Thursday, October 6, 2011
Issue 16 Has the Women's Movement of the 1970s Failed to Liberate American Women? YES/NO?
You may choose to read the entire article, or just the YES or NO perspectives. Definitely read the first two page intro "Issue Summary" to get an overview of the issue. Use this blog to agree/disagree and discuss specific points raised by Graglia and Evans. One original blog required, plus one response to a peer.
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I believe no, the Women's Movement of the 1970s has not failed to liberate American Women today. Think about all the freedoms women have nowadays; think about all that we have done as both a whole and as individuals. In 1997 there were 60 women in congress. And out of those 60 members, 14 were African American.* By the close of the 1900s, 88% of women, 25 to 34, graduated high school.* These bright women, with even brighter futures, would never of had the opportunity to even enroll in college had it not been for the Women's Movement in the 70s. The average woman today has a life expectancy of 79.7 years which is 65% longer than in 1900!* That’s 65% longer of a life to graduated college, to choose a profession, and to do anything else we set our minds to! So no, the 1970s Movement hasn’t failed to set free American Women, because today women can do anything.
ReplyDelete*page 399 of Sara M. Evans- American Women in the Twentieth Century
I believe that the Women's Rights Movement of the 1970's has failed to liberate American Women, despite its accomplishments. Women cannot have it all these days; a career, a healthy marriage, and children that are not raised by strangers is an unrealistic expectation. Women today feel overwhelmed and trapped in their stressful lives.Feminists have convinced society that a woman's full-time commitment to cultivating her marriage and rearing her children is an unworthy behavior. More marriages are falling apart and children are deprived of motherly attentions. Feminists have also encouraged women to ape male sexual patterns and have casual sex activity. This has resulted in the highest rate of abortions in the Western world. Women are also victims of sexually transmitted diseases which lead to pelvic infections that cause infertility in 100,000 to 150,000 women each year. Feminist's sexual perspective deprives the sex act from the spiritual meaningfulness and mocks the essence of conjugal sexuality. Today divorces are common and leave children with long-lasting trauma. "With too much emphasis on intellect, a woman becomes 'too into her head' to function in a sexual, motherly way, destroying by the process of thought, the process of feeling her sexuality," are Dr.James C. Neely's thoughts. Overall, I do think the Women's Rights Movement has failed to set American Women free, because it has caused many issues in their lives.
ReplyDelete-facts from F. Carolyn Graglia: Domestic Tranquility
After reading Issue 16, I strongly agree with Carolyn Graglia that yes, the women’s movement did fail at liberating American women. Her views on feminism concluded that the feminist movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s was a valid but faulty idea in that it was based on a worthy opinion, (that all men and women should be equal) but turned into a radical movement in which the judgment of a housewife was reduced to that of a parasitic, less than human figure, that was not using her God-given strengths to the best of her ability. This movement in turn pushed women out of the house and into the workforce. Feminists also pushed women to embrace their sexual desires, by rallying behind abortion and other such laws. As women began to mirror men in careers and emotional independence, they tipped the balance between traditional labor and housework, due to the fact that although more and more women were leaving the housewife position, almost no men were switching to a child raising vocation. This could be beneficial as a way for struggling families to make more money, but also resulted in a generation of under cared for children and an overload in the job market. As this gap between the number of people staying at home raising their children and the number of people entering the workforce grew then and grows today, only bad results can follow. Women are naturally made for positions of child raising; they are natural care givers and are on average less physically able then men to do household work. Those who wish to seek an alternative should be able to do so, but should not feel obliged to seek a career solely to combat stereotypes. In conclusion, just as stated in the first sentence of “American Women in the Twentieth Century,” our foremothers predicted that the twentieth century would be the “century of the child:” They were wrong, this century feminists have pushed women to be like men and not focus on raising their children, so young children must be raised by strangers and peers, resulting in a neglected generation of children.
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ReplyDeleteAfter reading issue 16 I strongly believe that no, the women’s movement of the 1970s did not fail to liberate American women. Through the years women have strived for equality. They have showed that they are strong and can do anything if they come together. In the article Sara M. Evans makes some very good points as to how women have stood up and taken most of their rights. During the 1900s women achieved a high degree of literacy. It was fact that more girls graduated then boys. However, women were disadvantaged when it came to higher education. Therefore only 5 percent of women were medical students, and 1.4 percent were lawyers. Today you see many women lawyers, and doctors. You also see women in other high paying jobs such as computer scientists and physicians. There are two women on the Supreme Court, 30 female circuit judges and 107 female district court judges. Also in 1900s women were not expected to live long. Now the average woman can expect to live 79.7 years. Women had taken a big step towards equality with the women’s movement of the 1970s. Even today women are still standing up for themselves and trying to reach for full equality.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the question I automatically thought no, but then, when I read the summaries to see the basic idea of both sides, I realized that I mostly believed no but I also believed a part of yes. For instance, I believe that some feminists have discredited marriage, but I don't think that all women should stay home and, "practice the values of 'true motherhood.'" I do believe that we have come a long way, and have earned more rights. Many women today have high-paying jobs, and are respected highly. What about someone like Oprah Winfrey? She is one of the most rich people in the world. What about all the jobs women can get in the workforce today? Well, it didn’t used to be like that. In 1900 only one in five women worked outside of their house. Most of them were single! Only eleven percent of married women worked, but that increased to fifteen percent by 1940. As you can see, the number of women in the workforce has been increasing. I think that is showing that women are becoming independent and having rights. Also, if a woman was married she didn’t have a separate identity from her husband in the legal system, and they couldn’t vote. Women can vote now and be seen in courts. I think those statistics show that women have come along. Therefore, I do not think that the women's movement of the 1970's has failed to liberate American women.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Sara makes some very good points, I have to disagree. I don't think anyone can "have it all," so even though women can't have it all, they still have a lot. They do have respectable jobs, usually their husbands respect them, and their children will probably have a good life. Isn't that what women wanted in the past? I also don't think that all feminists wanted to harm the reputation of marriage and tell women to casually have sex. I think most of them just wanted to have the same equal rights as men have. Yes, I do disagree with some of the feminists motives, but that doesn’t mean that the women's movement of the 1970's has failed to liberate women.
ReplyDeleteIn 15widgera’s response, she concludes by saying that “Even today women are still standing up for themselves and trying to reach for full equality.” Although I do not doubt the accuracy of this statement, I do question the force behind this statement. Today, women and men have almost completely equal rights. The goal of the feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s was to completely disregard physical, emotional, and mental differences and immediately declare women and men 100 percent able to do the same jobs and uphold the same careers and professions as men. Women may be as capable as men in many different forms of ability, but there are some differences that make being 100 percent equal impossible for them. In this way, the feminist movement didn’t succeed because the bottom line is that women are women and men are men. At this point in time, women will always be disadvantaged by their genetically inherited lack of muscle strength. Although we do have laws in effect such as the Equal Pay Act, the Equal Rights Amendment and others that give women equal rights in the forms of pay, work, property, and career options, there are many military and civilian protection jobs that women are not allowed to fill. If feminists had fully succeeded in making men and women 100 percent equal, these jobs would be open to any gender. The reason these jobs cannot and will most likely remain unoccupied by women is that these jobs have a prerequisite that allows only the most athletically built and experienced soldiers to fill them. This insures the best and most complete protection is given to those in and around the most often incredibly dangerous situations these soldiers are thrust into. When lives depend on it, there is no discrimination in choosing which applicants are right for the job, there are simply requirements that are far out of reach for any women who may apply for them.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I definitely believe that no, the women’s movement of the 1970’s did not fail. Women have come a very long way from where they were in the beginning of the twentieth century. Back then, a married woman could not try to achieve a career of her choice. Also, the career choices that were avaliable for women were the lowest paying jobs. However, the women’s movement changed this. During both world wars, women joined the larbor force in extraordinary numbers. Many organizatons were formed, such as NOW, which helped to make sure laws like Title VII were enforced. Title VII prohibited discrimination based on sex, religion, race, and national origin. Although women faced many challenges, such as Phyllis Schlafley’s Stop-ERA, they overcame those struggles. Women gained the right to vote in 1920, there are two women on the supreme court, and many more eleceted officials today. Also, in education, fifty-four percent of all bachelor of arts degrees go to women. The supreme court case Row v. Wade gave women the right to an abortion, which allowed women to have complete control of their bodies. The women’s movement of the 1970’s really helped women gain political, educational, personal, and nearly equal job opportuninties.
ReplyDeleteI believe that no, the Women's Movement of the 1970's did not fail to liberate American women. Many people, in fact, find it correct to call it the “century of the women”. During 1900, women had little rights. They could not control their reproductive system, they couldn’t own property or follow a career of their choice. Women could not separate from their husbands and could not vote or hold public office as well. However, change started to occur. Slowly, women gained great education, which in result, laid the basis for a huge suffrage movement. Evans states that, “The growing power of the women’s suffrage movement rested both on women’s collective consciousness…” Soon, by 1910, women of all races were working together to have the nineteenth amendment passed. Due to those courageous women of the 1900’s, women are able to vote and have their say in things. “The Second Wave” helped gain right to abortion, saying that women have the right to do what they want with their own bodies. The late twentieth century was filled with gaining rights. Politics, education, labor force; those were all ways where women were struggling for equality before. Now, women are equivalent to men in all of those aspects. “New words entered the American lexicon- “Ms.,” “firefighter,” “sexism”…”, writes Evans. The Women’s Movement of the 1970’s had many positive effects; therefore, it was not a failure to liberate American women.
ReplyDeleteThe Women's Movement of the 1970's has definitely not failed to liberate American Women. Today, women work in schools, hospitals, and even become professional athletes. Before women decided to take a stand against the treatment they were receiving, women were not expected to leave the house. Women had the same identity as their husbands which restricted them from doing so many different things. Women could not sue or be sued because they were legally the same person as their husband. This was good and bad. It was good because if a woman had done something to someone, they cannot sue her because she had no separate standing in court. It was also bad because if a woman felt that she needed to stand up for a cause, like many women at the time did, she was not able to under law. Throughout the 1900's, women have wanted equality. I believe they're efforts have been successful because women have many more freedoms and they receive much more respect than they did before they took a stand. Today women have become equal to men in ways of work and education. They also have retained their feminine nature. Doors are still opened for women and women have choice over what they wear and how they look. The Women's movement of the 1970's has definitely succeeded in liberating American Women.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sara’s observation that American women are under a lot of stress; and a career, children, and a strong marriage are high expectations today. However, how does that prove women are not liberated? Taking on more responsibilities as well as flourishing in high-stress environments simply reinforces the idea that women today are more independent. True, some women may fall prey to STD’s and are some choosing to have abortions. But the fact that women can choose to have an abortion or to have multiple partners is a right given to them by being liberated. Women today have the choice to divorce from an unhealthy marriage, should they feel the need. They can also have and decent jobs as well as a family. Equality between the genders is not yet perfect but, it’s better because, women have been freed. And none of this would have been possible without the Women’s Movement of the 70s. If you look all around you the proof of our liberation is in every woman with a career, or who chose to stay home with her kids, or who decided to do both. And it’s in every single girl who didn’t grow up dreaming of what she was told she had to be.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article I have come to the belief that the Women Movement of the 1970's did not fail to liberate women. From the beginning of the century to now, women have gained many things that they had never dreamed of being capable of doing before. Things such attaining the right to vote, taking control of their own reproductive life, to being a large part of the work force, they have also gained much more equality in sports, and education. They emerged into politics, mass media, and popular culture. At the beginning of the century women had no separate legal identity from their husbands, most women did not work outside of the home (and if they did they were under the age of 25, and most of them were non white, and not married,) Also the number of jobs that women a could have was very limited (most women were nurses, teachers, or factory workers/ seamstresses.) Now, women are not confined to their husbands legal identity, they are now able to vote, and many women have successful jobs. The 1970’s women rights movement helped women to gain the rights of separate legal identity, reproduction rights, and bodily integrity rights, the right to sue for discrimination in the work force, the right to work when pregnant, and the right to equal education. Without this movement, many women would still be at home as house wives instead of independent citizens. Even though, women are still not completely equal to men they have come a long way, and are defiantly free from the 1950’s house wife standards.
ReplyDeleteI support 15tuttlet's response agreeing with Carolyn Graglia. They include very convincing points of how feminists have pushed women to do things that are affecting the generations to follow in a negative way. Children are being under-cared for and striving for attention. However, I do believe they should have included more information on how women have not been liberated so his starting statement could have been supported better.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Scott’s opinion on Issue 16. However, I do not agree with his statement about women and how they are legally the same person as their husbands. He says, “It was good and bad.” Personally, I think that it was just all around “bad”. Being the same person as your husband does not show a women anything. If a lady did something wrong, she should probably take responsibility for her actions, and not have her husband get part of the blame. Overall, that was definitely not a “good” part of the whole process. Scott does mention that “Women have become equal to men in ways of work and education.” This is true, due to the Women’s Movement of the 1970’s. So I agree with Scott when he says that the Women’s Movement of the 1970’s has not failed to liberate American women.
ReplyDeleteI agree with 15tuttlet in many ways and there are also many ways in which I disagree. First, 15tuttlet states that feminists wanted full equality with men, but that was not right way. Full equality would mean that women would get to have the same jobs and have to do the same tasks as men today. For example, if women had achieved full equality, women would have to enter the draft when they reached the age of 18. Today, women aren't allowed in the front line of the war. Full equality would mean that women would be going into the battles of the war where there is shots being fired all around. This alone would take a lot of female lives. I disagree with 15tuttlet because he says that women are not staying in the home and leaving their kids to strangers. This is not always true. Many women when they enter the workforce, think about their children first. They will either get a job with less hours or schedule their hours around their husband or close relatives schedule. Although there are exceptions such as a family not bringing in enough income, they are forced to go out and find a job. With every situation, there are exceptions. So with every way that women have succeeded or failed in being liberated today, there is going to be exceptions.
ReplyDeleteThe movement of the 1970's has deffinently helped liberate women. You really don't even need facts or statistics to see how well women are doing in modern day society. If you look from when they were barely aloud to do anything but run the house, and have children, to now were they are a big politcal power, they are in the military, in medical services, and a unforgetable right they have struggled for and won, is the right to control their birth with birth control. So if there is big of contrasting differences between the modern, and past times of women, and the contrast is positive. Then yes this movement and struggle made by women must have helped liberate women for they're equality to men.
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ReplyDeleteI find that emily baldwins previous post has some very strong points that I find I very much agree with. Women do have very many strong expectations placed on them that noone really seems to even notice. They must juggle several respobilities at once such as jobs, children, strong marriage. Still they have been struggling for liberation, and they have been succeeding while juggling all these responsibilites. So to me it is showing the real determiniation that women have to win they're liberation and equality. Also like emily baldwin said previously, just the fact that they have right to have a abortion, or get a divorce, are monumental achievements, that in past society would have been unacclomplishable.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading this article, I agreed with the "No" perspective more often than not. I do not believe that the women's movement of the 1970's failed to liberate American women. The strides forward made during this time are prevalent in our country today. Women now have the right to vote, have a separate legal identity from that of their husband, have control of their reproduction, are able to own property, and have access to any job fields offered. At the beginning of the twentieth century, these basic rights listed above were not available to women. These rights were all gained as the century went on. Signs of change while gaining these rights caused struggles for the overall development of equality for women. The increased number of women in higher education and in the workforce during this time was a positive sign of change. Winning court cases, forming organizations, and passing laws were other signs of change. The fact that women were gaining more power in their lives out of the home caused a change in how the home itself was looked at and operated. These changes also brought on questioning of the differences between private and public life. The slogan, "the personal is political," became popular because of the events dealing with separating private and public life. Overall, these changes helped to liberate American women, but women are not completely free or equal today. Although two waves of feminism have taken place in our country so far, I do not believe that a third wave is that far off. I agree with the author of this article, Sara M. Evens, that this is a safe prediction. Much like the first two waves, a third would dramatically shape our country into a new perspective. Women have come along way from the early twentieth century, but they are not completely equal to men. Will there ever be a day when true equality for women is reached?
ReplyDeleteNo, the 1970’s Women’s Movement did not fail to liberate the women of the U.S.A today. Since the beginning of the twentieth century to 2011, women have gained a plethora amount of rights and freedoms. In the twentieth century, women did not have nearly the same amount of rights and liberties women have today. Women’s lives were defined by their martial status, which linked to their race and class. In the work force they had limited amount of options, and they were the low paying jobs too. They were also unable to hold office, vote, control their reproductive system, and have jobs men obtain. However during both World War I and II women joined the workforce in tremendous numbers. Even some of the women achieved gaining jobs only men could have. In 1940 the amount of women in the workforce was 25% then in 1945 it was 36%. In 1973, the Supreme Court decided abortion was legal with the Roe v. Wade trial. In the 1970’s the women’s movement helped women gain rights, freedom, and respect in the workforce.
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ReplyDeleteIn order to determine the overall success of the feminist movement of the '70s we must first determine the original goals of that movement. If the goal of the feminist movement was full and complete equality then it failed. Even today women make on average 77 cents for every dollar that a man makes. If the goal of the feminist movement was an end to the legal discrimination in the work force then it most definitely succeeded. The civil rights act made it illegal for any employer to discriminate on the basis of gender. While discrimination towards women is obviously still a major issue today, the gains made by the feminist movement of the '70s continue to benefit women today. Perhaps the legacy of the feminist movement was not in it's immediate gains but the doors that it opened for the future generations of women to come.
ReplyDeleteSara Cruz made a valid point in her previous comment. Women do feel overwhelmed and struggle having a career, a healthy marriage, and children that are not raised by strangers. However, during class Mrs. Nelson asked us which kids have stay at home moms. The minority of class had stay at home moms. They may be stressed out, but women today are finally fulfilling the lifestyle they dreamed of. Also, women now have the choices to have multiple partners and abortions. Yes, that does mean women will become victims of STD’s and choose to have abortions, but at least they now have the liberty to think and choose for themselves, not others! Divorce rates have increased over the years, but in the twentieth century women did not have a choice of whether they wanted to be married or not. They needed that martial status to help them in their society, and to have luxuries they could not have without their spouse. Today, many single women are able to have a job, kids, and still make in today’s society. We do not need to rely on a martial status to define who we are as women today! Women are more independent and make decisions best for them. Just because women feel overwhelmed and stressed out does not mean women are not liberated!
ReplyDeleteI agree and disagree with 15tuttlet’s post. I believe he was correct in saying that there are truly some things that men are just more physically capable to do than women. However, I do not believe this means that the women’s movement of the 1970’s failed entirely. There are many opportunities that women have today that they couldn’t have even dreamed of before the movement. Women have the right to vote, they have control of their bodies, and they also have the choice of whatever job they want. Women today can also get the same education as men, which they could not do before. Therefore, though I do believe that women are not one-hundred percent equal with men today, the women’s movement of the 1970’s has had a great impact on how far we’ve come.
ReplyDeleteI believe that that, no, the women movement has not failed women. The womens movement liberated women to peruse their education, careers,and h as let them make their own personal decisions. As it is said in the article, women were interested in a full high school education, and occasionally a higher education such as collage. Women showed an interest in goin further into their education so that they could get better often male based jobs, jobs like lawyers and doctor. The work force was also a big success of the women's movement. It allowed women to work in higher paying and more respectable jobs. Although most of the time the wage and treatment wasn't fair, women also fought to correct that problem. The women's moment has also given women the choice to do what they want with their bodies and marriages. Before the movement women weren't allowed to have abortions, have their own credit, or even allowed to own their own property. The women's movement in the seventies has made life for women better and equal.
ReplyDeleteAfter evaluating the essay given to read, I believe that the Women’s Movement of the 1970s did not fail to liberate American Women. In this united country, America, women have achieved things they thought would never be in reach for them. This was because of their gender. Nowadays, women have been one of the candidates for President, which was nearly an unreachable dream in the earlier 1900s (before 1970s) for women. Basically, women just wanted to have equality in all aspects of life. There were two major times when action really took place, the First Wave and the Second Wave. Women were just known for being the wife in a marriage, bringing in no money as they clean the house and care for their children. They also had no political voice or control whatsoever. The First Wave was filled with women trying the get voting rights through the women’s suffrage movement. The big success of the Second Wave was Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, saying there was to be no discriminating towards any kind of a person for voting (including gender, race, religion, etc). From 1968 to 1975, the “Women’s Liberation Movement” came around and constantly brought up the term feminism. Women started getting into jobs with law and medicine. Back then, only 2 percent of lawyers were women, and today 43 percent are (huge difference). In these times, you basically cannot imagine a hospital with no women nurses or doctors and a law firm with not a single woman. Women got the courage to write about their issues in magazines, a hard thing to overcome. After winning the abortion trial, women now had a say about how many children they wanted to actually give birth to, making men less powerful. A huge amount of successes came to liberate women in the Women’s Movement of the 1970s.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading through my peers' posts, I noticed that most believed the women's movement of the 1970's was a success and not a failure to liberate American women. A statement made by widgera saying that "women are strong and can do anything if they come together," spoke to me. The thought that women had to come together, to unite as one, in order to get their point across made me think that many had to cross racial lines to stand up for women's rights. At some points, the article emphasized that there were breaks in relationships between women. But to think that some racial boundaries were put aside during this time of gaining women's rights would be considered two steps in the right direction for our country. One for women; another for racial discrimination.
ReplyDeleteTo respond to one peer who thought of the women's movement as a failure I would have to question "how?". Sara Cruz brings up the problems we face today and what is going on in our society to prove that the movement did not liberate American women. How does this prove that women were not liberated? Many of these same problems were faced all throughout the twentieth century, so they are not new. I see a definite improvement in today's society for women. How much more needs to be done in order for you to consider American Women liberated? Are you waiting for the day when women are completely equal before you say women are liberated? However, I did agree with Sara's point in saying a woman can not have everything. Stress does tend to get to someone, and finding a balance in a busy life can be difficult. The thoughts in Sara's blog made me think about the other point of view in this argument.
I agree with 15widgera when she says that no the women's movement in the seventies has not failed women. I agree with abby when she writes about the education aspect of the women's movement. Women did not get the same education as men, especially when it came to higher education like college. Like 15widgera states, the statistics of women graduating high school was higher than the rate of men. That proves that women craved education, but often never got the chance to prove it and reach full equality with men.
ReplyDeleteIn order to determine the overall success of the feminist movement of the '70s we must first determine the original goals of that movement. If the goal of the feminist movement was full and complete equality then it failed. Even today women make on average 77 cents for every dollar that a man makes. If the goal of the feminist movement was an end to the legal discrimination in the work force then it most definitely succeeded. The civil rights act made it illegal for any employer to discriminate on the basis of gender. While discrimination towards women is obviously still a major issue today, the gains made by the feminist movement of the '70s continue to benefit women today. Perhaps the legacy of the feminist movement was not in it's immediate gains but the doors that it opened for the future generations of women to come.
ReplyDeleteThe Women’s Movement of the 1970s has most definitely not failed to liberate American Women. It was the start of a new future for women and other minorities. However, the Movement was not fully successful. Women have put a large amount of effort upon the freedom of themselves today. They have put a positive change in the areas of education, labor force contributions, and sexuality. Literacy was higher rated among women of the 1900s, and more girls graduated from high school due to the fact that boys had a better access to jobs that did not necessitate the use of much education. On the other hand, women were highly excluded from most professional education such as medical and legal education. In 1900s, women were finally able to be a part of the labor force. Sadly, they were still discriminated based upon marital status, race, and even their gender. An average, single employing woman was under the age of 25, and by 1940, around only 15 percent of wedded women worked exterior of their homes. They made less of a wage than men did. A large spur up of attention upon the 20th Century was the argument about the sexuality of women. At one point, it was illegal to convey information about contraception. It was by that century that women were finally accepted into public amusements such as dance halls, and they were also finally showing up in athletics like field hockey. By the new millennium, women were at last not defined by their marital statuses. They could finally benefit from most of the full range of official legal rights. In 1997, 11.2 percent of women played a part in Congress. Nearing the end of the millennium, 88 percent of women from ages 25 to 34 were high-school graduates. In the labor force, 70 percent of women worked in health and education, wholesale, or retail trade. The sexuality of women was much freer in the late 20th century because birth control became legalized in most states, and the Supreme Court legalized abortion from the Roe v. Wade decision. Women have by far successfully made their way near the top of the liberation list of minorities. Nonetheless, they still have a long way to go with becoming equally treated like men. The Women’s Movement of the 1970s was mostly successful with the liberation of American Women.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading Sara Cruz’s blog on the Women’s’ Movement of the 1970s, I found some opinionated sentences that I happen to disagree with. I believe women can handle having a career, while being in a healthy marriage and raising decent or above average children. I mean, my friend’s mother is a perfect example. Having a career, you do not have to work full time, although I believe she may now. She is happy in her marriage and has smart, loving children while having a job. Yes, women become stressful like every other human being. Women just need to make sure they don’t spread themselves too thin and realize there is a limit to how much they can involve themselves in during one day. Often, divorces occur from fights or disagreements on views of certain topics. If you truly married the ‘one,’ they will try to help you balance your life out. When women put their minds to something, they can do it. Men never thought women would achieve such power in politics from voting and such. Women were jailed and force feed, but that did not prevent them from taking a stand. They finished their task by receiving the right to vote, even though they were not of male gender. Sara makes some valid points, but I disagree with her overall viewpoint on women not being capable of handling a job, a healthy marriage, and raising children to be productive to our society (and having good judgments).
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Sara M. Evan's opinion on Issue 16, the women's movement of the 1970's, I concluded that the movement succeeded in the liberation of rights for women. There are a plethora of rights all women have now, versus the very limited rights they had in the 1900's. One main example of this is that women have the right to vote. Also, women can now create the lifestyle they want to pursue, whereas the freedom to do so in the past was not yet established. For example, women are free to choose any career, even if previously dominated by men, that they want. In contrast to the twentieth century, the number of women in today's workforce has dramatically increase. Women are not looked upon solely as mothers and domestic caretakers anymore, but as liberated people, due to the movement of the 1970's. Also, women are no longer obligated to have children or even to marry, and they have the freedom of divorce. As you can see, the women's movement of the 1970's has helped women all across America gain the freedoms and benefits they aspired to get.
ReplyDeletehe Women's Movement of the 1970's did not fail in liberating American women, however, it did not progress women's rights as quickly or effectively as it could. Women are supposed to have the same opportunities as men have, and for the most part, they do. You will always have some bosses that will be sexist, but the government does everything in its power to stop unequal treatment as it can. You can not expect for laws to be passed and have everybody in America condone it, but you can expect the government to enforce the laws. Women can now have any job that a man can, now have the right to vote, and can serve in the military. This is definite progress from what we had before, but there are still barriers. The biggest barrier is probably that for every dollar a man makes a women makes 77 cents. This shows some sexism, but inarguable improvement from what we have come from.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sara Cruz in some aspects, but not all. She says that women cannot have it all, but no one can really ever “have it all”. Women are held to high expectations today, but they are only held as high as they hold themselves. Also society doesn’t hold woman to every expectation, it depends on how they live. But all these expectations women go through make them very autonomous. Not to mention the sense of accomplishment they must feel when they power through high stress environments. But I do agree when she says that feminists have taught society that a woman being is an unworthy behavior. After all, many kids today are unruly and ungrateful given that they have not been given the motherly attention that they so very much need.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Emily Baldwin on the fact that the Women's Movement of the 1970's had not failed what-so-ever. With all the options women have today, we are very much equal to men. This would not have been possible if these women had not decided that we need a better life for all American women. Today, women can vote, go to school, become just about anything they set their minds to, and we can go home and still be housewives. However, I am not saying we are totally equal. Sam also had a great point in mentioning that women are for the most part equal to men, but you can't forget the fact of sexists and men who will always think more highly of themselves in the work place than women. No matter what the Women's Movement of th 1970's did, nobody can change the fews of those people except for themselves. Overall, the Women's Movement of th 1970's did its job.
ReplyDeleteI agree with 15tuttlet's first response, in the fact that the movement had sound goals, but it was not practiced correctly. I think that a big reason for the barriers faced by women today is how the Women's Movement of the 1970's was handled. The movement its self was very sound in principles and goals to start with, but as time went on, their means of doing things became too radical. There were the wrong ideals being promoted, and protests were being handled incorrectly. Protests for the right to vote was a very understandable demand to start with, but later on the movement turned from demanding the right to vote, into women on the street encouraging promiscuity and yelling man-hating speeches. People can't be blamed for not all supporting this. A government can't give into demands that are sought out though illegal means, otherwise it looks weak, and businessman may not take these demands seriously if they are not handled in a civil matter. Women were not being civil in there protests and means of pursuing there ultimate goal of full equality, so their demands were not taken seriously by many people, and unfortunately, is still not taken seriously by some today.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gabby because when I first read the article I felt the same way. I felt this way because from the beginning of the century women have made huge steps toward total equality with men. However, women are still not treated completely equal and are still discriminated against in certain ways such as not being paid as much as men even though they have the same qualifications as their male co workers. But, on the other hand, there are also some very successful women that do very well in society. An example of successful women in today’s society is congress women or women senators. In conclusion, women have come a long way from the beginning of the century to now. However, we are not completely equal to men, but, if this century is like the last, then we will all be treated equally soon.
ReplyDeleteAs I have said before, I believe that the women’s movement of the 1970’s has not failed. I agree with 15gleasone that women have come a long way from the twentieth century. I also agree that women did not have nearly as many rights as they did back in the 1900’s. Even constitutional rights, such as the right to vote and many other guaranteed rights, weren't given to women. After the movement, however, women had a voice in our society and obtained many of these freedoms. I also agree with some comments from 15sannerj. Since women started to speak out against injustice in their society, forming multiple groups to support these issues, they have gained political freedoms and respects. Also, I agree that the slogan “the personal is political” became popular among feminists because it said that the personal and political boundaries were unclear, and they should be separated.
ReplyDeleteThe women’s movement of the 1970’s definitely succeeded to liberate American women. Throughout the years women have worked for equality and I believe that they have shown themselves to be equal to men. Sara M. Evans made many thorough points as to how women have strived for equality. During both World War I and World War II, the women’s work force increased due to men leaving the country for war. Once the wars ended and the men came back, many women lost their jobs due to the gender roles. After World War II many women changed from work force to civil rights participants. Some groups were created such as the National Organization for Women (NOW), which helped to enforce laws like title VII and help in court cases. The Women’s Liberation Movement helped to pass the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972. These are only a few of the ways women have strived for equality. Today women have equal rights like men in education and the workforce. Many women graduate high school and college and beyond and many of the higher paying jobs are now offered to women. Women have the same rights that men have and have worked hard to for this equality.
ReplyDeleteReading through my peers’ opinions was a very interesting journey, but a response that really caught my eye was 15tuttlet’s view of the argument. Most of the answers were based around the agreement of the Women’s Movement of the 1970s being a success. 15tuttlet’s response mentioned, “If feminists had fully succeeded in making men and women 100 percent equal, these jobs would be open to any gender.” I would have to agree with that statement because overall, women today are not treated just like men. They still have to almost ‘work up’ to be as strong and intellectual as men supposedly are. There’s still a lot of prejudice about feminism and the outcome of it. A topic that is still disputed today is about the act of abortion. Many people are against it, while several others are completely for it. However, it may be a legal action, but there are people out there fighting for the right of it to be turned into an illegal act. I also would have to agree with the thought of how a woman should be a proper housewife. I believe that our generation now does not really get the chance to live life like the several generations before us did. A woman used to be the person who would tend with the cooking and cleaning of the house. She would care for the entire family, and it all seemed quite proper. Now, women are all out and about. Lots of them do not even get to experience making a home cooked meal and spending that dinnertime with the family because they are so busy with their ongoing work lives. I still firmly believe in my response with disagreeing about the failure of the Women’s Movement of the 1970s, but 15tuttlet’s answer has also opened my mind to partially support the idea of its failure within reasoning.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading almost all of my class mates posts, I gave this a long thought. We all have different opinions which are all very interesting. This argument could go both ways. I think that women haven't reached full equality but are close. In everyday life most of us pretend we don't see it and just say there equal. And for the most part they are. But still they aren't entirely liberated. For instance, many study's show that women get payed less then men do doing the same job. There are different jobs that more women get then men, and more men get than women. Women sports aren't watched as much as men. Women professional sports players actually get payed less. I didn't think this my self until i researched it. In everyday life women are equal, but when you look into it, beneath the everyday cover, they really aren't. The women's rights movement wasn't as successful as they hoped.
ReplyDelete15tuttlet made a good point but I don’t entirely agree with him. There are some jobs that women cannot do physically as well as men, such as fighting on the front lines in war. Many females would have a difficult time lugging heavy equipment around all day every day. By having more females on the front lines means more female deaths. I disagree that the women’s movement of 1970’s did not fail, women have earned the right to vote and to have a job of their choice. Women are allowed the same education as men such as high schools and colleges. They also have control over their bodies, before they didn’t have a choice if they wanted kids or not. In conclusion, women have most of the rights that men have, and therefore I believe that the women’s movement of the 1970’s played a huge role on society today.
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