Womens History

2 Pages 408 Words

For centuries, women were considered to be weaker than men. They were thought of as squeamish, and unable to perform tasks requiring muscle or intellect. Therefore, men acquired the “tougher,” more muscle-related jobs. Because of these views, for many centuries women were left in the home, left with no options but to cook, clean and take care her family. However, over the turn of the 19th century, women began to fight back, rioting and picketing, proclaiming their rights.
How Women Were Discriminated Against
Being thought of as the weaker sex kept a great majority of from accomplishing many things. Women were not allowed to vote, because men thought of the female to be intellectually inferior to him. In the first several decades of the United States, women were not allowed to own property, make a contract, to sue, or to be sued. In certain work areas a female was not permitted to work more than eight hours or to earn the same wage as a man doing the same job. Women were also unable to hold many professional vocations. A pregnant woman was often denied the option of abortion, unless her life was at stake. Often, when a woman was claimed harassment, people viewed her as crazy, or that she brought it upon herself. In early America young girls and women were also unable to pursue their dreams of an education. Of course, with no education, a lady was ineligible to hold any type of political office. Before women’s suffrage, a woman was practically incapable of doing anything other than cooking, cleaning, and taking care of her family.

Women’s fight to stop sexual discrimination
By 18th century, women had begun to speak up and organize. In 1848, the first women’s rights meeting was held in New York. The main issue was women’s suffrage, or the right for them to vote. For many years, thousands of women fought for the right to vote, among them was Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, and Lucretia Mott. “Some battle for woman s...