Women Rights, Essay Example

Women have been fighting to gain equal rights in the United States and abroad for a very long time. Much has shaped the way women are treated today. As early as the 1800’s, women rights activist worked to help make the playing field for women equal to that of men. This is evident in the letters that Abigail Adams sent to her husband, John Adams-who was about to be a part of the Constitutional Convention, in the late 1700’s.  In her letter, Abigail asked her husband not to forget about the women and the struggle they were encountering. Nonetheless, John Adams did forget about the women because he believed that adding them would place them in higher ranks than non-land owning men. In essence, he reminded her that he had more important tasks at hand because both Indian and African American men were attempting to attain equal rights. To this day, there is no official evidence supporting that the question of women rights ever was a topic at the convention. Women were not viewed as equals, and the mere thought of even placing such an issue on the floor was laughable to Adams and many other men of his day. Ironically, some women of the day felt the idea was outrageous. Although it is now the 21^st century, in some instances women have not gotten the equal rights they deserved because society has not done enough to remove negative stereotypes placed on women. Society has done a great deal to make the lives of women equal to those of men, but society will never be able to do enough to change society’s negative opinions of women.

During the antebellum era, women activist were not allowed to speak to audiences made up of women and men. This was very difficult for women activist to handle, especially Quaker members who were allowed to speak publicly in their own religious settings. As a result, both men and women members of the Quaker religion pushed for equal rights for women and an end to slavery. Many researchers cite the beginning of the American Woman’s Right Movement in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York. The meeting was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. During the meeting, the women constructed what they called the “Declaration of Sentiments”. This was very similar to the wording of Declaration of Independence.  Nonetheless, the outbreak of the Civil War and the ongoing debate over slavery over shadowed the women’s movement (Baer, 1996 ). Eventually, the movement lost its momentum and attention was placed on the passage and ratification of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. Popular African-American supporter of the women’s right movement, Frederick Douglas said that women were in the “negro hour” (Baer, 1996 ). In other words, women of all colors were experiencing what African-Americans had been experiencing in their fight to break loose of slavery.

The first territory to grant women the right to vote was Wyoming in 1869. Many leaders of these western territories felt that this would bring new residents to their areas. Nonetheless, more established states were not quick to follow suit. The issue of women’s right continued to be split until NAWSA was formed in 1890. The National Suffrage Association was led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. With the outbreak of World War II, women felt a change had finally come. They were invited to join in the war efforts by helping to produce guns, ship, and bullets while working in factories. Finally, women had the opportunity to do something besides secretarial work. Women workers were making higher wages than ever before, yet they still weren’t equal to those of men. However, when the war was over, women were forced out of their jobs to make positions available for men returning  home from the war (Baer, 1996). Some women were happy to leave and get back to the normal life they were accustomed to. Yet, others were outraged. They were forced back into traditional women roles, housekeeping, and cooking, secretarial, and house-wife roles.  During the 1960’s the movement gained momentum again. I t is believed that women gained protest ideas from the Civil Rights Movement waged by African Americans during  this time. Men tried to stop women from protesting in anyway they could. Some husbands forbid their wives from working outside the home, and the women who decided to work any way were treated badly by their male dominated environments. Employers did not pay women wages equal to those of men, even when women performed at or above their male counterparts. During this era women were defined by their ability to clean their homes, rear children, decorate, and prepare luxurious meals for their husbands. Although women had gained the right to vote, they were still not seen as citizens equal to their male counterparts.

The number of women who hold corporate leadership jobs is proportionately lower than those held by men. For example, “Women make up more than 50 percent of the global population, but fill less than 20 percent of all parliamentary seats” (Freeman, 2001) Likewise, there are still few women political leaders. There are fewer opportunities for women in the field of medicine, professional sports, and especially jobs that require brute muscle or strength, is still dominated by men. For example, “Just as the overall labor market remains sharply segregated by sex, women executives are concentrated into certain types of jobs – mostly staff and support jobs – that offer little opportunity for getting to the top” (  Przeworski, 2007 ). Today, women still earn much less than men in the workplace. Often, promotions are granted by experience. Women are often away from their workplace due to woman related issues. For example, women often miss days of work due to pregnancy and delivery. Other women decide to stay home for several years to raise their children. Consequently, companies prefer to hire men rather than women because they don’t want to find a replace for a woman worker if she decides to have a child. Society punishes women for becoming mothers, or so it seems. If a woman does decide to become a mother, she is  likely to be passed up for promotions. While society still is unhappy with her choices. Society expects mothers to play a dominant role in their children’s lives, and often criticizes women for working outside the home.

In today’s society, women are often ostracized for just being born a woman. For example, “Girls are actually less likely to reach adulthood because of gender discrimination. Tens of millions of girls have been aborted, killed, undernourished, or terribly neglected due to their gender” ( Shelley & Pollack, 1993  ). There have been countless incidences in the media where a woman has been assaulted by a man in a sexual manner and the woman ended up in trial for the way she was dressed. On other occasions, the woman’s past sexual encounters have been just cause for dismissal of charges against the accused man. For example, if a woman has previously been a prostitute, society seems to think that it is impossible for her to not appease a man’s sexual advances. As a result, women who have led previous mendacious lives that society does not agree with are  very unlikely to report sexual or domestic abuse the received at the hands of male abusers. Women who have led these lives are often seen as somehow causing provocation to their male attackers. Nonetheless, so many women who have led shady lives in the past have turned their lives around and are living in a benevolent way.

In conclusion, women have been struggling to gain  rights equal to those of men, but it is a difficult task to change a person’s thinking and opinion. Society has done a great deal to aid women in their struggles, but society will never be able to change a great deal of deep rooted stereotypes that men, and some women, have about females and their intended roles.

Works Cited

Baer, Judith A. (1996). Women in America: The Struggle Toward Equality from the New Deal to the  Present. New York: Holmes and Meier Publishers, Inc . (Electronic Version)

Freeman, Sue, J.M. (2001). Women on Power: Leadership Redefined. Boston, Mass: Northeastern University Press. . (Electronic Version)

Przeworski, Adam (2007) .Conquered or Granted? A History of Suffrage  Extensions,. mimeo, NYU.

Lundberg, Shelly, and Robert A. Pollak (1993) .Separate Spheres Bargaining and the Marriage Market, Journal of Political Economy, 101(6), 988-1010.