The Women's Suffrage Movement

The beginning of the women’s suffrage movement grew out of a larger women’s rights movement. This reform really developed in the United States beginning in the 19th century. The atmosphere for social reform was fertile ground for the women’s rights movement. Initially, it began as a broad spectrum of goals, and later focused on the cause of suffrage. The domestic role, organized religion, education, and industrialization contributed to the emergence of the women’s political movement. Significant barriers had to be overcome in order for the women’s suffrage movement, the most important being the opposition to women’s involvement in public affairs. This was not fully accepted even among reform activists. The idea of women speaking out, and sharing …show more content…
Women related their lack of civil rights with the idea of slavery because both involved groups of oppressed people in the United States. One woman, Lucy Stone, became a famous public lecturer and reduced the prejudice against women as public speakers. It is important to note this as an important cause of the birth of the women’s suffrage movement; it was the first step for women activists fighting for causes that they believed in. As women’s rights leader Susan B. Anthony said, “No advanced step taken by women has been so bitterly contested...never have they been so abused, condemned, and antagonized.” Despite the progress that women made in public speaking, women were still oppressed and the idea of them being able to speak out was still …show more content…
The domestic role for women made it clear that there was a major contrast between social worlds, expected behaviors, and felt experiences to that of white, middle-class men. This domestic role was exclusively applied to women. It took out some women of the increasingly expanding world of economics, but fostered growth between groups of all women. It created new associations and networks between women, connecting them and linking social groups. This group solidarity and collective identity is essential to the mobilization and growth of the women’s suffrage movement. The bondage of women to a domestic role and new forms of bonding among women created unique conditions of womanhood. Organized religion was a significant link between woman and the broader social community; this was especially important at a time where some women did not have access to political or economic channels of communication. Organized religion remained one of the socially acceptable organized groups for women to be involved in because it could be related to their domestic role, which was their ultimate “job” in life to fulfill. It allowed women to speak in a public forum to come together. Sometimes, women took active stands on social issues in their religious communities. Even though the cult of womanhood was