The Women Work Wonders

For many years women have been seen as less than men. However, the opportunities given to women and the role of women in our society has become greater as the years go on. The Women's Reform movement in the mid 19th century was able to give this issue a jump start. Take a look at this image below.

This image is the Sphere of Women. I marked this image up in class on the app to skitch to highlight the parts of the image that gave us an insight on the role of women in the 19th century. As you can see the obvious jobs that of women from that time and still today is cleaning and taking care of the children which includes educating them. Also, the curtain in the background suggests that the women's job is done "behind the scenes" and in the comfort of their own homes. 

The document The Rights of Women: Laws and Practices, gives us an idea of just what restrictions were put specifically on women during this time. For example, it is stated that is is unacceptable for women to speak in public. They also cannot own land once they are married and men beating their wives was not seen as such an awful thing like it would be seen as today. Women were something that a man could own and control. 

Finally, something was done about this issue. The Seneca Falls Convention was held in New York and The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions was created. This was resolutions to some of the restrictions I mentioned earlier from the Laws and Practices document. Reactions to this sudden demand for women's rights created mixed reactions from the public. This was the first time that the women's right to vote was publicly demanded. One newspaper, The Mechanics Advocate, Female Department, was speaking out to all the women saying that if they really were a true women they would know that demanding rights and promoting equality was  not womanly and not right. This newspaper even apologizes for the womens' actions. However, The North Star published an article saying that since the rights of colored people are now being recognized than women's should as well. 

Obviously, the way women are looked at and treated has drastically changed today since this time. I as a women do not feel like I have any less power than a male. Some people do still find inequality between sexes as an issue today. For example, women are sometimes still payed less then man for the same jobs. Women have gained a better reputation and been given more rights as the years have passed and I think a lot of this was a result of the women who organized the Seneca Falls Convention and finally spoke out about equality.

For a quick clip with additional information and quotes from the convention, watch the video below: