The Declaration of Independence’s wording specifies “All men are created equal.” Ever since then women have been determined to rewrite those words. Women were finally guaranteed the right to vote with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920. Prior to the passage of this amendment women's suffrage was only guaranteed in some of the states and agitation for equal suffrage was carried on by only a few individuals (Wolgast 50). Women in America have always Dating back the early 1800’s women have broken away from the norm. Women like Emma Hart Willard who founded the Troy Female Seminary in New York which was the first endowed school for girls, helped empower women to see that there can be change.
Women’s role in society changed significantly, blacks were still suppressed, the mentally challenged were thought worthless and easily manipulated, and the elderly were seen as decrepit and useless souls. Though times have changed, we still have a marathon to crawl before we see equality in our world. The ladies of the twenties were determined to get what their suppressed, little hearts desired. Beaten, neglected, and stepped on, the women of the twenties were trapped in an unforgiving world of uncertainty and fear. Expected to walk the straight and narrow, they treated their husbands like royalty, and never thought for themselves.
Women’s Right To Vote To begin on my essay about the suffragists and the suffragettes I would like to give a brief introduction on how these two groups have played an essential part in history. The Suffragists played a huge part in history by starting the campaign to get the right to vote for all women. The suffragists went about this by taking a peaceful approach, they done things such as handing out leaflets, writing to the government, having meetings with people such as labour party members. On the other hand the suffragettes had a more different violent approach to trying to win the vote for women. They done things like damaging private property, chaining their self’s to railings and assaulting police men.
For years these women worked hard as activists for women’s rights and in August of 1920 the 19th Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote. The amendment stated that, ““The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” and “Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.””(history.com) Eastman wrote her article, “Now We Can Begin” in 1920 to show her audience that not only did women just win the right to vote but now women had a voice that could be and would be heard. Having grown up before 1920 and seeing the little respect that women had,
Alice worked hard and fought a long battle for all women living in the United States. Alice worked for a couple of different women’s groups who wanted President Wilson to ask Congress to pass a law giving women equal rights and the freedom to vote for president and other offices. Alice and her followers were very brave and strong. They were not willing to back down from what they believed in. They took their battle to Washington straight to the President of the United States.
A Woman’s Portrayal in “To the Troops at Tilbury”, Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, and The Tragedy of Mariam As the Renaissance began, we find that, much like the ancient days, women gain and then lose rights as the historical and political faces of Europe change. Even during Queen Elizabeth’s rule, as the de facto King of England, she was forced to uphold the standards given to a woman during the time. However, as we see in her speech “To the Troops at Tilbury” Queen Elizabeth also blurred the lines of masculinity and femininity as she to the role of a true king and all the masculine responsibility and strength that came with the title. As a male writer Shakespeare was able to quietly ask for change in society’s view of women in his satirical sonnet 130. Throughout the entire sonnet he mocks the ideas of women’s perfection in the Renaissance, and shows that no woman is perfect.
Women, under the reign of male power, were not considered persons and weren’t allowed or guaranteed any rights, rights which are basic human rights. Women of these times were unable to vote and unable to sit in parliament or acquire certain jobs that were only made available to the men of society. A woman with a seat in the parliament was unheard of at this time, but it was all because of Murphy’s efforts that this was ultimately made possible. Under the BNA act of 1867, “Persons” refers to more than one person, while “Person” refers to “He”. A common law was passed in 1867 stating, “Women are persons in matters of pains and penalties, but are not persons in matters of rights and privileges.” This law solidifies the ideal that women are disregarded when it comes to basic rights and priviledges in society.
Why were women given the vote in 1918? In 1918, women had finally gained the right to vote, after 68 long and hard years of campaigning and rebelling they finally got the vote they wanted. The women had tried everything like campaigning, getting them selves arrested, using the media and many more things were done. However, there were a couple of things that they did which really helped them get the right to vote and they were the fact that they helped the men in World War I, like loading the bombs shells with explosives and tidying the bomb shelters. Also I thought that the Suffragists played a vital role in getting the rights for women to vote because they proved to the men that they could protest and campaign without using violence or breaking the law, unlike the Suffragettes, who resorted to violence when they wanted their way or when they wanted to be heard.
A Lack of Female Friendships In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses Jane’s dislike of the traditional female role in society, her dissent against the Evangelical model of submissive women, and her seeking of a homo-power relationship as a psychological representation of a type of woman in the 19th century Victorian society to criticize the negative effect society had on women like Jane. In spite of Jane’s many attempts to gain her version of an ideal female friendship, Jane is largely unable to have the long-lasting, intense relationship that she finds with Rochester at the end, with any female characters. It appears that the reason for this absence of female relationships is Jane’s active seeking of confrontation, which shows her rebelliousness against the traditional role of women in Victorian society and her non-submissive, masculine personality and explains the failures of her relationships with Mary, Diana and Miss. Temple. Through this, Charlotte Bronte implies that the women who rebelled against their role in society had a hard time finding people to relate to or be friends with.
Woe to the man who describes women as frail, naïve, and out of touch in today's world. In the early 1900s, however, females were still cast in inferior roles to men, and unfortunately, Conrad, although progressive in his critique of imperialism, reflected the traditional treatment of women in Heart of Darkness. His five women characters were kept unnamed and their speech limited, highlighting the belittlement of women in the male-dominated society. Thus, Conrad offered no advancement to the cause of women by following convention and minimizing the agency of females through the creation of two separate, engendered spheres. Depicting women as unnatural entities, voiceless and agent less, to their male counterparts destroys any shot of redemption for the fairer sex, so Conrad aligns all the women in the narrative with unreality to evolve the importance of separate realms.