Varied Strands of American Women Movement - Essay Example

The feminine movement began in the western world in the early centuries and took on various forms. The initial form involved and addressed the issues concerning political equality and suffrage; the second form, partly arising because of the civil right’s movement provided a forum for addressing and combating private issues such as sexuality, role in society, childcare considerations for working mothers, power inequality, social and cultural inequalities. The third form involved the rejuvenation of women's influence in politics.

All the issues spearheaded involve of are focused on women’s issues, and such movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equality in terms of the issues addressed. Feminine movements are always geared towards women's empowerment and liberation by breaking the ties that bind and suppress their efforts (Macpherson, p.7).

Successful approaches
The American women's movement succeeded in addressing numerous issues that were tying down the efforts of most of the women population in the past years. There were various approaches that pioneered and addressed such issues of ethnicity, regional differences, class, gender, and the transition from radical to electoral politics.

Antislavery (Abolitionism)
This was the first abolition movement of the American women, which was used for the campaigns to end slavery. Slavery had been in America since colonial times, and slaves came to America because of the transatlantic trade between the oceanic countries and both North and South America. The slaves were subjected to hard labor and harsh treatment from their masters and the foremen chosen to supervise their work. Such conditions prompted the formation of antislavery societies whose main agenda was to abolish the existence of slavery and the entire treatment of other persons as slaves. The antislavery society encountered harsh conditions and treatment from the slaveholders, who owned and treated slaves unfairly. The approach of abolitionism was successful because it resulted in the freeing of slaves, the slave trade was stopped, the slavery abolition Act was formed, and most of the enslaved population enjoyed their freedom rights. They started schools and libraries for the free blacks. (Schomp, p.12).

Lobbying
This refers to influencing the decisions made by government officials by other individuals, legislators, constituents, and other advocacy groups. It is a form of advocacy that is aimed at influencing the government on certain matters that concern a group of individuals or the entire society. The civil rights movement was concerned with the fight for equality.

Reform movements
They were organized to carry out specific reforms in certain areas by changing elements of the system for the better. These were usually organized by reformist American women. Examples include the civil rights movement, women's liberation among other approaches. The civil movement addressed issues pertaining to the equality of women in terms of political rights. This resulted in the majority of the women gaining political mileage and having a voice within the system that was dominated by the male population. The women represented and fought for the rights of the entire women population. Read More