Women’s rights
What do you think of when you hear about women’s rights? As I get older and begin to be aware of the rights women actually have in this world, I feel there are a lot of things that need to change. Women’s rights have been a topic of controversy since women started realising we should have rights. Before the 1960’s women couldn’t even get credit cards, and the reason? Simply because of their gender. Women’s rights have changed drastically, with many women and men supporting the change. But still, there are many people that refuse the right to give women equal pay in the work environment. All this to say, there are many people that have been working to bring equality between genders through women’s rights. There has been significant growth in raising awareness of the gap in rights between men and women, and there have been significant changes to the problems in this area of equality.
In 1769, women weren’t allowed to own property, in 1777, women gained the right to vote, in 1848 a declaration was signed by 300 women and men to stop the discrimination of women, 1866, the 14th ammendment citizens and voters are defined as male. 1872 Victoria woodhull became the first female presidential candidate, 1900 married women are allowed to earn the same wage as before they were married, 1923, the first version of an equal rights amendment to have the phrase “men and women”. In the 1950s, both men and women were conformed to societies’ gender standards, this decade was called the conformity decade in terms of gender rights and standards. In 1960, women largely in the U.S., began a movement for change because they sought freedom from the gender norms of that time. The women’s rights movement, also called the women’s liberation movement, made many changes including laws against discrimination of women as employers, they brought more equal and unsegragated educational oppurtunities, as well as equal job training oppurtunities for poor women.
Since the 1960s, women’s rights and women’s rights movements have changed drastically, and it seems that things are actually starting to change for the better. Now women can own credit cards, not get fired for being pregnant, own and control property in their own names, have equal employment opportunities, and be on a jury. Even though all these changes are great, there is one big thing that is a problem. The gender pay gap. In the workplace, it is common for a man to be paid more than a woman, for doing the same job. Depending on where you look in the world, the gap isn’t the same, for example, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, the Philippines, Bulgaria and many more countries have the lowest pay gap. Countries like Turkey, Niger, Morocco, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon have the highest pay gap. There are many movements that have been used to reduce the pay gap and eventually make it no more. The He for She campaign, held by the United Nations in 2014, brought very awakening and interesting perspectives on women’s rights and ideas for what we can be doing to make a difference. Emma watson, an actress and model spoke at this campaign and is representing gender equality. Over a hundred other influencers are using their platform to speak up about these issues. Including, the whole U.S. women’s soccer team, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kiera Nightly, Tom Brady, John Green, Tom Hiddleston, Julia Roberts, Zendaya, and so, so many more. People are standing up for women’s rights and gender equality all around the world, and are doing so in many different ways. Even so, to diminish the pay gap and gender equality overall, what needs to be done is to have more support, to have people that will speak their positive and inspiring opinions and ideas on this topic.
Through the 1960s to present day, gaining rights for women has been a challenge, but a challenge that we are overcoming, and will continue to make changes for and develop better opportunities for future generations, so that they can have the rights we never had, the rights they deserve.
To view my writing process click this link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Bna6uU9YmccLlu-Z8mn5XvISLlrMpObD8Kz31PAbszE/edit
