Throughout the American history, women have been fighting to achieve the same basic liberties that men have always had. Feminists ultimately desire to gain the political, social, and physical freedoms that should have been self-evident since birth. Suffrage, or the right to vote, was arguably the first major accomplishment for all U.S. women. Not long after, women were back out protesting again, this time for their right to earn fair wages. Men had been making much more than women in positions where they were doing the same exact work. Eventually this brought about the Equal pay act which made it illegal to pay an employee less than they would someone else based on his or her physical appearance or age. Currently, the wage gap debate lives on. Since then, the gap has been steadily decreasing, but there is still much debate about men getting paid more than women and the accuracy of these statistic. Parental leave has also been a popular topic of discussion for years now because America really lacks in this department. Not all americans are able to get any form of leave and most that do have access, can’t even get paid leave. This forces parents to go back to work soon after the birth or adoption of a child. While at work, it is not uncommon for an employee or even employer to experience sexual harassment. This has ignited the Me Too Movement against all forms of sexulal volence which has reached international levels. Many women today, also have to face the fear of losing access to their medications that a lot of the time eases pains and usually stops the menstruation cycle to prevent pregnancy. Since the beginning of time, women have been viewed and treated as less than men and are expected to look and act a certain way for a man’s pleasure and convenience. Slowly women have been and still are breaking away from these social norms, fighting for equality and their rights. Women’s rights are basic humans rights.
After just under a century of hard work, debates and protests, women finally gained the ultimate right to vote on August 18, 1920 upon the ratification of the nineteenth amendment. Previously, in certain cities, then in certain states, some women were actually allowed to vote in small elections as long as they had certain qualifications. Slowly, and little by little, other states began allowing women to vote, pushing suffrage onto a national level (Gertner and Heriot). Two of the most influential women in the early years of the suffrage movement were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Stanton also advocated for anti-slavery, women's property rights, birth control and the divorce reform (Sigerman 7). She is most well known for her participation in the Seneca Falls Convention which was organized by five women to formally state, discuss and provide a solution for all of the injustices that women face. At the convention, Stanton was in charge of writing and presenting the Seneca Falls Declaration Of Sentiments which is the original documentation demanding their rights. It was written to represent the Declaration of Independence in order to signify that women were breaking away from men in order to gain their own independence, thus the beginning of a revolution. Elizabeth Cady Stanton says,
their positions in society and encouraging them to fight for a change. New women’s rights organizations and conventions began to sprout up all over the country. Most of these conventions invited Stanton to speak, although she had other responsibilities and was unable to attend most, she did send letters to be read aloud in her place (Sigerman 51-54).
Although today, the idea of a woman in the voting booth isn’t given much of a second thought, it was long fought against and was considered absolutely outrageous. A female who desired to vote was seen as immoral and ungodly. It was often extremely hard for a woman of that time to stand up for herself and fight back. Although some dreamt of the day that they could take part in the American political system, many often didn’t voice this opinion, for the fear of shame and embarrassment on them and their families. Shannon Risk states, “Pro-suffrage women were often dismissed by the anti-suffragists as an unimportant minority, not credible in the political realm” (384-385). Many anti-suffragists argued that they were trying to help women because voting would become a burden and could possibly cause them health problems. A common theme in the debate was that the average woman simply not intelligent enough to vote and that would corrupt the integrity of politics. It was also believed that becoming involved in politics would change a woman’s values thus making them “less feminine”; it was a priority that
women remained like china dolls so that the gender hierarchy could remain the same. It was also often assumed that women wouldn’t be able to make a difference in the American political system because she would vote the same as her husband in order to remain unity within the household (Apostol).
Pushing suffrage into national laws is important because, to them, it meant a lot more than just a ballot; they were granted the same political privileges as men, meaning that they could make their own decisions without a husband’s approval, ultimately bringing them freedom, and independence.
Just before the right to vote, was the right for women to earn and keep their wages. Large numbers of lower and middle class women began getting what was known as “women’s jobs”. These jobs included things like waitressing, a seamstress, maid, laundry-woman, and a midwife. At the start of the first world war, women began taking over the higher paying jobs that the men were leaving behind; this also opened up lots of jobs for people of color. Women were proving society, including themselves, wrong on what they were capable of. Most began working in factories, usually making weapons and heavy machinery, a lot of others were serving in the war as nurses and mechanics. After the war, a lot of women were forced to leave the workforce as the men began to claim back their old jobs. At this point in time, it was a necessity for the majority of American women to have a job in order to support their household. Also during this time the wage difference particularly between men and women, but also between white women and women of color was becoming a growing problem (Cobble 11-14).
Women were getting paid far less for doing the same exact work as men and the industries were doing nothing to hide it. As the unfair wages became more apparent, women
started joining unions to protest against their mistreatments. The common theme of this wage war was “equal pay for equal work”, but this was not limited to jobs in which men were paid more, but also includes jobs in which women simply were not paid enough. Several companies agreed to improve the working conditions, but still struggled to understand the relevance of paying women more because it was still considered a mans’ job to be the breadwinner in a the household. Some argued that passing a minimum wage law would make women want to work more and as a result discourage them from taking care of their household and children. As a compromise, along with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, most states passed laws stating where a woman can work, in what conditions and the amount of hours that were allowed.
Although women were earning more money, minimum wage did not mean equal pay. A common argument against equal pay was that companies preferred male workers and usually only hired women because they could pay them less. This means that these companies would stop hiring women all together and in theory, these women would then be without a job. Still, women continued to fight for wage equality because they were ultimately fighting for themselves and their economic worth (Cobble 94-97).
Finally, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 was passed and put into action. This states that it is illegal to pay women, doing the same work as a man, less based on her sex. It also states that it is acceptable to base an employee’s payment on his or her merits, the quality of work they provide and their seniority roles (Equal Pay Act of 1963). This was a huge accomplishment because it expanded a women’s freedom by making it more possible for her to be independent without support from a husband.
Despite the Equal Pay Act, the average woman in America still faces wage inequalities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2016 women made approximately eighty cents to the dollar of men for equal work (“American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates”). There are many arguments on how relevant this is and if it is actually true. Some argue that the statistics can not be accurate because it is assumed that the Census Bureau only takes the averages of all men’s and women’s incomes. The jobs that traditionally employ more women than men, like teaching, nursing, and social work, just happened to be lower paying career choices. Comparatively careers that usually employ more men than women, like engineering, construction, and high business positions, are considered more demanding of a person and generally has a higher salary. The U.S. Census Bureau actually has information that shows the average earnings in specific occupations between males and females. For example, in 2017, secretary positions employed 4.1% of all women in the workforce, but they usually only made about eighty six cents to the dollar compared to men. Similarly a female financial manager only makes 72% of what a man would make. In contrast, during the same year, the average white women in business, financial operations and/or management actually took home about ninety-eight dollars more each week, compared to the average white man (Hegewisch, et al.).
Another argument is that these results may not be completely accurate because it is focused on the average weekly pay instead of the average salary. A report by Pew Research Center, shows that about 34% of working mothers and non-mothers have been forced to work less hours in order to care for a child or other family member (2013). This suggests that the weekly wage gap may not be true because it does not take into consideration that over a quarter of working women do not work the same amount of hours as a man, resulting in a lower paycheck. The wage gap debate has been a controversial one because a truly effective way of finding this information has not yet been established and there are a great deal of inconsistencies between the few statistics available. An important factor that should remain to be considered, is that the wage gap has slowly been closing throughout the years. Even if there is still a 20% difference between a man’s earning any women’s earning for equal work, statistics show that it should continue to decrease until there is almost or exact pay equality.
Wage gap by race and gender. Wage gap protests?
America has changed a lot since the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Before some employers were afraid that increasing a woman's pay would make her want to work more hours over becoming a mother or taking care of her children and housley duties. Where as now, it is not required that all companies provide maternity leave, let alone paid maternity leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act only affects companies with fifty or more employees and gives up to twelve weeks of unpaid maternity leave and during the leave, ensures the continuation of insurance through the employer and job protection for up to a year. This is only available to certain employees and has some pretty particular qualifications. The act clearly states,
Employees are eligible for leave if they have worked for their employer at least 12 months, at least 1,250 hours over the past 12 months, and work at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Whether an employee has worked the minimum 1,250 hours of service is determined according to FLSA principles for determining compensable hours or work. (Department of Labor)
Many argue that twelve weeks is not enough time for the baby to bond with its’ parents. Most of a baby’s first bonding experiences with its’ parents happens within the first few days. This is a huge problem for those who have to return to work right away because they were unable to receive maternity leave and are not financially stable enough to risk losing their job. Even if a mother is able to spend the first few days with baby, the first couple months are crucial for a baby to develop an attachment to its mother. Bonding is crucial to development because without out it the baby may detachment issues, social issues, interpersonal discomfort, problems displaying emotions and problems developing future relationships (Perry). Correspondingly, in 2016, over half of those who took parental leave felt that it wasn’t enough time (Horowitz, Juliana Menasce, et al). A mother usually feels this when her and the baby bonded well and is not ready to return to work and away from the baby for a full day.
Another, less known, debate regarding the Family and Medical Leave Act, is that men should not be given paid paternity leave, or even unpaid leave for that matter. A survey shows that 15 percent of U.S. adults believe that men should not receive any form of parental leave at all. This contradicts slightly with the finding that 71 percent, from the same survey, felt that a baby’s bonding experiences with both their mom and dad are equally as important (Horowitz). The main reason why a small portion of the population does not believe that paternity leave is necessary is due to the social norms of our society. Though throughout recent years, a father taking a more involved parenting style has been on the up rise as feminists everywhere have been fighting to put down gender roles. A father’s role in a child’s or baby’s life should be considered just as vital as a mother’s and parents should share the responsibility of child care. This would not only benefit mom and baby are also benefit the father is well. The father should be home to take care of the baby while the mother recovers, while the father and baby are able to bond.
In recent trends, men and women are more commonly choosing not to take the unpaid leave or are only taking off for part of the time because they can’t go that long without an income. Those who have a significantly higher salary tended to take twice as much time off when compared to those who make less than thirty-thousand a year. About 69 percent of those who took a leave of absence to have a baby, care for someone else, or for their own medical reasons were forced to return to work sooner than hoped for due to financial issues. This lack-of-money can get so intense for some that 21 percent have been forced to get federal assistance just to make ends meet (Horowitz, Juliana Menasce, et al).
This law has been forcing young people all over America to choose between having a successful career or having a family. For example, 34 percent that had previously been on leave for the birth or adoption of a child reported having to go back to work earlier than originally wanted or expected in fear that they might miss out on a raise or promotion. Some argue that paid parental leave from all employers should be required by law. So far, the most popular solution to this growing problem is encouraging employers to to provide a paid leave in return as using this as a tax write-off. This is favored in opposed to the government taxing all of the American citizens (Horowitz, Juliana Menasce, et al).
Companies that do not provide paid parental leave are almost punishing their employees for having a seperate life outside of the workplace. Having children is probably the most natural thing a woman will do in her lifetime and also the most natural human desire. For most people having a baby is not even of question for them and more of an already established plan for their life. It is cruel to make having a family this difficult. Is expected for one to have and maintain a job in order to be successful in this country, but people are far too threatened with the loss of their jobs when the topic about future babies comes up; if this person has no job, then they have no way to care and raise a newborn. It is completely inhumane for anybody to make a person choose between having children or being able to put food on the table that month. When a person does choose to have a baby it is also completely inhumane to tear the mother and/or father away from it under the consequences of possibly being unemployed.
The fight for the right against being sexually targeted based, on their biological sex is one of the biggest and longest running issues all over the world. Being sexually targetted is a broad term to describe any person who has endured or is more likely to endure sexual harassment, abuse, or assault. This can include anything from unnessaccary and weird dress codes for little girls, to unwanted and inappropriate words or actions to the extremes of raped. This could happen anywhere including a nightclub, the workplace, a grocery store in the middle of the day and even the home within a married couple.
In a textbook called, The Science of Psychology an Appreciative View, it states that “Sexual Harassment is unwelcome behavior or conduct of a sexual nature that offends, humiliates, or intimidates another person” (King 489). This can be anything from inappropriate sexual comments about a person’s body, asking or pressuring someone to engage in sexual actions, unwanted touching or grabbing, to actually forcing sexual actions on to someone or forcing a person perform certain sexual acts. In the workplace it is only considered a serious issue when it is repeated and affecting the victim’s sense of safety and ability to work.
Just last year, in 2017, the Me Too Movement skyrocketed and has been the main voice of feminists ever since. The movement’s purpose is for victims of sexual harassment or assault to publicly support other victims and to show the the magnitude of the affected population. This began on Twitter when one celebrity used it show support to another when the allegations about Harvey Weinstein first came to surface. Michelle Williams told Time "Sexual harassment does bring shame. And I think it's really powerful that this transfer is happening, that these women are able not just to share their shame but to put the shame where it belongs: on the perpetrator." which was featured in InStyle Magazine (Borge). A huge part of the Me Too Movement is making sexual harassment and assault less acceptable than what it was before. The hope is to recreate out society in a way where victims are not questioned, mocked, or ashamed for speaking out about their assault and seeking help. (Borge)
The suffrage movement was groundbreaking in America. It changed the way people thought about women and what a democracy means, the way people went about their lives, allowing women to be much more independent and it has forever changed the women's’ position within the society