Women

Women's Rights in America

Throughout most of history women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. Such social reforms brought many women to a realization of their own unequal position in society. Most people's awareness of the evolution of women's rights goes back a few decades at best. There is a clear correlation in American history between women's economic roles and the expansion or contraction of legal rights. The 20th century, however, women in most nations won the right to vote and increased their educational and job opportunities. Perhaps most important, they fought for and to a large degree accomplished a reevaluation of traditional views of their role in society. Women often work more than men, yet are paid less; gender discrimination affects girls and women throughout their lifetime; and women and girls are often are the ones that suffer the most poverty. There should be agreements to protect and promote women’s rights while equality between men and women is a key principle reflected in all human rights standards, to improve the lives of women and to give all women chances of economic independence.

Women were long considered naturally weaker than men, squeamish, and unable to perform work requiring muscular or intellectual development. In most preindustrial societies, for example, domestic chores were relegated to women, leaving "heavier" labor such as hunting and plowing to men. Traditionally a middle-class girl in Western culture tended to learn from her mother's example that cooking, cleaning, and caring for children was the behavior expected of her when she grew up. The major reason given was that the girls' own expectations declined because neither their families nor their teachers expected them to prepare for a future other than that of marriage and motherhood. This trend has been changing in recent decades. Women obtained 19 percent of all undergraduate college degrees around the beginning of the 20th century....