Women in Society Synthesis Essay

668 Words3 Pages
In an age characterized by gender inequality, women were often told “your assignment, as wives and mothers, you can do in the living room with a baby in your lap or in the kitchen with a can opener in your hand” (Governor Adlai Stevenson, 1955). During the 19th century, women enjoyed few of the political, social and physical rights and opportunities that women of the 20th and 21st century have. Since then, women have fought for a more equal society and a more equal role by accomplishing a significant amount of goals that increased women’s opportunities. While political opportunities, working gender roles, and fashion are challenges that women face today, they are not as bad as the ones that women in the 19th century had to endure. Though not completely represented, women play vital roles in government nowadays as opposed to in the 19th century, when they were not even allowed to vote. Currently women hold 18% of the seats in Congress and 16% of the seats in the Senate, and while those percentages are definitely not as much as men, women have progressively moved forward since the 19th century. Women like Nancy Pelosi embody the growing development of women rising into political positions. By being elected Speaker of the House, she ushered in a “woman’s touch to the office” and shattered the “marble ceiling” by going from “the kitchen to the Congress” (Source F). While the battle for equality in political positions in government grows, the challenges that women face are no where near as bad as those that women in the 19th century had to undergo when women had not representation in government at all. Women today still face social challenges, especially in the workplace, in perceptions of gender roles and in education; however, they are nowhere near as bad as those that women in 19th had to suffer through. Women from the 19th century had very limited job
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