Women's historical roles and social progression from the nineteenth to twenty-first centuries

Progression of Women Throughout Time

WOMEN and HISTORY

An Analysis of the Progression of Women's Historical Role

We have seen that women, as a social group, have generated huge interests not only from the scientific, academic community but also from other progressive sectors of the society. Women are very much a part of our everyday lives -- they are our mothers, sisters, or daughters but they are also a part of the grander scheme of society that stigmatizes women. Sociologists, for example, found it useful to label women as minority group because it is a basic social fact that women are discriminated against because of their physical characteristics (Henslin 93).

It is in this light that the author aims to fully understand the many facets of womanhood in history and society. Moreover, the author believes that this can be fully achieved by understanding the historical role of women -- the many directions that led women to where they are right now.

This objective can be achieved by discussing women in the context of social and labor roles as well as their achievements in the field of progressive and liberation movements to name a few. This work shall also provide profiling information on some notable names in gender history, such as Susan B. Anthony, Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart, and Oprah Winfrey to better situate women and their achievements in their respective periods in history.

The discussion shall begin with a brief description of roles of women in the 19th century. The article shall then proceed on the discussion of women in the 20th to 21st century, which can be considered dynamic and radical, as mass progressive movements which champion the rights of women have taken place. The final portion of this work will is appropriated for the analysis of the role of women in history.

Life in the 1800s

During the 19th century, much of America was still predominantly rural. Because of the kind of economic set-up dictated by a largely rural society, women's role centered on the fulfillment of marital and parental responsibilities. Although industrial changes gave rise to job openings in the factories, retail establishments, and offices that gave single women new options, married women, on the other hand, remained "at home." Also note that during this time, education became mandatory for both men and women which allowed for women's permeation in the higher education sector (Conner Prairie 09).

On the sphere of social movements, we can see the onset of women's propensity towards calls for equal rights with men. For example, following the Civil War and into the 1870s, the secret fraternal organization, known as Grange movement (a political activist group of the agricultural sector) started welcoming women into their organization. Women were given equal voices and voting ranks as men in this movement. Through this, women learned their importance not only in the rural economies but also in their communities. The voting rights extended to them by the movement led Grange women to support woman suffrage and temperance (ibid).

Temperance and Suffrage

The largest women's organization in the nineteenth century was the Women's Christian Temperance Movement (WCTU) which addressed the primary concern of women at this period in history -- i.e. The terrible effects of men's alcoholism to their families. The movement to ban alcohol consumption started in Ohio and this movement moved all the way to New York. Holding on to their duties as moral guardians of the society, it is believed that the impetus for this protest is women's concern for the moral well-being of their families. This cause was popular among women from all strata of the society. Although it started out as a middle class campaign, it extended to women who were wives of both skilled and unskilled workers (ibid).

Although the suffrage movement did not garner the overall support that the temperance movement received, we have seen that a woman's prescribed roles as mere guardian of family morality and caretaker of the family's basic needs were put into question. Women, at this period, began to fight for their direct participation in the political sphere (ibid).

Susan B. Anthony

Having talked about movements such as suffrage and temperance, I believe that it is fitting to share the life of Susan Anthony at this point, to be able to paint a more vivid picture of women during the 19th century.

Having been brought up in a Quaker family with long activist traditions, Anthony was an educational reformer who called for increased women's admission to the teaching profession as well as for better pay for women teachers. She also called for women's position and voices at state teacher's conventions. She called for equal education opportunities for women and former slaves. After fifteen years in teaching, Anthony became a temperance worker. Believing that drinking liquor is against moral laws, she joined the Daughters of Temperance, a group of women which highlighted the effects of drunkenness to families. Anthony also campaigned for stricter laws and stronger implementation of liquor laws (Susan B. Anthony House n.d.).

Anthony was also a suffragist who campaigned vigorously for this cause during her speaking tours. Apart from this, she worked on several labor movements as well. She advanced calls for equal pay for equal work and better working conditions and protection for female laborers through trade unions (ibid).

The life of Anthony provides us with the gist of the most salient causes of the 19th century -- these are the issues involving education, labor, suffrage, and temperance. Here we see the onset of feminist movements. In Anthony, we see the hallmarks of our present-day calls towards gender equality and protection of our rights. Moreover, we see that women have since been critical of their society, and more importantly, they are willing to go against the pervasiveness of this sense of injustice.

During the 20th Century

Amelia Earhart

After graduating from high school in 1915, Amelia Earhart worked as a nurse's aid in military hospital in Canada during World War I. She later became a social worker. Earhart's interest in aviation led her to her first flying lesson in 1921. A year after, she managed to buy her first plane. Earhart with her husband and fellow aviation-enthusiast Will Rogers worked on secret plans for the former to make a solo flight across the Atlantic. Although mechanical problems plagued this flight which forced her to land in Ireland, Earhart's flight caught the interest of the international media which was then followed by Congress bestowing upon her the Distinguished Flying Cross -- the first ever award to be given to a woman. It was followed by more record-breaking flights. Her story, on the other hand, was cut short with her 1937 flight which ended in her mysterious disappearance (Amelia Earhart Website n.d.).

Earhart's story indeed reflects that a lot of women during this period of American history were engaged in activities that were first labeled as masculine in nature. Earhart's achievement reflected the sense of equality between men and women that have long been fought for by women of the earlier period of history.

Towards more active political participation

We have seen how particular socio-historical features of the 19th century -- these being the strengthening of women's educational facilities as well as the job opportunities that went with the industrial changes of this period, gave way to women's demand for equal participation in the political sphere.

During the early 20th century, women were influential in welfare advocacy, particularly in the formulation and popularization of the view that promoting the society's welfare should begin with children. "Putting children first" was a major concern of the world's most powerful women's movement which shaped the welfare program known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) (Gordon 95).

Also, what is very crucial during this period in women's history is the granting of women's right to vote in 1920. However, we should note that although women have already won this right, their political roles have been minimal. It was not until 1984 that a major party chose a woman, Geraldine Ferraro from New York, to run for vice-presidential seat. Although roles have been minimal, they are not any less note-worthy. Women won city mayor and gubernatorial positions; they won seats in the House of Representatives; and became members of the Cabinet (Women's International Center 94).

Rosa Louise Parks

Rosa Louise Parks is noted as the "mother of modern day civil rights movement" in America. Rosa, together with her husband Raymond Parks, worked in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NACP) (Rosa & Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development 08).

Perhaps she is well-remembered for that one remarkable December evening when she boarded a bus for home, with tired and aching feet, and was ordered to give up her bus seat for a white passenger but she refused, she was then arrested (Dove 99). Upon the news of Park's arrest, Women's Political Council called for the boycott of Montgomery buses at the start of her trial. Park's legal counsel filed a case saying that the segregation scheme in the buses is unconstitutional. The court later declared that it is indeed, unconstitutional ("Rosa Parks" n.d.).

Park's story marked a momentous era in U.S. civil rights movement (Dove 99). Moreover, her biography made significant contributions in our discussion of women in the 20th century, particularly on women's participation in the racial equality discourse. Her story has been deemed instrumental in civil rights movement which further strengthened our position that the 20th century is actually defined by stronger participation and contribution of women in the political sphere.

21st century: Women in our Contemporary Society

Moving now to the twenty-first century, we can see that women are faced with global issues and concerns. Our present-day society presents women with a number of issues that have captured the public platform. The recognition of women's human rights particularly the issues that surround women's sexuality, reproduction, and labor have become resurgent (Bunch 95).

Discrimination in many aspects is still being experienced by women today. For example, although women have achieved educational attainment parity, males still earn more than their female counterparts (U.S. Census Bureau 00). Aside from this, areas that need to be addressed involve health care concerns, employment, and full political engagement for women (Ware in Betka 06).

But at this point, what consistently holds true is the fact that women have played key roles in shaping U.S. history and society, and still continue to do so. Moreover, it remains important for women not only to hold political representations but also to be able to influence political decisions through voluntary organizations, religious groups, and non-governmental organizations (ibid).

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey was born in Kosciuko, Mississippi and was brought up by her grandmother in a farm. After suffering molestation and abuse, she ran away from home and was later sent to a juvenile detention but was denied admission because of unavailability of beds. Her broadcasting career began when she was seventeen years old at WVOL radio in Nashville. Her hosting talents were later showcased via WJZ-TV's "People Are Talking." In 1984, she moved to Chicago and became the host of "AM Chicago" which was later renamed to "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Broadcasted nationally since '1986, it has become the number one talk show in national syndication (Academy of Achievement 09).

Prodded by her very own memories of childhood abuse, she initiated a program to establish a national database of convicted child abusers, this was popularly known as the "Oprah Bill" which then-President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1993. She was also named as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century. Forbes Magazine also disclosed that Oprah's media empire has led her to become the first African-American woman to become a billionaire (ibid).

Women and History: A Brief Analysis

Our widely-accepted view when it comes to women and history is that women, during the earlier periods of history were confined to the private sphere; confined to their domestic roles and responsibilities as required by the kind of economic set-up of the earlier times. This in turn led to what is popularly known as the sexual division of labor. Emile Durkheim, a sociologist, maintains that Durkheim's sexual division of labor states that the reproductive role of women confines them to the home, or the private sphere. Hence, they are perceived to be nurturing, obedient, and submissive because of the socialization process that they go through. Women, particularly mothers, are also expected to teach religious values as part of their roles in the private sphere (Entwistle n.d). This theory best explains why women of the 19th century have very strong grip of moral values leading them to actively support the temperance movement on the basis that drinking liquors are deemed sinful. Moreover, the sexual division of labor was further strengthened by the changes in the industrial set-up of the 19th (and even the 20th to 21st) century. Since women found work opportunities outside of home, they were able to better explore and even to a great extent find participation in the public domain.

These changes in the 19th century gave way to the stronger political participation of women that we have seen in the 20th century. Jobs that used to wear masculine labels, were now relegated to women. Again, let us understand that this is a product of concrete changes in this period of history, particularly the wars that took place and later demanded female participation. Note that this was a chance for women to underscore gender equality. Their permeation to jobs that used to be labeled as masculine added more substance to their fight towards gender equality.

As we move towards the 21st century, we shall see that the problems encountered by women of today are the same old problems of the earlier periods of history. Women continuously need to prove themselves in a society that is very much patriarchal in nature, such as the U.S. society. We have seen from the earlier discussion that women continuously experience gender inequality in the labor force. Our census information tells us that women receive lower earnings when compared to their male counterparts even if we have already achieved parity in terms of education attainment. The story of Oprah Winfrey shows us that a lot of work needs to be done in terms of upholding human rights. The need to protect women's sexuality as well as access to social services still needs considerable attention.

But at the end of the day, what we can realize is that duality of women and societal relationships. The kind of women that we have (whether the passive domesticated ones or the radical, progressive ones) can be molded by the kind of society that they live in. But on the other hand, history shows that women have the capacity to shape the society they live in.