A review of the accomplishments of women throughout history

 Mary Wollstonecraft  Published an essay called A Vindication of the Rights of Woman In the essay she disagrees with Rousseau’s claims that a girl should just learn to be a helpful wife and mother She wanted women to be educated so they could become more useful It would also help them enter male dominated fields (medicine and politics) “It is vain to expect virtue from women till they are in some degree independent of men”

 Mary Astell English writer who published A Serious Proposal to the Ladies Her book discusses the fact that women lacked educational opportunities. She used Enlightenment values to criticize the unequal relationship between a man and a woman in marriage. “ If all men are born free, how is it tat all women are born slaves”

 Women were very important during the Enlightenment because they helped spread Enlightenment values through salons  Salons were social gatherings hosted by wealthy women  These women were in charge of choosing the topics discussed and facilitating the discussions.

 Olympe de Gouges  French playwright and political activist  Wrote Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen It was written as a rebuttal against the Declaration of the Rights of Man “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility.” From Declaration of Rights of Man “Woman are born free and remains equal to man in rights. Social distinctions may only be based on common utility”. From Declaration of Rights of Woman She wrote that the French Revolution failed because it glorified gender inequality She argued the fact that women were punished worse than men under the law, however they didn’t have the same rights

 She was one of the earliest feminists who just wanted men and women to be equal in society  For her views she was executed through the means of guillotine in 1793

 The march took place on October  Women in the marketplace began rioting over the high prices of bread  The mob grew into thousands and they stormed the Place of Versailles  They carried many weapons such as knives and axes. They killed some guards.  They demanded Louis and Marie to leave the place and return to Paris  They gave into their demands eventually

 She was a very smart and assertive woman  From a young age she began absorbing all the knowledge she could from her mother  She opened an intellectual salon and began writing and publishing her own works  She wrote Corinne and On Germany  She was a romantic and her works show this.  She urged people to stray from traditional ideals and to experiment with things  Although she was very gifted many people did not take her seriously because she was a woman  For this reason she spent a large portion of her life advocating for woman’s rights.  She wanted intelligent women like herself to be taken seriously and the only way that would be possible is if men and women were equal

 During the Victorian Era, men and women were considered to belong to “separate spheres”  Women were expected to stay at home and men were supposed to work  During the time, the most important job of middle class women was to raise their children  During this time there was legal discrimination against women by the government  It was frowned upon by society if women worked. The only acceptable job was teaching and that was only of she wasn’t married.

 During the 1800’s women in both Great Britain and the United States began demanding the right the vote  Women began organizing societies and protesting  In the July of 1848 the Seneca Falls Convention took place in New York  This was one of the first women’s rights conventions ever.  During the convention the Declaration of Sentiments was signed by 68 women and 32 men  It was written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and was based off of the Declaration of Independence.  This document caused a lot of controversy because of it “radical” ideas.  The document called for the equality of men and women before the law  “ We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men and women are created equal”

 Emmiline Pankhurst  She spent her entire life fighting for women’s suffrage  Founded the Women’s Social and Political Union It was a militant group formed to get women the right to vote  She wrote Why We Are Militant in response to people asking her why her group takes part in militant actions  She wrote her group takes part in violent activities because everything else has failed.  She writes that women can’t just sit back and wait for “evolution” to allow them to vote. She argues that if this were the case there would be no need for revolution  She says that when men wanted to vote they revolted and demanded change. Women were doing the same thing, in fact they were doing more. They held more meetings then men, yet they still cannot vote.  After all this the only thing that is left is violence. However, even this may not work because of the hypocrisy of men.  “When we were patient, when we believed in argument and persuasion, they said, ‘You don't really want it because, if you did, you would do something unmistakable to show you were determined to have it.’ And then when we did something unmistakable they said, ‘You are behaving so badly that you show you are not fit for it.’”

 Finally in 1920 the 19 th amendment was passed giving women the right to vote

 Even after centuries of women trying to gain rights, it is still not any better today.  Yes, on the surface it may seem like women are equal to men, however if one looks closer, they will find that this is not the case.  For example women are still paid less than men even if they have the same job  Women were just allowed to serve combat positions in the military (January 2013)

 Born in Pakistan she is the youngest person ever to be nominated for a Noble Peace Prize  In Swat Valley she advocated for women's rights, specifically educational rights.  She wanted to be able to go to school without fear of retaliation by the Taliban.  She began speaking out against the Taliban on many news outlets. For this reason one day when she was coming home from school she was shot in the head by a member of the Taliban  She survived and when she recovered she continued her fight for education for girls. She founded the Malala Fund.