Throughout the longevity of society, the roles of genders have been modified and changed naturally. Dating back to as far as the late 1700’s, the roles, ideas, attitudes, and responsibilities of both male and female were on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. The male specimen has upheld the stigma of being the dominate provider of the household. But over recent years the female has taken charge and have developed society into a more matriarchal establishment. Males seem to have taken the backseat when it comes to modern families and because of this they have received a fair amount of flack. The role of the housewife has now changed into a more significant position in managing families financially and emotionally while the role of the male has taken a step back and given the females room to work their reigns. Diving deeper we’ll find out, what is causing this shift of roles between the two genders, and how our approaches to gender are represented differently throughout America.
From 2000 to 2010 the number of households with children ran by unmarried women rose by 18 percent. Married couples make up less than half of the households in the United States. The independence of the female has become a big factor. In the earlier times of history, the mother of the house was extremely dependent on the husband to provide for the family both food and shelter. Usually, staying home taking care of the house and making sure everything was in order. However, recent studies show that women under 29 years old are just as likely as men to want a job with the same, if not more responsibility. The women no longer feel restricted by the stigmas of society and in result have blossomed into hard working individuals. Education has also played a huge role in this advanced empowerment of women; not only for them though. With the continuous advancement in the school system, more and more citizens are becoming individually successful.
In the societal world gender equality has become an excepted movement and change. For years the boundaries have been continuously knocked down and have given the movement some political power to truly make changes in the culture. The District of Colombia as well as 37 states in the U.S. have legalized same sex marriage. We even came close to having our first female president. Although we do feel that women are making strides in equal rights, a Pew Research Center survey shows that the Democrats are “largely dissatisfied” with the progression (pewsocialtrends.org). Nearly 70% claim the country has taken enough steps in giving women equal rights as men. Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans feel differently. More than half of them feel that things are just right in gender equality. While only 26 percent felt that we had some work to do as a country regarding this situation (pewtrends.org). Political views can be skewed between the Democrats and Republicans but more see an upside for women than for men. Mainly because of the work field, more women are now known to be the one in position of power. Cisco, Flickr, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and Proactive are just a few of the thousands of businesses founded by women.
A great, intelligent, legendary woman’s activist Susan Brownell Anthony became one of the most influential leaders in the women’s suffrage movement. What eventually led to delivering speeches across America bringing awareness to women’s rights, started in Massachusetts. Her father was a farmer and her mother’s side of the family came from fighting in the American Revolution. Susan was influenced at a young age. She believed everybody was equal and under God making that a moral significance to her character. After years of teaching Susan B. Anthony returned to her family but this time in New York. Here she would meet Fredrick Douglas and William Garrison. They served as an inspiration to her in the abolishment of slavery. She wanted to begin not only fighting for the rights of women, but also for the rights of African Americans. In these times it was known as improper for women to give public speeches, but Susan broke those barriers giving multiple speeches bringing awareness to the cruelty of slavery. In 1848 Susan B. held the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Although she herself did not attend the event, her mother and sister did. But, she would go on to meet Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The two would become great friends and fight for women’s rights together over the course of their friendship.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in New York and while her and Susan would later develop a deeply rooted relationship, her background is different from Susan B Anthony’s. Elizabeth’s father used to be a slave owner, attorney, and a Congressman and judge. His resume is extremely long one with a multitude of different, high end occupations. This benefited Elizabeth in more ways than financially. She was exposed to the study of law at a very young age which sparked the fire inside of her to fight for laws she felt were unjust towards women. Fast forwarding, when the Civil War broke out, Elizabeth and Anthony created the Women’s Loyal National League to push Congress the pass the 13th Amendment which would abolish slavery. Later they would continue to push for more changes giving every “minority” in society a chance to prosper. In 1866 they spoke out against the 14th and 15th Amendment which gave African American men the right to vote, but women were still not allowed to partake in the choosing of the U.S. president. While many did agree with this issue, some of her abolitionist friends disagreed, and felt that suffrage rights for black men were the top priority. People were taking her side, but she also felt the power of society putting her issues on the back burning because other pending problems attempting to be solved. A divide had eventually developed within the woman’s suffrage movement and drove Stanton to go a step further. Both Stanton and Susan felt deceived and established the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869 which brought the unfair practices of women stigmas to the light. From this grew the National American Woman Suffrage Association, managed by Susan B. Anthony. By 1896 with Stanton and Anthony the faces of the movement, four states had secured woman’s suffrage.
Looking through history we have come a long way as a country. Although there are many stigmas, views, and laws that are unfair to certain citizens in society, over the years we pushed to fight for what we believe in. With the mixture between the continuous advancement of technology, and the power our education systems is gaining, the sky is the limit for human potential. More specifically for minorities. The shifts in personal education are what really began to empower these individuals to fight for rights they believe in. The more educated one is on a subject, the more credited they become. America has preached equality for years. They believed everybody was equal, except for anybody who was not a white male. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton recognized the hypocrisy in the United States and decided to fight for a change that would last forever. The divide between women and men broke when knowledge became the woman’s best friend. Women were not allowed to attend college in this period, but Elizabeth still managed to be a teacher to citizens with ears and eyes by writing the Declaration of Sentiments, helping organize the first woman’s rights convention, and writing a book known as, “The Woman’s Bible” (History.com, Editors).
The movement for woman’s rights began gaining momentum early to mid-1800’s. On the opposite sides of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton, we have people such as Martin Luther King Jr, Fredrick Douglas, Malcolm X, and many more who fought for the rights of Africans Americans as well. While the roles seemed to have changed between men and woman, I feel that the role of a man in modern society remains the same, to provide for his family and maintain a protected, secure household. But this does not mean that the female role has stayed the same over the years. They are now also known to provide for the family in a variety of different ways (maybe even more than the men). Single mother households are at an all-time high which is ultimately driving the world to a matriarchal dominated society. In 2019 everybody is still fighting for equality, from the LGBT community, to the African Americans, and the women of this generation. The key factor is knowledge. The more we know the more powerful we become, and because all these groups, especially women, are gaining knowledge at an incredible speed, it is now starting to show in our morals, stances, and beliefs. Ultimately driving the world to become a better place.
Citations
- Livingston, Gretchen, and Gretchen Livingston. “About One-Third of U.S. Children Are Living with an Unmarried Parent.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 27 Apr. 2018, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/27/about-one-third-of-u-s-children-are-living-with-an-unmarried-parent/.
- “History of U.S. Woman’s Suffrage.” History of U.S. Woman’s Suffrage, www.crusadeforthevote.org/.
- Editors, History.com. “Elizabeth Cady Stanton.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/womens-history/elizabeth-cady-stanton.
- http://www.web-wizardry.com, Web Wizardry -. “Susan B. Anthony House.” Susan B. Anthony House :: Her Story, susanbanthonyhouse.org/her-story/biography.php.
