It was in the mid-1800s when the first signs of the feminist movement cameabout. In 1861, a man named John Stuart Mill wrote The Subjection of Women, whichwas said to have spawned the ideology of the Women’s Rights Movement (Ryan 11).
Hediscussed the role of women is society during that time, pointing out how the patriarchyplaced such an intense limit on what women could do. Patriarchy is the system in whichthe male race governs societal views, and this practice has been in existence since thedawn of time. This work raised the consciousness of many women, but the first hints ofan organized movement did not come about until the approach of the twentieth century. It has been said the Black Abolition Movement was the encouragement that womenneeded to go after what they believed in (Ryan 10). In 1898 came the beginnings ofWomen’s Suffrage, which was the movement intended to allow women the right to vote. During this time, over 500 separate campaigns were launched with the goal of attainingthis right.
Females such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony spoke all overthe country on women’s rights and suffrage, gaining many supporters along the way(Ryan 9). The National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was soonformed, and Stanton was its first president. She helped to begin extensive mobilizingefforts and put a strong foot forward in the suffrage movement (Ryan 22).
When theNineteenth Amendment was passed, women nationwide rejoiced at their accomplishmentwith the feeling that they had made a difference, and their feeling of inferiority hadsubsided. Works CitedBardon, Edward J. The Sexual Arena and Women’s Liberation. Chicago: Nelson Hall, 1978. Evans, Sara. Personal Politics.
New York: Vintage Press, 1979. Friedan, Betty. It Changed My Life. New York: Random House, 1976. Ryan, Barbara. Feminism and the Women’s Movement.
New York:Rutledge, 1992. Salper, Roberta. Female Liberation: History and Current Politics. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1972.
Sinclair, Barbara. The Women’s Movement: Political, Socioeconomic, and Psychological Issues. New York: Harper and Row,1975. Stambler, Sookie. Women’s Liberation: Blueprint for the Future.
New York: Ace Books, 1970.
