Women Rights in the USA - Research Paper Example

Women Rights in the USA Feminism is a movement derived from the west in the mid 18th century. Feminism is a set of social premises and political practices that are significant of earlier and current period’s social relations and above all encouraged and reported by the practice of women. In general, it absorbs a critique of gender discrimination; more particularly, it contains the encouragement of women's interests and welfare (Duggan, 1979). It can be said that the first wave of feminism started in the early 1848 and it lasted till the 1960s after which the women started getting their rights. However some argue that the movement ended in the 1920s as the constitution to allow women to vote was passed in this very year.. This essay would further prove this claim by giving an overview about the first wave of feminism in the United States and its drawbacks (William 1969) Women have been treated as inferior to the men in every segment of this world until they fight for their rights to be served as equal to the men. The first wave of feminism started in 1868 and lasted till the 1960s in the United States (William 1969). The main aim of this feminist movement was to retain the rights of women in the country. Before the first wave of feminism took place the condition of women in the United States was miserable. The women were not allowed to vote and had no shares when it came to property rights. Wives did not have any rights when it came to justice over their husbands as they were not allowed to file any petition in case of any harshness. Moreover the child custody laws and divorce laws also favored men over the women and did not show the object of equality in them. Workplace laws were not present at that time and women could not work easily in those times. Because of this it could be noted that the number of working women was quite less at those times in the United States (Beaver 1980 & Clarke 1974). Most of all women students were not granted the rights to study in colleges or universities. All these factors together counted towards the miseries of the women in those times. Several of the women started this movement but the most well-known amongst the leaders were Elizebath Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Coffin Mott and Susan B Anthony. The women of the first feminist movement proved quite successful in achieving their objectives but on the other hand they were not successful enough to provide all the necessary rights to women living in the United States and thus other similar movements had to come into play so that these rights were also achieved for the women. It basically revolved around the issues of seeing women as sexual objects, their individual identity, their right to vote, the issues which they faced in their work places and healthcare. The first wave was brought about by different groups which were then known by different names such as the Abolitionist groups and the Women Rights Organizations (Clarke 1974). The women in the first wave demanded moral equality to the levels of a man. The most important issue which the feminists pursued was to achieve individual status for women living in the United States. In other words they wanted a woman to represent the community of women living in the county. In order to pursue all these rights the women set out with different conventions and marches so that their demands could be accepted by the government. In 1848 the famous ‘Declaration of Sentiments’ was announced which became the basic principle of the movement which was going on in the United States. Similarly this was followed by the formation of different organizations which worked towards achieving the rights which the women were previously deprived of. Following this the organizations in achieving rights for women seemed successful as the women were provided with rights to property ownership and child custody. They also provided workplace laws which helped to women to participate more in the working sector. In 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment to the constitution of United States took place and this gave women the rights to vote. In other words the amendment allowed women to be recognized as separate individuals in the country. This amendment also made some reforms to the laws passed by the workplaces and healthcare thus giving more rights to the women. From here the employment rate of women also tended to increase as women now had more liberty than they previously had (Beaver 1980). All these points discussed above clearly showed that the first wave of feminism was quite successful in achieving its mark of providing the women of United States with the rights which they were previously deprived of. But it can also be seen that after the 1920s the Feminist movement came to a stall in which only small progress was made regarding the rights of the women. It can be seen that even after the success of the movement discrimination still prevailed in the United States when it came to the genders (Alexandar et al 1997 & Clarke 1974). Workplaces still did not give enough incentives to the women as they were not paid equally by the employers. Moreover the first wave of feminism was not successful on a large scale when it came to the issues of workplace, marital status, pregnancy and educational equality of the women in United States. The women till the end of this movement were not able to realize their importance in the society and that they could make a difference. This was not because of some individual problem but it was because of the practices which were taking place at those times in the country (Frankenberg 1993). The laws for workplaces were not enough to provide equality to women in their working hours. For example a woman who was pregnant could not work and the laws did not state any such thing which would allow the women to go on a leave with pay. This first wave of feminism also did not assure the women of the same salaries as the man were being paid for the same work. Moreover it could still be seen that women were being largely raped and used as objects. As Frankenberg states that the feminist movement has not been able to curb all the issues related to the society which represent women (Cordova 1998 & Clarke 1974). Altogether it can be seen that the first feminist movement was the base for the women to rise and demand for their rights. It served as the basis for other feminism movements to take place and it was not successful enough to achieve every right which the women required in those times. It can be seen that following the end of the first feminist wave a second feminist wave started to overcome the weaknesses of the first one. This movement was successful in achieving the important aspects of equality which the women required from the very beginning of this world. (Cordova 1998, Beaver 1980, Clarke 1974 & Neil 1969). Bibliography: O'Neill, William L. The Woman Movement; Feminism in the United States and England. Historical problems: studies and documents, 5. London: Allen and Unwin, 1969. Duggan, Elizabeth Ann. Sisters, Bondswomen, Arise!: Socialism and Feminism in England, 1820-1845. Thesis (M.A.)--Sarah Lawrence College, 1979. Alexander, M. Jacqui, and Chandra Talpade Mohanty. Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures. Thinking gender. New York: Routledge, 1997. Frankenberg, R. "Growing Up White: Feminism, Racism and the Social Geography of Childhood." FEMINIST REVIEW. 45 (1993): 51. Cordova, T. "Anti-Colonial Chicana Feminism." NEW POLITICAL SCIENCE. 20. 4 (1998): 379-398. Top of Form Beaver, R. Pierce. American Protestant Women in World Mission: History of the First Feminist Movement in North America. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 1980. Bottom of Form Top of Form Clarke, Mary Stetson. Women's Rights in the United States. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1974. Read More