Womens Movement In The 1800's

Women’s Movements Throughout 1800’s and 1900’s The concept of feminism originated in the political ideas of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. This was directed to the idea that all human beings enjoyed similar fundamental rights in which people wanted to be part of. The female demands increased, particularly starting in France, which soon provoked the feminist tracts to be spread throughout. Although the women’s movement first developed in the western world, it had a slow development in reaching the United States, Australia, Britain, etc. This was due to the idea of women having the domestic role while their husbands were the primary providers. The French constitution of 1792 actually banned women from the public life, this altered …show more content…
In the 1960’s, it was more focused around American women who were limited in almost every aspect, from her family life to the workplace, although slavery still took part in this era. A woman was expected to be married by her twenties and then devote her life to the needs of her husband, with help from a black maid. The 38 percent of American women who worked in 1960 were largely limited to jobs such as being a teacher, nurse or secretary. No man wanted to welcome a woman in the workforce so they excluded them and made them feel awful about themselves. In 1962, Betty Friedman wrote a book that captured the frustration and despair of a generation of college-educated women who were unable to fulfill their wishes and dreams (Julia, R. (1972, March 19)). Women felt they had no life, as there was no common ground between them and males. Trying to be successful was almost impossible. No matter how hard women tried they would never reach the position a man had. The movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s focused on disassembling the workplace in inequality, such as denying women access to better jobs and salaries. Even a women’s private life was controlled. She was not able to have equality in their relationships, sexuality, birth control and abortion (Norton, Mary Beth and Alexandra, Ruth M. Page 201-227). Women lived very restricted lives that they felt that something had to be done. Gloria Steinem and Germaine Greet attracted the media’s attention through both of their popular writings and their appealing image. They played a key role in representing feminism to the public (Julia, R. (1972, March 19)). Typically, women were to be considered ‘attractive’ to really make a change in the public eye as they capture the men’s attention. When a woman is generally attractive people want to listen to some extent. Through this, feminism in 1960’s and 1970’s had