In the 19th century, women in the United States were not allowed as many freedoms as they are today including rights that go along with politics of the nation. One of the major obstacles standing in their way to equality revolved around the right to vote, since men were allowed this privilege but women were not. Many women picked up the cause to gain the right to vote in order to validate their own selves and pose the argument that they were just as capable of acting in politics as men were (Haesly, 39).
These women wanted to be involved in the process in order to help make a difference when it came to the methods in which the country was involved. Their desire to be involved in the environment in which they existed makes sense in modern times, but in the beginning it was seen as completely unnecessary and unfounded. Women worked very hard for a substantial period of time, lasting over 50 years, in order to gain the right to vote.
This was a freedom not easily won for a number of reasons, and there were multiple problems that stood in the way of women who wanted to vote in the United States. From men that thought a women’s place was strictly in the home, to other women that believed men should be influenced by women in order to keep the women out of the corrupt ambience of politics, women suffrage advocates would need to overcome many obstacles before they were finally granted, in the United States, the right to vote. There were a number of founding women that supported this freedom and ranged from conservative proponents of women’s suffrage to women with more conservative stances, nonetheless desiring the right to vote.
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Women have been fighting for their rights for everything from the freedom to own property to the freedom to vote. During the Seneca Falls Convention, Susan B. Anthony made a compelling speech that change many people's views, both male and female. They fought for well over a year to obtain the 18 th Amendment which granted them the right to vote. Ever since then the world has been a better and more ...
It is said that “The women’s rights movement had its roots in the campaign to end slavery” and there is a great deal of evidence to support this (Frost and Cullen-DuPont, 25).
When the idea of abolishing slavery began to be discussed, women began to theorize that this was a piece of politics that they were more than entitled to have an interest in because it was a matter of “justice, of humanity, of morality, of religion” (Haesly, 39).
Many women critiqued the stereotype that was placed upon them that they were to stay home and not involve themselves in matters set aside for men. Many women found this upsetting not because they were expected to stay in the home, but because they were expected to be limited to just this, as if they could not intellectually, mentally or emotionally handle the world of politics, or even the world in general outside their own home.
“May we not permit a thought to stray beyond the narrow limits of our own families and of the present hour?” Susan T. Smith asked at one point during a gathering (Haesly, 41).
In London in 1840, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were both banned from an Anti-Slavery convention in London simply because they were women (Haesly, 42).
In part as a result, they held the Seneca Falls Convention in which women addressed their right to vote and be involved in politics. It ended up having a great impact on women who were interested in this area of human rights as well as men that either supported or were against this particular evolution in the lives of women. While women became more confident, men against the idea became more critical.
At the Seneca Falls Convention, it came to be that many women were informed of the obstacles that would stand in their way, as seen from the vantage of men (Haesly, 45).
In the event that these women did not have men in their lives revealing these ideas to them, different men took it upon themselves to go to the convention and explain why women were not fit to take part in politics. Debates were waged between men and women as to whether or not women should or could take part in such an intricate process. After the Seneca Falls convention, it was said that the movement for women’s voting rights had finally, and officially, begun (Frost and Cullen-DuPont, 82).
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In the last year alone fifty five percent of women around the world were suffering from depression, nausea and stroke. Even worse five women out of ten are committing suicide. All of these cases and many more happening around the world and are raising a lot questions. These problems can not just be coincidences, they most have a case that is present all over the world. The most probable reason is ...
When it came to reforming the path of voting, one man against women suffragists, William C. Bloss, asked “if there was not a natural disqualification? Did not boys and girls exhibit dissimilar taste in the choice of playthings?” (Haesly, 45).
Here, Bloss seems to compare voting to playing as if the right to vote were something people took on for fun rather than in order to make a societal and environmental difference in the country. In addition, Bloss indicated that he did not think, even if women were granted this right, that they would utilize their power to vote (Haesly, 45).
As a result, women would have understandably been likely to feel mocked and inferior.
Women also had to deal with the fact that there were other women who did not think it was their place to vote. Harriet Beecher Stowe and Catherine Beecher argued that women should use their husbands, brothers and fathers as tools to influence politics instead of exposing themselves to that environment (Haesly, 46).
They inquired as to whether or not there were actually any benefits to come from this insistence (Haesly, 46).
Male objections echoed similar sentiments, including that men were intellectually superior to women, that Christ did not establish a religion that would equate women with men, and that Eve, the mother of sin, was a woman and thus women were incompetent (Haesly, 63).
Politics were considered to be a dirty and corrupt area, in which women have no place. They were desired to remain moral and not become involved in such an area (Helmer, IX).
However, this did not stop women from trying to achieve their goal.
Many songs were created over time in order to express the plight of women in this arena. It was a very effective and powerful way in which women were able to express themselves. Some of these songs included “Let Us Speak Our Minds if We Die for It” and the sarcastic ballad “Female Suffrage” which includes the lyrics “You may visit ball and concert, In gaudy hat and coat, In fact, my charming creatures, do everything, but VOTE” (Hurner).
Male suffrage expanded as African Americans gained the right to vote in the 14th amendment, which pointedly denied women this right (Frost and Cullen-DuPont, 169).
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What role did the Women’s Suffrage Movement Play during the “Quiet Revolution” in the Bahamas? Notable women such as Dame Doris Johnson, Mary Ingraham, Eugenia Lockhart, Mabel Walker and Georgianna Symonette has made countless triumphs toward the equal rights of all women in the Bahamas. In particular all of these women mentioned before were major persons in the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the ...
Despite the fact that the 14th amendment was adopted into the Constitution, women still worked diligently in order to attempt to gain their right to vote and be involved in the political process (Frost and Cullen-DuPont, 178).
During the course of World War I, as women began to take on the jobs that were most often held by men, it became clear that women were capable and effective in many different roles, besides just in the home. In part as a result, in 1920, the 19th Amendment was passed and women were finally allowed the right to vote (Frost and Cullen-DuPont, 317).
Despite the fact that it has been well over 80 years since women have been granted the right to vote, there are still some problems in the system. Women suffrage is still an issue today for many individuals. Many countries around the world are still unwilling to allow the women from the region to vote and there are 21st century suffragettes that fight for their right to vote (Radwan).
Kuwaiti women just recently received their right to vote in 2005 (Radwan).
Despite the progress, many women are threatened against voting, and still many more countries will not grant this right to their women. The United States was able to eventually ratify an amendment that would make it possible for women to vote in the country, but there are a number of areas around the world that do not exist in this manner. In order to ensure that equality for women progresses from a global standpoint, it needs to be understood that until women in every democratic country can vote, the same as men, the women’s suffrage movement is hardly won.
Works Cited
Frost, Elizabeth and Kathryn Cullen-DuPont, Ed. Women’s Suffrage
in America: An Eyewitness History. New York: Facts on File,
1992.
Haesly, Richard, Ed. Women’s Suffrage. Farmington Hills:
Greenhaven, 2003.
Helmer, Diana Star. Women Suffragists. New York: Facts on File,
1998.
Hurner, Sheryl. “Discursive identity formation of suffrage women: reframing the “Cult of True Womanhood” through song.” Western Journal of Communication 70.3 (July 2006): 234(27).
InfoTrac OneFile. Thomson Gale. 13 Apr. 2007.
The Essay on Women’s Suffrage
Who were the muckrakers? Identify some of the major muckrakers and their writings. How did they prepare the way for Progressivism? The muckrakers were journalists whom detailed the corrupt and scandal occurring in the world. Some major muckrakers are Lincoln Stevens whom wrote a series of articles in McClure’s Magazine titled “The Shame of the Cities”, David G. Phillips who wrote the series of ...
Radwan, Amany. “21st Century Suffragettes.” Time. 22 May 2005.
Time Magazine. 13 April 2007.
