Gloria Steinem Influence On Women's Rights

The gender roles in America have changed tremendously since the end of the American Civil War. Women and men, who once lived in separate spheres are now both contributing to American society. Women have gone from the housewife so playing key roles in the country's development in all areas. Though our society widely accepts women and the idea that our society is gender neutral, the issues that women once faced in the late 1860s are still here.

The Women's Rights Movement was a significant crusade for women that began in the late nineteenth century and flourished throughout Europe and the United States for the rest of the twentieth century. Advocates for women's rights initiated this movement as they yearned for equality and equal participation and representation in society. Throughout all of history, the jobs of women ranged from housewives to factory workers, yet oppression by society, particularly men, accompanied them in their everyday lives. Not until the end of the nineteenth century did women begin to voice their frustrations about the inequalities among men and women, and these new proclamations would be the basis for a society with opportunities starting to open for

Women have always been fighting for their rights for voting, the right to have an abortion, equal pay as men, being able to joined the armed forces just to name a few. The most notable women’s rights movement was headed in Seneca Falls, New York. The movement came to be known as the Seneca Falls convention and it was lead by women’s rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton during July 19th and 20th in 1848. Stanton created this convention in New York because of a visit from Lucretia Mott from Boston. Mott was a Quaker who was an excellent public speaker, abolitionist and social reformer. She was a proponent of women’s rights. The meeting lasted for only two days and was compiled of six sessions, which included lectures on law, humorous

The way we conducted are research was from various sources. We got most of our books from a field trip our school took to the University of Washington. This soon led us to many endless nights of trying to better emphasize our thesis, until we realized the main purpose

During the Progressive Era, there was a rise in advocates for various issues of the period. A prime example of a progressive advocate is Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who through her writing encouraged more social, political, and economic rights for women. Gilman specifically advocated for women to not only participate in their domestic duties but for women to also serve as active members of society; both politically and financially. To convey these points, Gilman wrote and published many books that illustrated the issues to the public and started conversations and controversies which brought more attention to women’s rights. In her works, Gilman consistently advocated for economic power for women; however, she supported women being involved and equal in every aspect of society; including having the same domestic power and rights as their husbands, women’s suffrage to match male counterparts, and the ability for women to be financially independent and self-supporting. Gilman’s writings acted as a significant part of the women’s rights movement during the Progressive Era by bringing the controversial issues to the public eye.

Of all the issues that were in the middle of reformation mid 1800’s, antislavery, education, intemperance, prison reform, and world peace, women’s rights was the most radical idea proposed. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 was a rally held by Elizabeth Cady Stanton with the common goal to eventually achieve equal rights among all citizens. Frederick Douglass, who became an acclaimed activist in the African American Equal Rights movement, accompanied the movement. Moreover, The Declaration of Sentiments was a document that reflected the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, reiterating the sentiment from the Bible that “all men [and women] are created equal.” Concurrent to the publication of this document, for the first time, women insisted that they were men’s equals in every way. The Declaration of Sentiments was pivotal in Women’s history, although it was not given credit until the late 20th century. However, immediately after the Declaration of Sentiments was published, women and activist groups were inspired to take action towards rights for all underprivileged American citizens. The convention took place in a small town in upstate New York, which was home to four of the five people who organized the gathering. (DuBois, 1999, p. 45) This was the first time female equality was discussed in a public place. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 was one of the most important events in women’s rights history.

The Progressive Era was a period of time between the late 1800s and the early 1900s when the United States sought ideas that gave people equality. Prior to the Progressive Era, women and immigrants were not allowed to vote and not given the opportunity to be employed in many jobs. Also, children were forced to work in factories and there was no conservation of the Earth’s resources. During the Progressive Era, rights of minorities, conservation of natural resources, cleanliness in food gained improvements.

One of the biggest reasons I have for choosing this topic was to find out what these women did to make a difference, not only in their lives, but in the lives of so many future generations. How does one group of disrespected, non-voting, non-working women, gain the attention of the rest of the world? They changed history for themselves and the rest of the nation.

Gloria Steinem, famous for being one of the faces of the second wave of feminism, was not always a great feminist leader. As a child, she had a great role model to be able to look up to: her grandmother, Pauline Perlmutter Steinem, was the leader of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association, a delegate to the 1908 International Council of Women and the first female member of the Toledo Board of Education. She experienced a lot of sexism in her career, she even had to use a man’s name to start her journalism career. But, she soon became a respected writer after she went “undercover” as a Playboy bunny and wrote about the sexism in the job. Steinem also got involved in politics; in 1970 she testified in the Senate in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Woman were highly involved during the Progressive Movement in the early twentieth century. It all began with a speech gave to the public by Rose Schneiderman after a fire killed 146 workers that were mostly women in a New York City business. During this incident fire exits were blocked it, which indicated that it was not an accidental fire. In her speech, she addressed the fact that woman continuously had to tolerate this type of behavior because whenever they tried to protest the law shut them down immediately. Sadly, this was not the only incident that occurred during this period. Another woman known as Anna Howard Shaw, brought to the public eyes attention how men thought women should not be allowed to vote because they were too emotional,

During the American Revolutionary Era, women played essential roles in the defiance against Great Britain by boycotting British products and joining the non-consumption organization. During the American Revolution, women served as nurses, cooks, maids, seamstresses, some even secretly enlisted in the Continental Army. From 1825 to 1850, women were fighting for equal opportunities as men and women’s right to vote, the Reform Period. Women’s roles were similar during the American Revolutionary Era and the Reform Movement because during both periods, women contributed to the movements, by joining political protest. Their roles differed during the periods because women during the reform movements, created conventions geared towards women, exacting

Tuesday, November 2, 1920, the day women voted for the first time. The New York Times called it, “The greatest voting day in the city’s history.” It was a wonderful day for women all across the country. All of their hard work had finally paid off. The Women’s Rights Movement changed the way women were seen. Before the passage of the 19th Amendment, women in many states were not given the right to vote. The Women’s Rights movement was caused by many factors, greatly impacted the society of the early 1900s and changed American society forever.

    The feminism movement throughout the 1900’s showed much progression to equality in western society. It was this pivotal century that set the ball rolling for important women’s rights, including women’s suffrage in 1920, John F. Kennedy passing the Equal Pay Act in 1963, and even sparked revolutionary women such as Amelia Earhart, one of the first female pilots. But like all new changes there was room for improvement. This is where great speakers such as journalist Gloria Steinem stepped in. On May 6, 1970, Steinem spoke before Congress on the equal rights amendment as a supporter for female equality. She goes on to describe that still into the 1970’s that women were being socially discriminated

Who was Gloria Steinem? Why did she gain recognition? Why is she important? Well Gloria Steinem is an American feminist. She’s a Socialist Political activists.

What “area” have you chosen as the focus for your level 6 research project, why do you think this is worthy of research?