1. History of the Women’s Rights Movement
1848 – present

2. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. -- Margaret Mead
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
-- Margaret Mead

3. Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion.
You must set
yourself on fire.
-- Reggie Leach

4. Women themselves made these changes happen, very deliberately.
Meetings
Petition drives
Lobbying
Public speaking
Nonviolent resistance

5. The modern women’s rights movement can be divided into three “waves”
1960s and 1970s
1990s to the present

6. Important events, 1848 – 1920
                                                            

7. First Women’s Rights Convention
July 1848
Seneca Falls, NY
Attended by 300+ people
Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott
Inspired by attending abolitionist convention in London

8. Declaration of Sentiments
Modeled after the Declaration of Independence
Listed 18 areas where women were treated unjustly
Called for legal reforms that would give women more rights, including suffrage
                                

9. Frederick Douglass argued: “Suffrage is the power to choose rulers and make laws, and the right by which all others are secured.”

11. The Declaration ends:
“In entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we shall use every instrumentality within our power to effect our object.”

12. Early leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton Began career as an abolitionist
Accomplished at a young age, but father told her, “My daughter, you should have been a boy.”
Spent honeymoon at London anti-slavery convention
Raised 7 children

13. Early leaders Susan B. Anthony
Grew up in Quaker family that supported equal rights for men and women
Began career in the temperance movement
Convinced that women needed political rights and economic rights
Expanded women’s rights movement nationally

14. Different approaches
National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
Founded in 1890
First two presidents: Stanton and Anthony
Led by Carrie Chapman Catt in early 20c
Nonpartisan, local approach
Tried to get state legislatures to give women the vote
By 1901, just four states had given women full voting rights

15. Different approaches National Woman’s Party
Founded in 1914 by Alice Paul & Lucy Burns
National strategy (not state-by-state)
Goal: constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote

16. Alice Paul Militant young Quaker activist
Adopted the attention-getting protest tactics used by British suffragists
1917: round-the-clock picketing of the White House (even in time of war); she held the “party in power” responsible for not passing suffrage
Women chained themselves to railings
Many were arrested
Hunger strikes in prison
                           

17. 19th amendment 1919: Congress proposed 19th amendment
1920: 19th amendment is ratified
NAWSA ceases to exist, but becomes nucleus of League of Women Voters

18. Iron Jawed Angels HBO Films, 2004 Alice Paul & Lucy Burns
Inez Mulholland led the 1913 suffrage parade in Washington, DC
In the movie, she wears white wings, a reference to the angel figure many suffragists used in their imagery (idealized version of justice and liberty)

19. Iron Jawed Angels
1917: daily picket line outside the White House (first in American history)
Continued even after U.S. entered WWI; public considered them traitors
Called Wilson “Kaiser” in one famous banner

20. The Second Wave of Activism What got things started in the 1960s?
The 1960s and 1970s
The Second Wave of Activism
What got things started in the 1960s?

21. Commission on the Status of Women
Chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt
Issued a report in 1963 that documented discrimination against women in virtually every area of American life

22. The Feminine Mystique Written by Betty Friedan in 1963
Documents the emotional and intellectual oppression that middle-class educated women were experiencing because of limited life options

23. From The Feminine Mystique
“Each suburban wife struggled with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffered Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night — she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question — ‘Is this all?’”

24. Friedan’s book inspired thousands of women to look for fulfillment beyond the role of homemaker.

25. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
Prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, and national origin
Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
               

26. National Organization for Women (NOW)
Formed in 1966
Civil rights organization for women, similar to the NAACP

27. Grassroots Projects that started in the 1960s and 1970s
Women’s newspapers, bookstores, and cafes
Women’s shelters and rape crisis hotlines
Child care centers
Women’s health clinics

28. Title IX Part of the Education Codes of 1972
Ensured equal access to higher education
Prohibits sex discrimination in all aspects of education programs that receive federal support

29. Title IX Had a big impact on women’s sports
Schools now had to offer equal access to athletics for its female students

30. Equal Rights Amendment is re-introduced
“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

31. ERA
In 1972, Congress finally passed the ERA and sent it to the states for ratification
This was a local issue, since states had to decide individually
Marches, house meetings, door-to-door

32. Opposition to the ERA Anti-ERA movement led by Phyllis Schlafly
Feared that a statement like the ERA in the Constitution would give the government too much control over our personal lives

33. The End of the ERA Deadline for ratification came in 1982
The ERA was just 3 states short of the 38 needed to write it into the U.S. Constitution

35. Some of today’s women’s rights issues
Women’s reproductive rights. Whether or not women can terminate pregnancies is still controversial 40+ years after the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade.
Women’s enrollment in military academies and service in active combat. Are these desirable?

36. And more issues . . .
The mommy track. Should businesses accommodate women’s family responsibilities, or should women compete evenly for advancement with men, most of whom still assume fewer family obligations?

37. And there’s more . . .
Sexual harassment. Just where does flirting leave off and harassment begin?
Women in politics. Is the United States ready for a female president?

38. Just what exactly does it mean to be a “feminist”?
And finally . . .
Just what exactly does it mean to be a “feminist”?

39. Some definitions of feminism
The belief that society is disadvantageous to women, systematically depriving them of individual choice, political power, economic opportunity and intellectual recognition.
Movement in support of the view that men and women should have equal social value and status.
A doctrine that advocates equal rights for women

40. Quotes about feminism
“People call me feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute.”
Rebecca West
“Feminism is doomed to failure because it is based on an attempt to repeal and restructure human nature.”
Phyllis Schlafly

41. More quotes
“I wanted to be the first woman to burn her bra, but it would have taken the fire department four days to put it out.”
Dolly Parton
“Some of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry.”
Gloria Steinem
“Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less.”
Susan B Anthony

42. Is this what you thought it was?
Images of Feminism
Is this what you thought it was?