Gendered movements in history: interconnected timeline of women's social change

Timeline Gendered Movements

Over the centuries, the women's rights movement has been continually evolving based upon the examples set by others. This has enabled them to make significant changes in the way they are treated and viewed within everyday society. To fully understand these transformations requires examining different events and their influence on future generations. This will be accomplished by looking at: four major events and how they are related to one another. Together, these elements will illustrate the influence of different organizations and the changes that occurred.

There are number of events which had a major impact on the women's rights movement. The most notable include:

1869 to 1890 the establishment of the National Woman Suffrage Association: In 1869 Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton formed the National Women's Suffrage Association. Their goal was to achieve voting rights through a constitutional amendment. They merged with the American Women Suffrage Association in 1890. This coordinated their strategy in reaching out to lawmakers and individuals, who could have a major impact in passing a Constitutional amendment. (DuBois, 1999)

1920 passage of the 19th Amendment: After years of debate and lobbying, the National Woman Suffrage Association is able to convince the Congress and the states to ratify the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. This officially gives women the right to vote. It is a milestone, marking an important transformation in American society. As women, are seen as individuals who have opinions about issues that matter the most to them. (DuBois, 1999)

1935 the formation of the National Council of Negro Women: Mary Bethune started The National Council of Negro Women to address issues of discrimination based upon race and sex. She felt that the workplace is where they are most prevalent and wants to make significant changes over the long-term. This is illustrating how the example from the National Woman Suffrage Association set the stage for more transformations in addressing equality towards women. In this case, there is a focus on dealing with disparities in employment. (DuBois, 1999)

1964 the passage of the Civil Rights Act: Throughout the decades the National Council of Negro Women influenced lawmakers and the President of the United States about the impacts of discrimination. In 1961, President Kennedy authorized the formation of a commission to investigate these allegations. When the report was released in 1963, it was determined that women were being discriminated against regularly. It recommended dramatic changes in the practices that are utilized by employers. The most notable include: fair hiring policies, paid maternity leave and affordable child care. These issues helped to play a major part in addressing the issues of discrimination based upon race, national origin and gender (with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964). This made it illegal for anyone to discriminate in the areas of housing, employment, voter registration and education. To enforce these provisions, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was established. They have the power to investigate complaints and impose penalties on those who are violating the law. This is illustrating how women's rights organizations were able to change the views of society by making it illegal to victimize someone based upon gender, race or national origin. (Farber, 1994) (DuBois, 1999) (Wright, 2005)

Part II

The timeline is showing how the different events are connected to each other in dealing with the issues of discrimination towards women. This started from 1869 to 1890 with the formation of National Women Suffrage Association. Their basic objectives were to help women attain the right to vote through a constitutional amendment. (Farber, 1994) (DuBois, 1999) (Wright, 2005)

After this occurred, with the passage of the 19th Amendment, is when the example they set encouraged others to establish similar organizations. This is the point where women began to concentrate on other areas where inequality existed towards them. The establishment of the National Council of Negro Women was following this model, in order to influence the attitudes of lawmakers (based upon race and gender). This impacted the political landscape with a commission enacted by President Kennedy to investigate if this was occurring. The conclusions demonstrated that discrimination was happening inside workplace and how changes need to be enacted. (Farber, 1994) (DuBois, 1999) (Wright, 2005)