Throughout this particular reading, there were
several aspects that were drawn to race, class, age, and country of origin. Women
were often seen as the “underdog,” or “housewives” in many cases, and the men
were considered as providers. Women didn’t typically work when they were
married, but as time moved on women began to work in factories. Of course, they
were not paid as much as men were, but still had a place in the work industry.
Also, when it came to protesting, there were protests held by women to let
society know that they were not being paid fairly, and were working in horrible
conditions that a lot no longer wanted to tolerate. Then, as the reading moved
towards Women’s Rights, it explained Women’s Suffrage and how there were many
people who protested for Women’s Rights. Some were radicals who would do illegal acts to get attention about the issue.
According to a Supreme Court case, it was up to the
states to decide if women had the right to vote. This meant that if women were
given the right to vote, they would have to get approval state by state. Alice Paul
did not like this strategy. She did not like the state by state strategy and
protested in front of the White House with a group of women as a result of
their feelings. They continued to do these protests until they were imprisoned.
Alice Paul even “began a hunger strike to protest the prison conditions.”[i]
When it came to Carrie Catt, she was the leader of
the National American Woman Suffrage Association after the leaders passed away.
She did not expect herself to actually be “the one” to win for women’s rights
to vote.[ii] But, after leading the association to getting the
ratification of all of the western states, she finally succeeded for getting
the last state, Tennessee, to finally vote.
As for the section regarding the protests which lead
to prohibition, women did not like men to drink alcoholic beverages at saloons.
Alcohol, to women, thought alcohol as the main reason of the physical, mental,
and financial damage that it had on their families. Women then began to teach
their daughters at a young age not to marry men who drank, and taught their
sons not to drink at all.[iii] The women protested by smashing and destroying
saloons which continued until 1919 which was when the amendment that outlawed
alcoholic beverages finally came into play for all societal measures.
Finally, throughout the end of the reading, it talks
about how Margaret Sangers tried to help women with sex education. This included
birth control, abortion, and other topics related to sex education. She wanted
to help “women who were ruining their health with too many pregnancies.”[iv] Her column in the newspaper on teaching sex
education was banned in the local newspaper. Then, she tried to find ways on
how to spread knowledge on sex education. She wanted to spread the word because
she thought that women should be able to limit their families.
A woman’s experience throughout the years of 1880-1920
varied quite a bit from their race, class, age, and country of origin. Over the
years, the experiences that woman have has varied quite a bit as well. One big
difference in experiences depended on race. African Americans were treated much
differently than people of the white race. For example, the African American race
was able to vote before women were allowed to. Of the women, they were the
smallest priority compared to everyone. The priority for getting women’s rights
was more towards white women than the black women. For example, many black
women eagerly helped overseas, but in return, the white race did not want them
working in the canteen, because they did not want them to wear their uniforms.[v] It almost seemed like the African American race
were not worthy enough.
What this means to me is that for too long women
have been considered as too incompetent to take over tasks mostly occupied by
men. I believe that everyone is created equal and that women’s rights shouldn’t
have been as it should have been. Being equal shines a light on men and women
together. The word “together” should have been an important word a long time
ago when women were not treated equally, but that is all in the past now.
[i] Gail Collins, America’s
Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines. New York:
Harper Perennial, 2009. http://www.ebooks.com/1571332/america-s-women/collins-gail/,
297.
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