Women Voices, Women Lives American Literature

Popular Book of Etiquette, 1880 The power of a woman is in refinement, gentleness and elegance; it is she who makes etiquette, and it is she who preserves the order and decency of society. Without women, men would soon resume to a savage state, and the comfort and the graces of the home are exchanged for the misery of the mining camp. Popular Book of Etiquette, 1880 This book voiced a widely held notion of women’s place in society.

Suffrage Movement in U.S. The suffrage movement begins in the Temperance Movement. Women were the major force in the Temperance Movement. Woman realize that the had a voice and something to contribute to society. Women began to organize on a local level and by 1850 had their first National Women Rights Convention. By 1869 there were two competing Women’s Organization in the United States. In 1890 after years bitter rivalry the two groups merged to form the National Woman’s Suffrage Association. The 19th Amendment was signed into law August 20,1920. The 19th Amendment prohibits any United States citizen from being denied the right to vote on the basis of sex.

Education One of the important factors to the growth of the movement was university education. New York Journal Headline 1896 Are We Destroying Woman’s Beauty? The Startling Warning of a Great English Physician Against Higher Education of Women. How Intellectual Work Destroys Beauty”

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886 She was a reclusive person who only published a few poems during her lifetime. The one that were published were often heavily edited by publishers because of there unconventional poetic rules. After her death her sister Lavina found her poems and were published by friends but were heavily edited. It was not until 1955 that the poems were published in unaltered forms.

Kate Chopin Katherine O'Flaherty (February 8, 1850 — August 22, 1904) She wrote short stories for magazines such as Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, and The Century Magazine. She published two collections of short stories and two novels. The Awakening her final novel her stepped over the line of woman’s hidden passion, arousing public protest so vigorous that Chopin ceased writing completely. She is considered to be the first feminist writer.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935) A prominent American feminist, sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform. She was a utopian feminist during a time when her accomplishments were exceptional for women, and she served as a role model for future generations of feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle. Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" which she wrote after a severe bout of postpartum psychosis.