Women’s Rights

in the US

C.K.X

Why do I care?

Women's rights are important to me because I am a girl who wants men and women to have equal rights. Without women's rights females

wouldn't be allowed to vote, go to school, work, or even leave their homes. There is also no real reason why women should have less

rights than a man.

Origins

Research only states that women were considered subordinate to men due to religious reasons. There is actually no definite reason as to why women are considered to be less than men.

In England, Women had very little rights and usually followed the roles as mothers and caretakers.

In other countries, such as Germany, it was legal for men to hit or use physical force on their wives.

● In the 1500s women had almost no rights

● German communities gave their women more rights in the past

● France also gave very little rights to women for a long time

A modern version of gender roles

Timeline● During the Revolutionary War relationships between men and women

changed. The relationship between a man and his wife started to become more about love rather than subordinance, but women were still treated as being lower than men.

● Throughout the 19th century many women such as Sojourner truth, Maria W. Stewart, and Harriet Tubman spoke publicly about the rights of women.

● In 1903, the National Women's Trade Union League was formed. Their purpose was to work towards improving women's wages and working conditions.

Timeline

● The first U.S birth-control clinic opened in Brooklyn, N.Y. Margaret Sanger, who opened it, was arrested 10 days later but won in court and reopened another clinic 7 years later.

● The 19th Amendment is passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate in 1919.

● Margaret Sanger founded the American Birth Control League in 1921, which is now known as Planned Parenthood.

Timeline● The National Council of Negro Women is organized by Mary Bethune in 1935.

They worked towards eliminating racism, sexism, and discrimination in the workplace.

● In 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, which is why paying women less is illegal.

● In 1969, California became the first state to allow a mutual consenting divorce.

● Pregnant women were often fired or denied jobs simply for being pregnant. In 1978 the Pregnancy Discrimination Act made this illegal.

Minor v. Happersett

In St. Louis County, Missouri, Virginia Minor was refused the right to vote just because she was a woman. Reese Happersett was the registrar who did not allow her to vote. With the help of her husband who was a lawyer, they took Reese Happersett to court. Before Minor v. Happersett there was a series of court cases where suffragists challenged that being a U.S citizen gave somebody the right to vote and that gender had nothing to do with. Minor v. Happersett was the only one to reach the Supreme Court.

Ultimately, Minor lost, but this case was important in women’s rights because it became popular with suffragists and eventually led to the 19th Amendment.

Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972)

William Baird gave contraceptive foam to an unmarried woman after giving a lecture on birth control at Boston University. This was illegal in Massachusetts where only doctors and pharmacists could provide contraceptives to married couples.

After a series of legal matters, the case made its way

to the U.S. Supreme Court where Baird won because denying and and making it illegal for unmarried couples to use contraceptives violated the right to equal protection.

This is Baird in 2012. He still advocates for reproductive rights.

Roe v. Wade (1973)Roe was a pregnant women who wanted to get an abortion. In

Texas, abortion was prohibited unless it was to save the woman's life. The first argument against Texas' law failed, but the second time around the court ruled that making it a crime for a woman to get an abortion violated her due process rights.

The case brought a lot of attention from both supporters and opposers. There were a lot of protests about it at the time.

This case is still important when it comes to people who are pro-choice. Especially in Texas, where there is still a lot of people who are against abortion. There are still abortion laws in Texas that make it difficult for women to get safe abortions.

Impact on Society

Thanks to the efforts made in the past to gain women more rights women are now able to vote, get divorced, leave their homes, pursue careers, get an education, take place in “jobs for men”, and much more.

While women have gained more rights there are also newer issues concerning how sexualized women are in the media.Within this past year, feminism has also gained a lot of popularity again. Many people are using social media to educate others and get more supporters.

Opposing Opinions

Although women’s rights has come far, there are still many men and some women that still think women are considered to be less than man. There are people who still believe that women should follow the traditional gender roles and the rules that were applied to only women.

Religions and Religious groups today still use gender roles in their communities or churches. churches and communities. For example, a majority of Mormon churches believe that women and men should have different roles in life, and follow a different set of rules.