In the United States, it has not been very long that women have had the rights that they are accustom. For many years, after the colonies became independent from Britain, women in the new country did not have the same rights those men were allowed. Women were not supposed to vote until the mid-1900s and even then it was met with much resistance from many men in the United States. After the right to vote, women had to really put up a fight for their rights in the workplace. Even as late as the 1950s, women were meant to be in the home to trade sewing tips and know everything from a sewing book because according to society, their place was in the home, doing housework. It is really essential to know where women came from in order to see where women are going in the future.

Up until the mid-1900’s, women had almost no political rights. Women were not permitted to vote in elections until Susan B. Anthony helped encourage women to fight for their rights in the political arena. Finally, women did earn the right to vote, but not much else was given with that right. Even after this right was earned, women were still expected to continue maintain the ever-present traditional gender roles that had already been established; however, the right to vote gave way to the next big women’s movement, which would come in the 1960’s.

The women’s liberation movement was a really big part of women’s history in the United States. During this time women began to demand to be treated just the same men in the workplace and also to have the same opportunities as men at work. This movement helped women realize they were capable of being more in the workplace than just the lower ranks of the business world. Women started to understand they had the ability to be doctors, lawyers, and even CEO’s in their fields where men were the dominant force. Females in the United States started to become more educated in order to compete for jobs that were once only for men. Partly because of this 1960’s movement, a large amount of women today are getting better and higher education, and they are working top-level jobs outside of the home.

Now, more than ever, there is so much pressure on women to be good mothers and good employees. There is a double standard for a large amount of women in society because now, not only are they expected to be good, full-time mothers, they are also expected to contribute to the household income by performing some kind of work outside of the home. It will be pretty exciting to see how women will react to this double standard in the coming years. With current trends, women are just beginning to think of their careers first and then wait until they are older to have children, so they feel better about either giving up their careers completely or just taking a cut in work hours. Again, it will be interesting to see the future of women’s society because of the current conflict that women face between balancing a full-time job outside of the home and family.

Posted on July 10th, 2010 by Football
Filed under: Recreation and Sports