The rough draft of the project that my english teacher will probably never read

The women’s movement goes so much further than treating a female as though she is no longer just a figment of someone’s sexual representation of her in one’s brain. To get to the point where we are in modern society has been a struggle. A struggle that so many strong men and women have worked towards; some never even getting the chance to see the fruit that had grown from the tree that they had planted.

In present day, the definition of a women varies depending on who you talk to and what environment they’ve grown up in. To others and myself, who were brought up in families with strong women, we were told that our gender played no factor in the life that we lived and the actions that we took. We could take over leadership if we wanted to no matter how many other children in your elementary school classroom thought the idea of taking control as a girl was equivalent to being bossy. Despite the negative connotation, I took it with pride, unaware of where they were going with that statement. If I wasn’t going to be the boss, then who would be? To others, women are still at the bottom of the scale in their mind that has not progressed from the “values” set forth since the beginning of ancient civilization. Women are still sexualized, examples being things as simple as a school dress code or the inconvenience of social media with it’s introduction to the viral concept of slut-shaming when seeing an inch more skin than comfortable. They are put inferior in things such as the paycheck a man and women would get for producing the same amount of work. Women are paid an average of $0.76 to every $1 made by a man; that is before you even contribute race to the factor where the wage gap becomes a larger distance that is more comparative to an ocean between the two genders rather than a stream. Despite those factors, women who live in the United States are luckier than a majority of women who live in third-world countries, where they are restricted of basic human rights that are taken for granted.

With every movement there was a woman or group of women to go along beside it, bestowing the duty upon herself to make sure this movement didn’t turn into a lost cause. It all started with what we know today as the Seneca Falls Convention which was held from July 19-20, 1848. There, ideas for the promotion of women’s stance in society were discussed, such as social, civil, and religious conditions and rights. This convention was brought into motion by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, where they introduced and had the delegates adopt a “Declaration of Sentiments”. This document was modeled in the same format as the “Declaration of Independence”  but focused on a different set of factors involving women’s rights such as equal education, equal treatment under the law, and the right to vote. During the convention, 68 women and 32 men signed, including prominent men who were fighting for the abolition of slavery such as Frederick Douglas. Despite the negative criticism from prying editorials, this momentum for women started out with a strong push that never ceased to have a guiding force behind it, but even with that, women did not gain the right to vote until seventy-two years later on August 18, 1920,  and that was just the beginning.

Time elapsed, and society changed with it; by the 1960’s, there was a revival among the women’s movement. There were no longer novices but instead strong voices to lead the way. The voice that sparked the second wave of feminism belonged to a  woman named Betty Friedan. Friedan wrote the book The Feminine Mystique, which inspired many voices among the feminist supporters. Unlike previous movements, the Second Wave took on a new image of aggression and desperation. A revolution of urgency in the speeches made by women among Friedan changed the feminist movement from the quiet walks for equality to the evocative riots for women’s rights. Women no longer stood aside trying to make things happen for themselves with just their voice, instead they took action. Their voices echoed through the nation ‘till it was heard crevice and corner and abandoned town . Two prominent protests included bra burning and the Miss America protest. Both had the same message. It was to shoot down the standards that were being put upon women by men. It was to lay out the message that women could be natural and beautiful. It was to try and show that there was no one definition of beauty. To highlight the idea that a woman’s worth shouldn’t be based off of the opinion of someone she had never met and only end the competition with one “winner” based primarily on the physical appearance rather than the mental capacity. During this time period, there was also the creation of the National Women’s Organization (NOW) lead by Friedan in the presidential role until 1970. This committee focused on sexual discrimination in the workplace and in education.

Society in the 1960’s was plagued by riots, movements, and turmoil among the American people. The women’s movement, unlike previously, was taking an aggressive, new, approach to the fight for equality; as seen in the new name, the women’s “liberation” movement. In America during the 60’s, Americans experienced many movements, such as the civil rights, the gay right’s, and the “hippie” movements. In addition to these, the Vietnam  War sparked much controversy among civilians. Riots of the 60’s were far more liberal than they had ever been, taking up streets with bodies and voices that didn't want to back down. This was somewhat of a cultural shock that the states hadn't experienced yet but soon would become more comfortable with in the coming decades

Following the 60s, the voices of women kept plowing forward to what is now called the third wave of feminism. This wave goes from the 1990s to present day. Although the focus had changed, it is still centered around the same concept; women were not a condescendance to their male counterparts, but instead are an equal. Ideas such as the wage gap still stayed one of the most discussed in woman’s movement but there was also a new topic, which was once thought to be the white elephant in the room, now taking center stage in the fight for women: gender violence, specifically focusing on violence towards women. For so long, abuse towards women went unnoticed, and more specifically when it was done by a husband to his wife, there seemed to be no justice for the victim. That changed in the 1970s when Nebraska passed the very first marital rape law, which prompted the introduction of many other laws of the same nature throughout many states and later the national government . The idea of rape and abuse has not yet  become a foreign concept to modern society,  and that might be one of the most frightening truths. In universities, there is a 1 in 5 chance that a women will be abused at some point in her college career; that is 20% too many. In association with ideas such as rape being put under the shining light, another idea became prevalent producing a major stir of controversy, which has still not subsided; that issue is abortion. Although I don’t want to delve too deep into this issue for the fact that it may feel uncomfortable to read, it is important to understand what the concept is . Abortion in the simplest words is to deliberately end pregnancy before it hits the 28 weeks mark. This has sparked a debate on the issue of pro-life and pro-choice. The thing with this concept is that there is no right choice. In the end of the day, the decision lies in the hands of the mother and what she feels is the best for her child.

To conclude, I'd like to leave off with a quote from Desmond Tutu “ If you are neutral in situations of  injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” The fight for women is not over and chances that it will be over any time soon are slim. The fight for equality will go on forever and chances that some movements will repeat themselves are probable; sometimes, history needs to repeat itself to get things right. We have gone so much further as a society with not forcing down concepts that categorize people in roles of masculinity or femininity. If a girl wears “masculine” clothing  or a boy wears “feminine” clothing, there is less of a gender bias and that is progress. If a girl doesn’t act overly emotional or a boy cries easily, it is no longer a demeaning idea on how they don’t line up to the stereotyped agenda, and that is progress. To be a woman is so much more than a person’s biological makeup and that is starting to become accepted; that it progress. We have progressed so far and yet we seem to be stunted in other aspects. Feminism is not the same for every woman due to sexuality, race, and  biological makeup. Living in a country with so much diversity, we have the duty to make sure every category is treated the same way with the same respect. The thing with humans is we are a  constantly evolving race; we’ve come this far, why not keep going?