Evolution Of Women's Rights In America

The Evolution of Women’s Rights in America Throughout the course of American history, the role of women has drastically changed. When the nation was still young, in the early 1800’s, the job of a woman was typically just to bear children and take care of the home. Over the course of history though, that role has changed tremendously. During the past 150 years, women have fought for rights. They have fought for many different rights including: the right to vote, the right to work just as a man does, and the right to birth control. Their fight started many years ago, they have fought strongly ever since, and are still fighting today. The rights of women have come a long way, from being valued as nothing but a child bearer in earlier times, …show more content…
They started getting that right state by state. The states were deciding whether or not to let women vote. The first states to let women vote were the western states because sexual discrimination had been reduced in the west since everyone was just trying to survive. By 1918, most western states and a few others had granted women the right to vote. Those states included: California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Michigan, and New York. The fight for voting rights finally paid off in 1920, when the 19th amendment was passed which states that, “The right…to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” (Davidson A13). Finally, women got the right that they deserved because everyone should be allowed to …show more content…
The same thing happened after the war, when the men came home, the women were fired. Women continued to get into the workforce though. In the 1950’s more and more women were working. Almost thirty percent of wives worked during this time so that their families had extra money to spend on fun. They continued to fight to make it into the workforce and to be equal with men. Women continued to fight for equality into the 1960s and 1970s. The National Organization for Women was founded around this time and they fought for equality in the workforce and all aspects of life. They fought so that women did not have to choose between a career and motherhood (N.O.W. 140). Another advocate for equality was Gloria Steinem. She believed that equal pay was necessary. She said that, “I haven’t had to brave the sex bias of labor unions and employers, only to see my family subsist on a media salary 40% less than the male median salary” (Steinem 142). The women of the 1960s and 1970s were very passionate about feminism. They fought for rights just like the women at the turn of the century did. The only difference was what they were fighting for. The women at the turn of the century fought for voting rights and rights to be a member of society, while the feminism movement fought for equality. The fight for equality is still being fought