviolent resistance. They have worked very deliberately to create a better world, and they have succeeded hugely.
It is believed that the womens right movement began on July 13, 1848. On that day in upstate New York, a young housewife and mother, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was invited to tea with four other women friends. There the conversation turned to the situation of women. Women had not gained freedom even though they'd taken equally tremendous risks through those dangerous years. Surely the new republic would benefit from having its women play more active roles throughout society.
Stanton's friends agreed with her, passionately. This was definitely not the first small group of women to have such a conversation, but it was the first to plan and carry out a specific, large-scale program. Within two days of their conversation the women set up a date for their convention on womens rights. The gathering would take place at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls on July 19 and 20, 1848.
These are some of the points discussed in the meeting: Married women were legally dead in the eyes of the law Women had to submit to laws when they had no voice in their formation Married women had no property rights Husbands had legal power over and responsibility for their wives to the extent that they could imprison or beat them with impunity Divorce and child custody laws favored men, giving no rights to women Women had to pay property taxes although they had no representation in the levying of these taxes Most occupations were closed to women and when women did work they were paid only a fraction of what men earned Women were not allowed to enter professions such as medicine or law Women had no means to gain an education since no college or university would accept women students With only a few exceptions, women were not allowed to participate in the affairs of the church Women were robbed of their self-confidence and self-respect, and were made totally dependent on men So it's clear that, contrary to common misconception, the Women's Rights Movement did not begin in the 1960 s. What occurred in the 1960 s was actually a second wave of activism that washed into the public consciousness, fueled by several independent events of that turbulent decade. Each of these events brought a different segment of the population into the movement. First: Esther Peterson was the director of the Women's Bureau of the Dept.
of Labor in 1961. She considered it to be the government's responsibility to take an active role in addressing discrimination against women. With her encouragement, President Kennedy convened a Commission on the Status of Women, naming Eleanor Roosevelt as its chair. The report issued by that commission in 1963 documented discrimination against women in virtually every area of American life. State and local governments quickly followed suit and established their own commissions for women, to research conditions and recommend changes that could be initiated. Then: In 1963, Betty Friedan published a landmark book, The Feminine Mystique.
The Feminine Mystique evolved out of a survey she had conducted for her 20 -year college reunion. In it she wrote about the emotional and intellectual oppression that middle-class educated women were experiencing because of limited life options. The book became an immediate bestseller, and inspired thousands of women to look for fulfillment beyond the role of homemaker. Next: Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed, prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sex as well as race, religion, and national origin. The category "sex" was included as a last-ditch effort to kill the bill. But it passed, nevertheless.
With its passage, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was established to investigate discrimination complaints. Within the commission's first five years, it received 50, 000 sex discrimination complaints. But it was quickly obvious that the commission was not very interested in pursuing these complaints. Betty Friedan, the chairs of the various state Commissions on the Status of Women, and other feminists agreed to form a civil rights organization for women similar to the NAACP. In 1966, the National Organization for Women was organized, soon to be followed by an array of other mass-membership organizations addressing the needs of specific groups of women, including Blacks, Latinas, Asians-Americans, lesbians, welfare recipients, business owners, aspiring politicians, and professional women of every sort. The reasons why men vote are the same reasons why women should vote.
It is fair and right that the people who have to obey the laws have a voice in choosing the lawmakers. There are so many different parts in government in which a vote is needed that a simple expression of opinion is enough to decide with. This is where the people cast their votes and what seems to suit the greatest number or majority is what will be done. This seems to be the fairest way because there are so many different opinions out there it is really difficult to be able to suit everyone. If women arent given the r...
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Research essay sample on Discrimination Against Women Women Were Not Allowed
