Womens Liberation
When the Women's Suffrage Movement was deemed a success in the early 1920s, women lowered their voices, apparently satisfied with their accomplishment. They did not dare to acknowledge the remaining gender-related inequalities, much less vie for their decline ("Early 20th Century"). For over a century, women had fought for the most basic of rights. They fought not only the plebeian society, but also many of the "intellectuals" of the Enlightenment. When Jean Jacques Rousseau, one of the most influential writers of the Enlightenment, claimed that women were naturally suited to be subordinate companions of men, English writer Mary Wollstonecraft wrote her manifest, A Vindication of the Rights of Women. It argued to Rousseau and anyone else who belittled women that women are naturally rational, as are their male counterparts. It stated that the reason this rationality is not as apparent in women is that they lack the education of men to cultivate it. She further argued that education is key in successful marriages, so that husband and wife are not only legal partners, but also friends (Encarta Women's Rights) Mary Wollstonecraft laid the path for future women to follow, but wo
Women's feelings of guilt even extended to the type of cake mixes they used; they felt too guilty to use cake mixes with eggs included, requiring only the addition of water and baking. During World War I and World War II, women were allowed to occupy various traditional male roles, even if for no reason other than necessity. Teachers there are often frustrated females. Women did not begin buying easy-make cake without eggs for a more savory taste, however. Women turned from the short-lived assertive presence demonstrated by the early star Katherine Hepburn to coquettish pleasers of men-silly and fluffy, a roll well played by Doris Day (Evans 248). Even in the South an undercurrent of women came to the realization that they were no longer content with their inferior. The nostalgic portrayal in the TV series "Happy Days" accurately reflected the ideals that were desired of a "happy All-American family". men did not follow this path until they started to become used to the minuscule amount of attention that Wollstonecraft afforded them. By 1954, however, the definition had regressed to "[creating] a warm haven, a happy family life (Evans 247)," only proving the regression of women (Evans 246-248). The Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War with its corresponding anti-war movement caused the nation to reflect on its flaws. The step proceeding Wollstonecraft was Women's Suffrage, and when this was achieved, as previously mentioned, feminism again became quiet. These new movements forced the nation to look at these issues, such as Civil Rights, and fix things that had long needed mending. This style, however, back-fired as had the wartime jobs when the longer skirts shifted to a "baby doll" image. After the social repression of women during the 1950s their fight for improvement during the 1960s came as the inevitable.
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Acceptance Essays
