Women’s Rights:
The Road to Equality for all.
JEMMA LIPPERD
SOCIOLOGY 1A
How did gender roles start in
the first place?
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Set of culturally defined behaviors based on the biological sex of
a person. Masculinity and Femininity
•
In hunter/gatherer societies men hunted for food while women
gathered crops and stayed to feed and care for the children.
•
Men: built larger and stronger
•
Females: smaller, bodies able to give birth
•
Biology plays a big role into gender roles. In ancient times men
would hunt while women took care of the farming and child
rearing.
•
Biological sex leads to gender assuming characteristics of males
and females. Men are labeled as masculine, tough, rough, and
not known to be nurturing (although it is not the case it is what
society has labeled men as) the male gender generalization is
valued thing whereas female characteristics has been a
devalued trait.
•
These generalized ideas lead to women being seen as inferior.
Men are also victims of gender role generalizations.
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History of persecution of
Women
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Biblical stories promoting selling of women, beating of women,
female submission, etc.
•
Female genital mutilation: practiced in many cultures (even
today), to control a woman’s sexuality, removal of outer genitalia
to reduce pleasure experienced during sex
•
Women punished with death for adultery. Men not punished for
adultery in most societies.
•
Persecution of women labeled as ‘witches’ throughout history. Most
notably in Salem Massachusetts during the 1600s
•
European persecution of female healers and midwives accused of
witchcraft
•
Child-brides: still a practice in some countries
•
Death punishments of women who are victims of sexual assault (still
happening)
•
Label of women in power as ‘bitch’
Women’s Suffrage in the
United States
•
First women’s suffrage meeting in 1848. Early form
concerned with industrial barriers that limited the
rights of women: education, family barriers, no
political voice, no economic possibilities, no
ownership of home or land.
•
Movement didn’t get popularity until the 1910s, the
country was in a progressive movement which
helped the suffrage cause.
•
In the 1910s the movement was led by middle class
women who started clubs, charities, clubs, and
organizations
•
Some members of the more radical side used militant
attacks.
•
Women Finally won the right to vote in 1920 with the
passing of the 19th amendment
•
The fight was not over, a battle had been won, but
there were still more issues of equality to face
•
After the vote was won the suffrage movement split
off into different factions with different causes. Social
reform, labor reform, pacifism, and education were
some of the issues at hand.
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Society’s view on feminism
Feminists
Anti-feminists
•
Aren’t man haters
•
•
Members of all genders and
gender identities can be
feminists
Feminists hate men and
think women are better
•
Only women can be
feminists
•
•
Feminism is about equality
for everyone
male/female/trans etc.
Sexism exists still today and
against both men and
women
•
Feminism only cares about
women
•
There’s no sexism so feminists
aren’t needed anymore .
•
Feminists are angry and
irrational people
Non-partial
•
Don’t want to identify as
feminist because of the bad
connotations
•
Haven’t personally
experienced discrimination
or don’t realize they have
•
Don’t see signs of inequality
How Feminists View
Feminism
•
Feminism’s goal is to gain equality for everyone
regardless of sex, gender, gender identification, age,
race, etc. A true feminist doesn’t hate men; manhating is an incorrect label people give to feminism.
•
Feminists want equal rights for all humans in America
and across the world.
•
In the beginning of the feminist movement the main
members were women. In recent times feminism has
branched out to include all people of all genders
and gender identifications. Men now are
considering themselves as feminists.
•
There may be leaders of certain feminist groups but
the entire idea is ‘unity’ and ‘equality’. Everyone
works together to fight for equal rights
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Functionalist Perspective
on Feminism
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Functionalism believes that all parts of a society work
together to function and reach a common goal
•
A functionalist may see gender roles and gender
inequalities as a necessity. A functionalist may think
these exist in order for society to keep going: men
work and provide for their families so the women can
stay home, get pregnant, and take care of the
children so that the children will inherit the society
•
A functionalist may see feminism as a way of going
against what makes society work. There is also a
chance that a functionalist will see that over the
years society has changed but still functions even
though women have the same rights as men and
vice versa.
•
Functionalist will note the changing gender roles:
men take care of the home and women work to
support the family. Functionalist will see this and still
believe society functions
Conflict Perspective
View on Feminism
•
Conflict Perspective has a lot in common with feminism.
Conflict theory focuses on power and distribution while
feminism focuses on the inequalities between gender.
•
The conflict perspective would suggest that throughout
history men are viewed as the dominant gender and
subordinate women in order to maintain power and control
in a society.
•
Conflict theorists would suggest that overcoming obstacles
would liberate women.
•
Conflict theorists see the oppression of women related to
capitalism because the distribution of products relied on men
for generations. Men needed to work the factories, to make
money to provide for their families; the women would stay
home, rear the children, and spend their husbands money
•
Capitalism not the main cause for oppression of women
because women are oppressed in non-capitalist societies.
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Changes Over Time:
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•
•
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Small group of women in 1848 focused on institutional barriers that limited
women’s rights: education, family barriers, no political voice, no economic
possibilities etc.
With progressive ‘mood’ in the United States the suffrage movement
gained new found force
In 1910s the movement was led by middle class women who started clubs,
organizations, and actively participate in charity events
1920 the 19th amendment passed giving women the right to vote
Suffrage members split into different factions which tackled other causes.
Women began to get education and work outside the home
1960s & 1970s Feminist movements began to work more towards equality
for both men and women. Earlier versions focused on women’s rights and
ignored inequalities faced by men
Today feminism still faces opposition from people who don’t understand
what feminists fight for.
Feminism is working towards a goal of everyone working towards equality
for all
The feature that has not changed is the fight for equal rights.
There’s still work to be
done.
While here in the united states we have the same rights
as men there are many countries and cultures in the
world where women have little to no rights. Here in the
U.S we are allowed to vote, there are female CEOs and
politicians, we can have jobs, we are protected under
some laws. It is no secret that in other countries females
are subject to horrible discrimination. Females are
denied education, have their genitals mutilated, are not
allowed to vote or have any opinion in politics, women
are forced to cover up their bodies, and are punished
for being victims of sexual assault, etc.
There are still issues to be worked on here in the United
States (wage inequality between men and women, and
government intervention on women’s bodies etc.) but
they are being fought for.
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Feminism is for Everyone
If I wanted to change the feminist movement my first action would
be to convince the world that feminism means equal rights for all
humans—nothing less than that. The idea of feminism is fought
against by people who fear it and don’t understand it. If a person
believes in equal rights for everyone then they are a feminist. The
word ‘feminism’ sounds like it is only for women and that may have
been true when the movement first started. Now feminists are
focused on securing equal rights for all of the people on our planet.
The mainstream media focuses on radical feminists (like it does with
every aspect of life i.e. radical religions, radical politics etc.). I would
like the real and peaceful side of feminism to get more attention.
Feminism works for some people and not others because of society’s
idea of feminists being angry and against men. If more people
understood the true meaning of feminism, more people would be
supportive of it. I believe feminism can work for everyone—everyone
who thinks everyone deserves to be treated like a human and given
equal rights.
Like I stated before: men are victims of gender discrimination as well.
They experience sexism, they are forced to play to gender roles just
as much as females are. Men need feminism as much as women do.
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References

Women Get the Vote
American Decades Ed. Judith S. Baughman, Victor Bondi, Richard Layman, Tandy McConnell, and Vincent Tompkins.
Vol. 3: 1920-1929. Detroit: Gale, 2001. COPYRIGHT 1994-2001 Gale, COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale, COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale, Cengage Learning

Suffragettes, Political Thought of the
Encyclopedia of Modern Political Thought
Ed. Gregory Claeys. Vol. 2. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference, 2013. p784-786. COPYRIGHT 2013 CQ Press, an imprint of SAGE

Votes for Women
American Decades
Ed. Judith S. Baughman, Victor Bondi, Richard Layman, Tandy McConnell, and Vincent Tompkins. Vol. 2: 1910-1919. Detroit: Gale, 2001. COPYRIGHT
1994-2001 Gale, COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale, COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale, Cengage Learning

Gender Roles
Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender
Ed. Fedwa Malti-Douglas. Vol. 2. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. p616-622. COPYRIGHT 2007 The Gale Group
Judith Roof, Kristina Banister Quynn, Barbara Postema and Michelle Parke

Feminism
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
Ed. William A. Darity, Jr.. Vol. 3. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. p119-122. COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

Conflict Theory
Encyclopedia of Sociology
Vol. 1. 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2001. p414-417. COPYRIGHT 2001 Macmillan Reference USA, COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale, COPYRIGHT
2007 Gale, Cengage Learning

Sociology, Macro–
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
Ed. William A. Darity, Jr.. Vol. 7. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. p677-678. COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

Feminist Movement
Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education
Ed. James A. Banks. Vol. 2. Los Angeles: SAGE Reference, 2012. p896-901. COPYRIGHT 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc

Feminist Theory
Encyclopedia of Sociology
Vol. 2. 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2001. p988-997. COPYRIGHT 2001 Macmillan Reference USA, COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale, COPYRIGHT
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
Women’s Rights
Gale Encyclopedia of American Law
Ed. Donna Batten. Vol. 13. 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2011. p434-435. COPYRIGHT 2011 Gale, Cengage Learning