by Ian Opaczewski
“Land of the Free and Home of the Brave,” a motto that many associate with the ideals America is supposed to represent. When we think of freedom, however, we normally think of a democratic society in which all citizens are able to voice their concerns and opinions. Unfortunately up until 1920 much of that “freedom” was only granted to male citizens. Women throughout history have been treated as less than men or even in some cases less than human. The feminist movement set out to change that stigma and make America, and the world, a better place for women. Feminism is defined as the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. The first meeting to talk about women’s rights was in Seneca Falls, NY in 1848 but the movement flourished and evolved during the 20th century. Some think of the feminist movement as just an off-kilted relative of the equality movement that fights for equality for all no matter who they are, but this isn’t the true case. Feminism understands that all live are equal but feels that it needs to give women’s voice more prominence in a male dominated world. There are two main segments of the feminist movement, their plight for the right to vote and their struggles integrating into an all male powered workforce.
For the a majority of the early years of the 20th century the United States was at war in some form with World War 1 and 2. During this time men went off to fight and women were to stay at home and take care of the children. That didn’t end of being the case though when women started taking on factory jobs in order to help those fighting across the sea. For women to be allowed to participate in areas of work that was initially devoted to their male counterparts. It was a step forward after the 19th amendment passed in 1920 that allowed all American citizens the right to vote.
Social change doesn’t come with the drop of a hat though. Even with women winning the right to vote and breaking some of the gender divides, by working in factories, many still had to climb an uphill battle. Even though the country had voted to allow women to vote some still held sexist views towards women. “Women were welcome to come in as workers but not as co-makers of the world. For all their numbers, they seldom rose to positions of responsibility or power. The few who did fitted into the system as they found it. All standards, all methods, all values, continued to be set by men,” observed Emily N. Blair a Missouri suffragist and Vice President of the Democratic National Committee in 1924. Blair, along with other politically driven women, entered into America’s male centered political arena in hopes to bring about more women centered legislation. These women had to undertake a strenuous task in order to even get a word in. Many male congressmen only held women as outside figures that had no real precedent to be in such authority. With women such as Blair and Carrie Chapman Catt, who was also one of the women who made the move into congress, they started to slowly change how things were done. Catt saw the pushback that men would give in Congress by saying, “the unwillingness to give women even a small share of the political positions, which would enable them to score advantage to their ideals.” She refers to the aspect that many women did enter into governmental positions but the positions didn’t have much real power. All the true control was still held by certain men within Congress.
At the end of the 20th century the rights of women had expanded exponentially from the frail state they were in at the beginning of the century. Over the century many women had to fight with all they hand in order to gain respect and common decency from men who are only fundamentally different in minute ways. We are about two decades into the 21st century and many of us can see they fruits of all those suffragists who fought. Who saw that equality is for all but also noticed the blatant disregard to acknowledge women as creatures of change just as men were. Women have been fighting for years to secure the basic rights that I as a man, and other men like me, have overlooked. Those women of the 20th century set a true precedent that we as a “free” country should allow every right to every person of every demographic.
Works Cited
"Feminism Old Wave and New Wave." Feminism Old Wave and New Wave. N.p., n.d. Web. Apr. 2016.
"The Women's Rights Movement, 1848–1920 | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives." The Women's Rights Movement, 1848-1920. N.p., n.d. Web. Apr. 2016.
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