“It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals.”- Emma Watson (Ferguson, 238). In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, women did not have the right to vote. The dominion act of Canada stated that “no woman, idiot, lunatic, or criminal shall vote”. Women could not be elected into federal or provincial government. The woman was supposed to keep house for her husband and children. In the west, women could not claim homestead. Girls could rarely get a post-secondary education. Most professions were closed to women. It was believed that women could not perform the jobs of doctors, lawyers or church ministers. Women were seen as too emotional, weak of heart and indecisive to handle such high pressure jobs
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Women were involved in many organizations, fought for education, and took part in the war effort to help advance their cause.
As a way to combat the pressures to stay dependent on men and weaker in status, women started to organize themselves. The organizations worked to educate, liberate, and rally women together for a common cause whether it was prohibition, fundraising or the right to vote. The biggest examples of this was through suffrage, the person’s case and the good deeds and fundraising the groups achieved. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) fought for temperance and women’s suffrage. (J. Bradley Cruxton [and others], 222). Their goal was to educate and persuade the public to restrain from drinking. This movement was called prohibition. Wives and children were being beaten, abused and neglected as a direct result of alcohol which was too readily available. The WCTU realized that until they had the right to vote, no government was going to listen to them. The men in power and the male voters were against the prohibition push. Nellie McClung and other women had a petition demanding the Manitoba government grant women the right to vote. She confronted the premier and said “we are not here to ask for a gift or a favour, but for a …show more content…
The jobs like tailors seemed like an acceptable job for women if they were done with the work in the home. It was important that the work didn’t interfere with keeping a house and raising a family. Women who sought out more professional jobs like doctors, lawyers, and politicians were considered trouble makers and not nice women because nice women did not want to break up families and start fights. That is what happened with those women who had high ambitions and higher education. (Prentice, Mitchinson and Bourne, 292) Jobs that were stressful, that took a lot of organizing and decision making, including life and death decisions such as running a company, parliament, or law office were too difficult for women who were seen to be too fragile and
Women were involved in many organizations, fought for education, and took part in the war effort to help advance their cause.
As a way to combat the pressures to stay dependent on men and weaker in status, women started to organize themselves. The organizations worked to educate, liberate, and rally women together for a common cause whether it was prohibition, fundraising or the right to vote. The biggest examples of this was through suffrage, the person’s case and the good deeds and fundraising the groups achieved. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) fought for temperance and women’s suffrage. (J. Bradley Cruxton [and others], 222). Their goal was to educate and persuade the public to restrain from drinking. This movement was called prohibition. Wives and children were being beaten, abused and neglected as a direct result of alcohol which was too readily available. The WCTU realized that until they had the right to vote, no government was going to listen to them. The men in power and the male voters were against the prohibition push. Nellie McClung and other women had a petition demanding the Manitoba government grant women the right to vote. She confronted the premier and said “we are not here to ask for a gift or a favour, but for a …show more content…
The jobs like tailors seemed like an acceptable job for women if they were done with the work in the home. It was important that the work didn’t interfere with keeping a house and raising a family. Women who sought out more professional jobs like doctors, lawyers, and politicians were considered trouble makers and not nice women because nice women did not want to break up families and start fights. That is what happened with those women who had high ambitions and higher education. (Prentice, Mitchinson and Bourne, 292) Jobs that were stressful, that took a lot of organizing and decision making, including life and death decisions such as running a company, parliament, or law office were too difficult for women who were seen to be too fragile and