Ch17- Revolution

Feminist Beginnings

From the beginning of time women have had it more difficult then men. The rights that women have today had to be fought for, they were not just handed to us like it was for most men. Europe and North America are known for having started the feminist movement, because those were the two places where the movement really developed. Even thought it took years for people to start focusing on the rights of women, at least it was becoming apparent that the treatment towards women was unfair. As the middle class began to grow so did the amount of women who were becoming educated. Also, women began to “step out of the house” more, joining in such things as temperance movements, charities, abolitionism, missionary work, and socialist and pacifist organizations.  Many women liked that women were finally starting to get a say in their own life, they were making choices that affected them outside of the household. Although, on the other hand some women still believed that they were on the earth for one main thing, motherhood. I know that raising children is an important aspect of life, but so is being independent, and having rights. So thanks to many women who suffered and stood up to the oppression they faced, women today have the same rights as men, the way it should have been from the very beginning. As time went on, more and more women joined the forces of the women’s movement, especially those women in the middle class. Feminist movements began to really impact daily lives of many, and causing attention to the realities of the tough life of women. Some women even went to extremes, for example, a women by the name of Emily Davidson, was trampled to death after she threw herself in front of her kings horse during a race in Britain in 1913. It is crazy to think that women actually had to go to these extremes in order to gain some sort of attention. Also, to think of the date 1913, that was only 98 years ago! Wow that’s just amazing, to think that women barely just got out rights. But oh well, at least we have them now, and are just as equal to men.