Women’s Role

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In the 18th century, in the USA, women’s role was only to take care of their family, to rule their household. They were also the family doctors. Women were made into icons of sexual beauty in this period, they couldn’t access many works. The majority of women were from lower working class.

In this situation, the first women’s rights movement began in 1848 to fight for their rights and to change the mentalities. At this time only white men can vote. That’s why in 1869,the first national suffrage organizations were established when two competing organizations were formed, one led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the other by Lucy Stone. Hoping the U.S. Supreme Court would rule that women had a constitutional right to vote, suffragettes made several attempts to vote in the early 1870s. But even with all their efforts, women were still controlled by men, for example they were not allowed to divorce and in 1870, the African-Americans access to the right to vote but not women.

In 1890 The National Women Suffrage Association and the American Women Suffrage Association merge to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). After this, in 1893 Colorado is the first state to adopt an amendment granting women the right to vote. Then many states follow the example of Colorado like Utah in 1896, California in 1911 and others states. Alice Paul formed the national’s women party in 1913.

In Britain, before the war, women were treated as 2nd class citizens. But with the beginning of the First World War, as the men was on the front, the country needed other workers. So, government used propaganda to incite women to work in factories, hospital, and farms. Following this 2 millions of women were called to supply them in factories, to make weapons and support war effort. The work in factories was very dangerous. After the war in Britain but also in USA the situation of the women changed considerably.

In fact in the USA, the 26th of august 1920, women succeed in their fight as the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting their right to vote in all the US, is signed into law by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby.

During the 2nd world war, we found the same situation as the First World War, so the women saw their position reinforced another time. After the war, women can get the same works as men and in theory the same wages.

Nowadays, we’re in front of a great evolution as we can see women with very important places like Hillary Clinton or Oprah Winfrey. Now, there are also women soldiers. This announces a positive future for the next generation of women, even if there are still inequalities yet.