Equal Voting Rights example essay topic

In this essay I shell refer to the politics as a power-structure relationship which is arranged so that one group of persons is controlled by another; arrangement of human life on agreeable and rational principles from where the entire nation of power over others should be banished, and we must confess that this is not what constitutes the political as we know it, and it is this that we - women - must address ourselves. Sex is a status category with political implications. It is opportune, perhaps today, even mandatory, that we develop a more relevant psychology and philosophy of power relationships beyond the simple conceptual framework provided by our traditional formal politics. We can say, and it will not be a surprise, that our society, like all other historical civilizations, is unfortunately, a patriarchy. The fact is evident at once if one recalls that the military, industry, technology, universities, science, political offices, and finance - in short, every avenue of power within the society, including the coercive force of police - is almost entirely in male hands.

If we take "patriarchal" government to be the institution, whereby that half of the population is female and is controlled by that half which is male, the principle of patriarchy is a social constant so deeply ingrained as to run through all other political, social, or economic forms, whether of caste or class feudality or bureaucracy, just as it pervades all major religions, it also exhibits great variety in history on locale. Even in democratic system, for example, females have often held no office or do so nowadays in such minuscule numbers as to be below even token representation (Millett, Sexual Politics). As the essence of politics is power, such realization cannot fail to carry impact. The impact was the rise of the feminism and series - waves, as we call them - of women's movement. In the United States the first wave started to grow in the mid 19th century. As with the liberation of any group long oppressed, the first priority was education.

The sexual revolution would have little impetus, the women's movement still less, without the growth of higher education for women, one of the major achievements of the period. An equal education is yet to come, but even the fact of knowledge was sufficiently revolutionary to spark an enormous unset and provide the movement with its leaders, a large number of whom came fresh from the new colleges. The first generation feminists were active and dedicated abolitionists: the Grimke sisters, Lucy Stone, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Suzan B. Anthony. The women's movement in America was officially inaugurated with the Declaration of Sentiments on Seneca Falls convention of July 19, 1848.

The declaration begins with a simple paraphrase of the Declaration of Independence: "When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such course" (Reader). Seventy five years after the American revolution women were daring to apply this document to themselves, extending its premises - the proposition of inalienable human rights and the legitimacy of government relying upon the consent of the governed - even, and last to their own case. This was given a wider international character when Susan B. Anthony began the international women's movement during the visit abroad in 1883. After suffrage was won in America, the international women's movement continued to function through various organizations, its latest manifestation was the United Nations Committee on the Status of Women. In long and tortuous years of campaigning for a whole series of reforms, the final and significant achievement of the women's movement came to lie in winning the franchise. By 1920 the number of nations who granted some form of civil rights and franchise to women was 26, and by 1964 it was 104 (Kernell, Jacobson.

The Logic of American Government). Thought it continues to be largely ignored, a profound social change had come about, its seeds sown in 19th century England and America. The case of suffrage was the focal point of the formal politics of the first phase of the sexual revolution. Around it were marshaled other issues such as education, equality before the law, equal pay, equal vote opportunity, rights of the slaves, and elimination of the slavery.

The latter became the major theme of the movement. Angela Davis notes that "women could never achieve their success independently of Black people... white women in the North and South acknowledged the special bond linking them with Black women who suffered the pain of slavery". She called it "fruitful and powerful alliance, bringing Black people and women together in order to realize their common dream of liberation". (Davis. "Women, Race & Class").

In 1860's three amendments were added to the Constitution of the United States: 13th amendment that abolished slavery; 14th - that established equal citizenship and equal protection of the law; and 15th amendment - guaranteed equal voting rights. The latter included men only, thus women were officially deprived the right to take any participation in lawmaking. As the amending the Constitution did not bring the justice regarding women's rights, based on their interests women's movement split apart creating two distinctive groups: American Women Suffrage Association (A WSA) and National Women Suffrage Association (NWS A). They differed in the idea whether women were ready for the real changes of should they take one thing at a time getting ready step by step.

With the beginning of the 20th century women's movement started the fight for their rights with the new energy, and despite of the skepticism and ignorance from the men side, in just twenty years, on August 26, 1920 the amendment was passed by the congress. From then on women were lawfully allowed to vote under the Constitution of the United States - the remarkable fact that became the obvious end of the first wave of the women's movement. As the second wave of feminism emerged in 1960's, it was thought to be tightly connected with social issues like equal employment, birth control rights, abortion rights... Two branches of feminism were identified: mass movement and small group movement.

During several decades these branches reconstructed themselves at times coming together to fight for the common ideas, or from time to time coming to disagreements and falling apart. The second wave of the women's movement, as every movement, had its ups and downs, but the huge success was achieved in transforming the law and politics towards making it more favorable and just for women: equal pay act of 1963 was passed; civil rights act of 1964, title VII was passes; EEOC, women's equality act, affirmative action, education law - title II of 1992, equal credit opportunity act of 1974, pregnancy discrimination was overcome, retirement equality was established in 1984, child support act 1993 was passes. Outcome of both women movement waves were remarkable, courageous, and extremely important. Which of them was more successful? It depends what do we mean by success. None of them was a failure.

With gaining the right to vote, women gained the power to make a change, without which the second wave would not be able to achieve -equality by the law. Unfortunately, despite such progress, women are still a long way from political equality with men. Women occupy only a small percentage of congressional seats, or statewide and city council offices (Patterson, We, The People). Moreover, women on office are more likely than their male counterparts to believe there are significant obstacles to political advancements. Even so, women's vote is becoming increasingly powerful, and hopefully, with the ongoing movement and effort, so called "glass ceiling" will be eliminated and the total equality will be established not only for women of the United States but throughout the world, and not only on the paper, but in the actual everyday life.

Bibliography

1. Cathy J. Cohen, Kathleen B. Jones, Joan C. Tron to. "Women Transforming Politics". NYU Press, 1997.
2. Kate Millett, "Sexual Politics". Doubleday & Company, Inc. Garden City, NY, 1970.
3. Samuel Kernell, Gary Jacobson, "The Logic of American Politics". Univ. of CA, San Diego, 1990.
4. Angela Y. Davis, "Women, Race, And Class". Division of Random House. New York, 1981.
5. Barbara Ryan, "Feminism And The Women's Movement". Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc, 1992.
6. Thomas E. Patterson, "We, The People". Third Edition. McGraw Companies, 2000.