History
Grade10 Defining Moment Essay
CHC2D1-03
Women’s
Movement
By: Heather Simpson
Teacher: Ms. Mathura
Submitted On: 21/11/2006
Women found themselves being treated differently from men in many aspects of
their lives in the 1920’s. Equality between men and women was slow to develop even
after women received the right to vote in 1918.1Education and working conditions
improved for women but huge change did not happen.2 Although women’s rights had
significantly changed after World War One they were still not treated equally to men in
many ways, women were allowed to work they were still not taken seriously in the
workplace and had to abide by different rules then men did, boys and girls at the time
were raised very differently and this gave them the idea and belief that they were not
equal, and one of the biggest issues women faced was that the government did not
recognize them as people but considered them chattel.
One of the issues women faced in the 1920’s was that they were still not taken
seriously in the workplace. Many employers required women to resign from there jobs
when they married and almost ninety percent of working women were single, fifty
percent of them being between the age of twenty and twenty-four.3 Most worked in
domestic service, in factories or as clerks very few women worked in professions, those
who became doctors or lawyers had trouble finding clients. 4Women were paid lower
wages for performing the same task as men, usually between fifty four and sixty percent
1
Jan, Coomber/ Rosemary, Evans, Women Changing Canada
(Canada: Oxford University Press, 1977) 22
2
Jan, Coomber/ Rosemary, Evans, Women Changing Canada
(Canada: Oxford University Press, 1977) 22
3
Jan, Coomber/ Rosemary, Evans, Women Changing Canada
(Canada: Oxford University Press, 1977) 26
4
Jan, Coomber/ Rosemary, Evans, Women Changing Canada
(Canada: Oxford University Press, 1977) 26
of what men earned.5Although women at the time appreciated being able to work outside
the home the different rules and the prejudice they faced was unfair.
An issue that may have led to the way women were treated at the time was that
boys and girls were raised differently giving them the idea that they are not equal. In
schools there were different entrances for boys and girls and boys would study “manual
labor” while girls would study “domestic science”.6 There were different toys designed
for boys and girls. Girl’s toys resembled appliances found in the house like miniature
ovens and they also played with dolls which of course look like babies, boys toys were
toys like bicycles and rocking horses, all these toys reinforced society’s expectations of
the different genders.7Parents at the time thought they needed to prepare their daughter
for her future as a wife and mother by her helping with the housework, looking after her
brothers and sisters and learning to sew whereas their son would become the pride of the
family.8 Part of the reason men and women were not treated equally was because at that
time those were the beliefs instilled into their children.
Possibly the largest issues women faced at the time was that they were still not
considered people by the government. The 1921 election was the first time women could
be elected to the federal government, five women were nominated but only one woman
won a seat.9As the only women she was seen as a novelty and was not treated the same as
5
Jan, Coomber/ Rosemary, Evans, Women Changing Canada
(Canada: Oxford University Press, 1977) 26
6
Jan, Coomber/ Rosemary, Evans, Women Changing Canada
(Canada: Oxford University Press, 1977) 24
7
Jan, Coomber/ Rosemary, Evans, Women Changing Canada
(Canada: Oxford University Press, 1977) 23
8
Jan, Coomber/ Rosemary, Evans, Women Changing Canada
(Canada: Oxford University Press, 1977) 23
9
Jan, Coomber/ Rosemary, Evans, Women Changing Canada
(Canada: Oxford University Press, 1977) 23
the other members of parliament, the press paid more attention to what she wore then
what she said.10 In August 1927 the “Famous Five” petitioned to the prime minister and
asked if the word “person” in the British North America Act includes female “persons”,
in April 1928 the supreme court of Canada decided that women were not “persons”
qualified for appointment to the Canadian Senate.
11
If women were not considered
people by the government then it is hard for them to function as an equal citizen of the
country because people will not treat them as individual self sufficient members of
society.
All of these issues came together to make life for women hard at times and
probably very frustrating. Although women had received the right to vote and their rights
had greatly increased, equality between men and women was still not totally present in
society. Because of the women in the past who fought against the unwarranted prejudice
they faced, women in Canada today have a life where they are treated equally to others.
Canada is one of the lucky countries though, there are still many countries where women
are discriminated against and have a very unfair life. Women today owe the women in the
past a lot for fighting for the life that is at times taken for granted and taken advantage of
and sometimes it is forgotten how hard they had to work to achieve the rights that should
have been given to them just as they were given to men.
10
Jan, Coomber/ Rosemary, Evans, Women Changing Canada
(Canada: Oxford University Press, 1977) 23
11
J Bradley, Cruxton/ W Douglas, Wilson, Spotlight Canada
(Canada: Oxford University Press, 2000) 172