women's rights LEQ planning

CHANGE:

BEFORE: from women only being useful in the house

• separate spheres ideology: the idea that gender roles are innate rather than created by society; this was often used to justify why women should stay taking care of the household rather than get jobs of their own

• cult of domesticity: women should stay in the domestic sphere and at home rather than the public sphere/at work where their husbands are

• “women need the protection of men”

AFTER: to women entering the workforce; women in activism

• no government-mandated minimum wage allowed companies to pay workers so little that one person working per household did not bring in enough income anymore; women began working alongside their husbands in order to sustain their families

  • industrial revolution gave women job opportunities

  • background: the first time women were able to hold leadership positions was through the great awakening, through which women were appointed to be leaders in churches (1700s)

• advocacy for women’s rights became more common / women advocating in general

  • WOMEN’S RIGHTS / SUFFRAGE

    • seneca falls convention: a group known as the ‘woman’s right convention’ came together and decided to actively keep fighting for women’s rights; officially launched the women’s suffrage movement

    • harriet beacher stowe: well-known advocate for both the abolitionist movement and for women’s rights; spoke out for women’s right to vote, endorsed women to pursue their own independent careers, expressed that since women are taxed and own property that they should be represented in the government body

    • elizabeth cady stanton: advocate for women’s rights and women’s right to vote; organized the first official demand for women’s suffrage, continuously supported passing the bill that would allow women to vote, one of the main organizers of the seneca falls convention

    • leona barry: worked with the knights of labor and advocated for women who were facing sexual harassment in the workplace

    • ida b wells: fought for women’s suffrage

  • THE ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT

    • many women’s rights activists were also abolitionists (harriet beacher stowe, elizabeth cady stanton, ida b wells)

  • THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT

    • many women advocated for the ban on alcohol use as it was a primary cause of domestic violence, which women were mainly the target of

CONTINUITY: women continued to face oppression in the workplace and in society in general

• regardless of the fact that women were now present in the workforce, primarily in relation to factories or domestic work for wealthier households, they continued to face oppression and belittling

  • factory owners got away with paying women less than men

  • women were considered easier to push around and overwork

  • such as female slaves had faced before, women in the workforce often endured sexual harassment in order to keep their jobs

  • it was commonly thought in society that the only intention married women had for seeking out a job of their own was to purchase useless items

• against women’s suffrage

  • people argued that married women would just vote the same as their husbands did; this completely disregards the fact that a woman can have an opinion alternate to her husband’s