Reflection Paper on Women’s
Movement
Diversity in Counseling
10/27/2013
Jesslyn Guenther
Jesslyn Guenther
Reflection Paper on Women’s Movement
Diversity in Counseling
10/27/13
Reflection Paper on Women’s Movement
The Women’s Movement is a movement to combat sexual discrimination and to gain full
legal, economic, vocational, educational and social rights and opportunities for women,
equal to those of men (Women’s Movement, Define).
The beginning of the fight for women’s suffrage in the United States grew out of a larger
Women’s Rights Movement. That reform effort evolved during the 19th century, initially
emphasizing a broad spectrum of goals before focusing solely on securing the franchise
for women. Women’s Suffrage leaders, moreover, often disagreed about the tactics for
the emphasis (Federal versus State) of their reform efforts. Ultimately, the suffrage
movement provided political training for some of the early women pioneers in congress,
but its internal divisions foreshadowed the persistent disagreements among women in
congress and among women’s rights activists after the passage of the 19th Amendment
(Women’s Right’s Movement).
The first gathering devoted to women’s rights in the United States was held July 19-20,
1848, in Seneca Falls, New York. The principal organizers of the Seneca Falls
Convention were Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a mother of four from upstate New York and
the Quaker Abolitionist Lucretta Mott. About 100 people attended the convention; twothirds were women. Stanton drafted a “Declaration of Sentiments, Grievances and
Jesslyn Guenther
Reflection Paper on Women’s Movement
Diversity in Counseling
10/27/13
Resolutions,” that echoed the preamble of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold
these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal.” Among the
13 resolutions set forth in Stanton’s “Declaration” was the goal of achieving the “sacred”
right of franchise” (Women’s Rights Movement).
The sometimes-fractions suffrage movement that grew out of the Seneca Falls meeting
proceeded in successive waves. Initially, women reformers addressed social and
institutional barriers that limited women’s rights; including family responsibilities, a lack
of educational and economic opportunities and the absence of a voice in political
debates. Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, a Massachusetts teacher, met in 1850 and
forged a lifetime alliance as women’s right’s activists. For much of the 1850’s, they
agitated against the denial of basic economic freedoms to women. Later, they
unsuccessfully lobbied Congress to include women in the provisions of the 14 th and 15th
Amendments (extending citizenship rights and granting voting rights to freedmen,
respectively) (U.S House of Representatives: Women’s Rights Movement).
This was very interesting to me because I didn’t know that anyone was very serious
about the Women’s Movement until the 1960’s. I always thought that women, especially
in the 1800’s were okay with men being in charge and women just running the
household and raising their children.
I like how Elizabeth Stanton referred to the Declaration of Independence as saying, “All
men and women are created equal,” because the Declaration only refers to “all men
being created equal.”
Jesslyn Guenther
Reflection Paper on Women’s Movement
Diversity in Counseling
10/27/13
I also found it interesting that Susan B. Anthony was a big women’s activist and that
she toured the country giving speeches for women’s rights. I have heard her name
many times but I never really knew what she did.
It wasn’t until 1893 that the first state, which was Colorado, granted women the right to
vote, with Utah and Idaho following suit in 1896, Washington State in 1910, California in
1911, Oregon, Kansas and Arizona in 1912, Alaska and Illinois in 1913, Montana and
Nevada in 1914, New York in 1917 and Michigan, South Carolina and Oklahoma in
1918 (Women’s Rights Movement).
It wasn’t until 1919 that women gained the right to vote in Wisconsin (Map: States Grant
Women the Right to Vote). This was only a short time before the 19th Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote; A right known as Woman
Suffrage. It took 72 years since the Women’s Rights Movement began in 1848, for this
amendment to be passed (19th Amendment – History).
I didn’t know there was such a long span of time for women to earn the right to vote
from state to state. I always thought they all had the right to vote at the same time in the
United States. I think it was great of the states that gave women the right to vote before
the 19th Amendment was passed. I can’t believe it took Wisconsin 26 years after
Colorado, to finally give women the right to vote. That makes me wonder if Wisconsin
just gave in because they knew that the federal law would be passed giving women the
right to vote.
Jesslyn Guenther
Reflection Paper on Women’s Movement
Diversity in Counseling
10/27/13
I think another very big step forward for women came in 1916, when Margarat Sanger
opened the first U.S. birth control clinic in Brooklyn, New York. Although the clinic was
shut down 10 days later and Sanger was arrested, she eventually wins support through
the courts and opens another clinic in New York in 1923 (Women’s Rights
Movement).This was very important because, for the first time, women had the option of
whether or not they wanted to get pregnant.
It is common to speak of three phases (waves) of modern feminism. The first wave of
feminism took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, emerging out of an
environment of urban industrialism and liberal, socialist politics. The goal of this wave
was to open opportunities for women with a focus on suffrage. The wave formally began
at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 (Three Waves of Feminism).
The second wave began in the 1960’s and continued into the 90’s. This wave unfolded
in the context of the Anti-War and Civil Rights Movements and growing selfconsciousness of a variety of minority groups around the world. In this phase, sexuality
and reproductive rights were dominant issues, and much of the movement’s energy was
focused on passing the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing
social equality regardless of sex.
This wave began with protests against the Miss America Pageant. Feminists parodied
what they held to be a degrading “Cattle Parade” that reduced women to objects of
beauty dominated by patriarchy that sought to keep them in the home or in the dull, low
paying jobs (Three Waves of Feminism).
Jesslyn Guenther
Reflection Paper on Women’s Movement
Diversity in Counseling
10/27/13
Whereas the first wave of feminism was generally propelled by middle class white
women, the second phase drew in women of color and developing nations, seeking
sisterhood and solidarity and claiming “women’s struggle is class struggle.” Feminists
spoke of women as a social class and coined phrases such as, “the personal is political”
and “identity politics” in an effort to demonstrate that race, class and gender oppression
are all related. They initiated a concentrated effort to rid society top-to-bottom of sexism
from children’s cartoons to the highest levels of government (Three Waves of
Feminism).
The second wave was also a time for a landmark decision, the Roe vs. Wade case in
1973 where the United States Supreme Court legalized abortion in the first trimester of
pregnancy (Roe vs. Wade).
The third phase of feminism began in the mid 90’s and is informed by post-colonial and
post-modern thinking. In this phase many constructs have been destabilized, including
the notions of “universal womanhood,” body, gender, sexuality and heteronormativity.
The aspect of the third phase feminism that mystifies the mothers of the earlier feminist
movement is the re-adoption by young feminists of the very lip-stick, high heels and
cleavage proudly exposed by low-cut necklines that the first two phases of the
movement identified with male oppression. Feminist Pinkfloor, expressed this new
position when she said, “It’s possible to have a push-up bra and a brain at the same
time (Three Waves of Feminism).
Jesslyn Guenther
Reflection Paper on Women’s Movement
Diversity in Counseling
10/27/13
In the 165 years since the women’s movement started, women have come a long way
with being able to vote and having nearly full control over what they do with their body’s,
but they still have a long way to go, especially when it comes to equal pay for doing the
exact same job as their male counterparts.
According to a 2012 report by the Huffington Post, women still only earn 77 cents to a
Man’s dollar (Huffington Post). At this rate, notes Sarah Crawford, director of
Workplace Fairness at the National Partnership for Women and Families, “We don’t
expect the gap to close for four more decades (Are Women Catching up in Pay? April 9,
2013).
This is probably what I dislike the most about equality between men and women is the
fact that women don’t get paid the same as men for doing the exact same job. This tells
me that if I were a man, I wouldn’t have to work as hard to get ahead in life. As an
AODA counselor, I will use what I have learned from the women’s movement to be
more sensitive to women’s issues. I will also make sure that I keep my opinions about
women’s rights to myself and not push them onto my client’s or use them against my
male client’s.
I will share what I have learned about the women’s movement with family, friends and
acquaintances to find out their thoughts about the rights or lack of rights that women
have today and what they think about what women had to go through in order to gain
the right to vote and be in control of their own bodies.
Jesslyn Guenther
Reflection Paper on Women’s Movement
Diversity in Counseling
10/27/13
References
The Women’s Rights Movement, 1848-1920 / US House of Representatives: History,
www.history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/WIC/Historical-Essays/NoLady/Womens-Rights-Movement
Women’s Movement / Define Women’s Movement at Dictionary.com,
www.dictionary.reference.com/browse/women’s+movement
Women’s Rights Movement in the U.S.,
www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html
Map: States Grant Women the Right to Vote – National Constitution,
www.constitutioncenter.org/timeline/html/cuo8_12159.html
19th amendment - History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts,
www.history.com/topics/19th-amendment
Roe vs. Wade / InfoPlease.com, www.infoplease.com>...>CourtCases
Women Still Earned 77 Cents on Men’s Dollar in 2012: Report,
www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/gender-wage-gap_n_3941180.html
Are Women Catching up in Pay? – Forbes, April 9, 2013,
www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/.../are-women-catching-up-in-pay/
Jesslyn Guenther
Reflection Paper on Women’s Movement
Diversity in Counseling
10/27/13
The Three Waves of Feminism – Fall 2008 – Pacific Magazine – Pacific University,
Martha Rampton, www.pacificu.edu/magazine_archives/2008/fall/echoes/feminism.cfm