The oppression of women has been a constant trend throughout American history. While the US has made advancements to the equality of women, to this day women are not treated equally to men. (Intro - do last) White women in the upper middle and working class saw a correlation between the oppression of slaves and the oppression they faced as women, both treated as inferiors in society. Many women supported the abolitionist movement to express their ideas of equality and the push for universal suffrage. The abolitionist movement was originally created to ensure the ending of slavery. Women joined the movement under the impression of fighting for slaves’ basic rights and suffrage would guarantee theirs as well. The First Wave of feminism was born and tempered during this movement, training women to be able to conceptualize and express their feminist consciousness. One of the most well-known women that was both an abolitionist and feminist was Elizabeth C. Stanton. Deeply involved in the reform movement she was a leader of the suffrage movement and author of the “Declaration of Sentiments” calling upon other women to stand up and petition for their rights. Many suffragists such as Stanton argued they were human beings first and females second, implying their lives consisted of more than just their sex roles. They also argued if given equal access to education and opportunity, women would achieve the same level men could. These arguments challenged the basic nineteenth-century
First, let’s talk about what caused the women’s rights movement and how it not only paved the way for the abolitionist movement but, how powerful the campaigns were when combined. In the nineteenth century, the women’s main role was to be a house wife. Women were often stuck at home doing chores and taking care of the children. They were not allowed to vote, hold a title in public office, work, own property, or even get an education (Women 's Rights. (n.d.), 2016). The women of the nineteenth century wanted to change those rules so they fought for equality. There were many women who were brave enough to stand up for their rights and publicly speak about their thoughts and civil liberties towards equality between men and women. In
Throughout United States history oppression of people has always been prominent, whether through African American’s and segregation or Asian American’s during the Vietnam War. What is often ignored is our history of the oppression of women. No matter what time in history, there is always a case to be found of the discrimination over gender. Many people know of how African American’s came into freedom and the long perilous road it took, but few know the struggles, changes and hardships that women have perceived to get where they are today. As the civil war halted and industrialization and urbanization came into play, the role of women changed dramatically and their status
In a similar manner to the slaves, women were motivated by the beliefs preached in camp meetings and churches during the Second Great Awakening. Due to the amount of free time the women had, they attended these churches more often than men, allowing them to absorb the ideas from the sermons. These women not only became motivated to fight for the rights of slaves, but also for their own since human freedom was one of the essential ideas of the Second Great Awakening. During the international anti-slavery convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were denied the right to participate just because of their genders. With the ideas of the Second Great Awakening in their minds, they created the Women’s Right Convention in Seneca Falls, where they wrote the Declaration of Sentiments that listed all of the ways in which males have wronged them by denying equality to them. It marked the beginning of a long struggle to gain equality between men and women. Among the many things that they wanted to have equality in was divorce, inheritance, property, and children. Therefore, the concept of freedom for all Americans from the Second Great Awakening triggered a movement to give women freedom from the bonds of men by means of equality.
One of the many movements in the reform is the women's rights movement. Women could not vote, attend schools, or have certain jobs. They were expected to take care of the house, cook, and clean. Two women named Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Stanton impacted this movement in many ways. They had the idea to create a convention after they were told women could not take part in the proceedings . Their convention discussed many things such as, social, civil, and religious rights of women. This was the first gathering aimed toward women. Later Stanton wrote The Declaration of Sentiments. The Declaration of Sentiments talked about full equality for women. This document changed society and women were now allowed to do things they were not allowed to do before.
There have been many great feminists throughout history, who have changed and shaped society, all who have worked toward one goal, to empower women all over the world. One of these women, Elizabeth Stanton who fought for women’s suffrage was able to shape the way a nation perceived and fought for the rights of their people, allowing the women of today to benefit from her accomplishments on a substantial scale.
In the nineteenth century, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a very important person of the women's rights movement. Stanton did several things over the years that were important to the movement. She "drafted a “Declaration of Sentiments, Grievances, and Resolutions" that echoed the preamble of the Declaration of Independence. “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal." ("The Women’s
Stanton then wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, which was taken from the Declaration of Independence. One of the famous lines was that “all men and women had been created equal”. To see that she took some ideas from the Declaration of Independence was very smart because, some very important men wrote that. Stanton also wrote eleven resolutions, one being that women had the right to vote. Over 100 people, men and women signed the Declaration of Sentiments, including Frederick Douglass who was an escaped slave who became a leader of abolitionist movement. This convention helped spread the message about Women suffrage. It just amazes me how much women suffered back then. They had literally no rights at all. They could not vote, sell or buy land and most of all they had no voice between men. Even after so many years women do still experience the same inequality, in which some women get paid less than men and also promotions are more likely to go to men than
For centuries women had had to bow to men they were taught never to speak unless called upon or spoken to. That their sole purpose in life was to be a homemaker; a servant to the men in their lives fathers, brothers, sons. As time progressed women began to fight for their right to receive equal rights, education and vote. But that wasn’t enough in the year 2013 women still made eighty cents to every man’s dollar but that all changed one day. Women who were sick of being oppressed had risen up against the male chauvinism within society of the united states.The first measure was to take all men out of all positions of decision-making power immediately, and of any kind of social, professional position whatsoever. The men of society were
Therefore women such as Lucretia Mott, who went against society to deliberate in conventions, who went against the hierarchy of gender, just so she can free slaves from the excruciating power of unjust men, allowed herself to achieve the equality and freedom of African American women and slaves. Another women who worked towards abolishment of slavery was also Elizabeth Stanton, who went to great extents in promoting railroads for runaway slaves that consisted mainly of women, and there she was able to free the lives of many. These prominent women were similar during the Antebellum reform because of their similar views towards society's injustices, and their decision to take a stance in society which changed to evolvement of America. By comparison to common attributes women made towards slavery reform, they also stood in solidarity when it came to a woman's right towards education. Many women from all over the country united in the stand to reinforce the laws of education in which they should all be obliged to equal learning as men. On average women outside of their homes, worked in mills with low wages and harsh
Women’s Suffrage issues became prominent in America’s culture when women began leaving their traditional roles as homemakers. Women became more involved in their communities by seeking jobs and fulfilling leadership roles in which they could improve society. In the 1830’s, thousands of women were involved in the movement to abolish slavery. The first organized gathering devoted to women’s rights in the United States was held in July of 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York. Elizabeth Stanton would draft a “Declaration of Sentiments, Grievances, and Resolutions,” based on the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming, “All men and women are created equal” (History.com).
“The anti-slavery movement provided opportunities for women to participate in public action and for Stanton to develop her reformist sensibilities. Women who raised money and awareness for female education typically did so behind closed doors to avoid violating codes of proper, womanly behavior. But abolitionism challenged these codes by encouraging women to speak publicly” (Belinda Stillion Southard 2006, sec.3). Women believed it was their moral duty and natural rights to speak publicly about, mistreatment, oppression, and inequality against women. In Learning about the Woman`s Movement with Sentiments Document, according to Brenda Betts (2005), “ The Women's Rights Convention of 1848 came about because several women traveled from the United States to London, England in 1840 to attend the World Anti-Slavery Convention.
Furthermore, your last paragraph (para. 3) is, I believe, a significant contribution of the feminist theory. Systematic oppression of female (and other minorities’) voice in history has influenced people’s experiences and responses. The feminist perspective normalizes minority groups’ experiences. At the same time as Muzak (2009) pointed out, it is important that we do not get stuck in the victim’s
(Goldfield, 338) Since the cult of domesticity was making women inferior to men, women decided to do as the slaves did and fight for their own freedom. The women’s rights movement began in the mid-1800s. Female and male abolitionist found it necessary that women should be able to have the same rights as men. Just because biologically they are different, it does not mean they do not deserve the same rights. Women were denied the right to vote, property and a right to an education or job. (Goldfield, 338) At first the women’s movement was slow. Many women were afraid to speak out in fear of being shunned by their community. This was a brand new scary task that Women for the first time were going to deal with. A women speaking out against the norms of society was seen as a terrible thing to do. When you have many women speaking out for the same thing a change must be done. When the first national convention for women’s rights was called in Seneca Falls, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were able to successfully use the Declaration of Independence as a model for their own Declaration of Sentiments. (Goldfield, 339) In their Declaration they branded that “male patriarchy as the source of women’s oppression” (Goldfield, 339) Stanton and Mott called for full women’s rights and to become independent citizens. Although the fight for women’s rights was always an important issue, most abolitionists deemed it less important
The oppression of women has been brought into light in the recent years but it was the norm in many societies in early history especially in premodern east Asia. During that time, the roles of men and women in society were determined by great scholars that had the power to get their voice to be heard and set general rules in society. In China, scholars like Confucius, Mencius, and Mozi had great impact on the way people divided the roles between men and women. The overall oppression of women in premodern east Asia can be seen through quotes from great scholars about how women should be obedient to men, should not make important decisions in their families, and are not spoken of equally to men in society.
Feminist perspective developed with the ideology that women face large amounts of inequalities in a patriarchal society. They aimed to address and rid the social world of this oppression of women by men. According to Bishop, (2015) “oppression occurs when one group of people use different forms of power to keep another group down in order to exploit them. The oppressor uses the power; the oppressed are exploited” (p. 133-134). Oppression must be by individual experience and not grouped into being the same for all. This includes understanding the original ideology of feminist theory being critiqued as only considering the experiences of middle class, white women. That black women, of lower class experienced oppression much different from the other women. Women are oppressed, thus has to be understood in a different construct that women are similar in some sources, experience of oppression but also experience oppression very differently from one individual to another. Feminist theories have further been expanded do its continuation throughout society and decades to encompass many more issues and arenas than just men and women relationships. Now it seeks to understand and address oppression based on culture, race, class, etc and not only for women but for all. Therefore, Bishop (2014) outlines five components that seem common to all forms of oppression and serve to maintain its presence in society.