Path Of Women 1865 Research Paper

The Path of Women from 1865
HIS204: American History Since 1865
Instructor Jill Walsh
March 10, 2014

The Path of Women from 1865
In a span of 149 years from 1865 to the present day, women have worked hard to gain many rights and liberties that have always been afforded to most men. Key events or specific developments among the 149 years such as gaining the right to vote establishing a political voice, transformations into modern times thus evolving the mindset, making significant contributions during World War II, fighting for pay that is fair and equal to men, and accomplishing a landmark of firsts for women in prestigious positions have all made their mark in history for pushing the boundaries of what the role of a woman
should or could be. The role of a woman in the 1800s followed the model of “Cult of Domesticity” that restricted her scope to home life. (MacKethan, n.d.). The only contribution a woman had to society was for her to fulfill her obligations at home of tending to her husband and rearing good children. There were all sorts of books, manuals, and literature that taught a woman “how to” successfully fulfill her expected obligations. The women that wrote the works, women that were a part of women’s societies, and women that were a part of the church societies realized they could form a voice for certain topics, such as rights or education for women. (MacKethan, n.d.). One such woman that wrote literature for women, The Feminine Mystique, was a woman named Betty Friedan. (Bowles, 2011, p. 263). Betty Friedan was bold enough to ask a question that was on the minds of other women, “Is this all?” (Bowles, 2011, p. 263). Women were anxious to make a bigger contribution to society. After the Fifteenth Amendment passed in 1868 allowing African Americans to gain the right to vote, women were inspired and motivated to push for that right to be extended to them also. The National Woman Suffrage Movement was formed in 1869 to push for women to also gain the right to vote. The first step was a petition that many of the suffragists signed and handed to the Senate and the House of Representatives asking for permission for the women to speak on the floor in Congress. The suffragists began to have differences in their ideologies and strategies which caused the movement to separate into two groups, the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1890 the groups reunited to once again form a single organization called the National American Woman Suffrage Association. (National Archives and Records Administration, 2002). The Woman Suffrage Movement inspired women of all types to form other organizations such as the National Association of Colored Women and the Women Voters Anti-Suffrage Party of New York. The movement was successful in compelling President Woodrow Wilson to support an amendment that would give women the right to vote. On August 18, 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment was signed into the Constitution that would guarantee women the right to vote. The 1920s, also known as the “Roaring Twenties”, in America brought about cultural changes. One such cultural change was the Jazz Age which brought with it a “New Woman”, a modern woman referred to as a “flapper”. Now that women were able to vote they felt more empowered. The mindset of a flapper was to break out of the traditional role of a woman that restricted to her home tending to her husband and children. Flappers were venturing out from their rural homes and daring to live in the urban areas with other girls. They would work as “shop girls” and spend money on themselves. (Anne Helen, 2014). For the first time, women were living with a sense of independence. The traditional role of a woman was to stay at home and rely on her husband to work and earn money. Sexual intercourse was by tradition reserved only for married couples but flappers were emboldened by their new sense of empowerment and were now free to be promiscuous, engaging in premarital sex. A typical flapper woman would not be dressed in the classic corset dress but rather “long straight lines to cover her awkwardness.” Cinematic movies were now reflecting the more evolved and modern woman. With daring flapper movie stars like Greta Garbo and Gloria Swanson starring in movies that covered taboo subjects such as sex, marriage, and divorce. One movie in particular emphasized the message to women that chose not to conform to the flapper style. If they did not transform into the flapper style and chose instead to remain in the age of Victorian morals, then they would risk losing their husbands and would be unhappy. The name of the 1920 movie was called Why Change Your Wife? (Bowles, 2011, p. 162-163). The 1940s brought about the beginning of World War II between the Axis forces and the Allied forces.
America joined the Allied forces and sent its troops across the sea into Europe. Around 14 million troops, which then strictly consisted of men, left the country to fight abroad, leaving an empty gap in the workforce. Around 7 million women stepped forward to fill the gap in the workforce. (Goldin & Olivetti, 2013). The reasons for why the women stepped forward varied for multiple reasons. Some of the reasons were because women wanted to make a contribution to the nation while it was at war, while others wanted an opportunity to work at jobs that otherwise would only be available to men, and then there were women who needed to work to support their families because their husbands were now making less while deployed than at their regular jobs. The women that filled the gaps in the workforce were helping on the home front but other women still wanted to help the war efforts in a different way. They wanted to enlist into the military also but women were still not allowed to serve in the Army. Women could not understand why they were not allowed to serve even though they had broken through barriers in the workforce proving they could do the same jobs as men could. A compromise was made and Representative Edith Nourse Rogers from Massachusetts presented a bill to Congress to create the Women’s Army Corps. The idea of women joining men into battle was not welcomed by various
groups and people such as Colonel Adler (civilian aide to the Secretary of War), General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe), and the National Catholic Women’s Union. (Permeswaran, 2008). On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked by one of the nations from the Axis powers, Japan. In light of the attack, Congress took a closer look at the bill that Representatives Rogers had submitted calling for the creation of the Women’s Army Corps. In a compromise, Congress agreed under Public Law 554, the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was to be created “for the purpose of making available to the national defense the knowledge, skill, and special training of the women of the nation.”(U.S. Public Law 554, 1942). On May 15, 1942 President Roosevelt signed the bill into law and 13,000 women signed up to fill the 440 officer slots.
The first WAAC officer class took place in Fort Des Moines, Iowa and was an eight-week course. The women proved the weight of the compromise as they started filling much needed positions such as clerks, drivers, mechanics, cooks, radio operators, weather observers, lab technicians, air craft warning reporters, weapon repairs, parachute riggers, and many more. (Permeswaran, 2008). General Douglas MacArthur referred to WAAC as “My best Soldiers”. (Collins, 2009). It was not long before military leaders, to include those that initially rejected the notion of women in the military, were requesting additional WAACs. A total of 150,000 women served during World War II. Their performance during the war was so impressive that in 1943 the Women’s Army Corps bill passed Congress dropping the “Auxiliary” from their title. The WAC would later go on to serve in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. They worked the long hours side-by-side with their male counterparts but were still not considered full-fledged soldiers. The training and physical training they received was incredibly different from the Army men. There were makeup classes, they were required to carry lipstick at all times, modified push-ups, ran one-half to one mile or in place, they would serve grape juice and cookies at the end of a five-mile march, wear a wrap-around skirt over their shorts for physical training, and they were not allowed to wear combat boots because they were not allowed in combat. (Collins, 2009). Nevertheless, the women pushed through with determination to prove their worth. In 1970, they increasingly began participating alongside male soldiers in classes such as the M-16 rifle training. In 1978, the WAAC was disestablished and the women would finally be able to serve in the regular Army alongside the males. Currently there are 214,098 women that are serving in the military making up 14.6% of the total. (Womens Memorial, 2011). On January 24, 2013 the U.S. Department of Defense announced that women would be finally be able to serve in combat positions in the military. (U.S. Department of Defense, 2013). The women that showed bravery in volunteering for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps were instrumental in paving the way for women to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with men in the military.
When the 1960s came, women had worked hard to break out of the traditional roles that were expected of women. Not every woman was content to marry and have children settling into domesticated life. Typically half of young women between the ages of 18 to 20 years old would marry and a little less than half would have a child before the age of 21. (Bailey, 2006). On May 9, 1960 the Food and Drug Administration approved the first contraceptive pill, Enovid. (Mclean, 2010). For the first time, women now had control over the decision of when they were going to have children unlike in the past where it was generally the men that would make that decision. For any woman that opted for the contraceptive pill, it was available to them without needing consent from their parents or without needing to announce it to men. Women were now free to pursue a college education and were free to participate in the work force without fear of pregnancy. For women between the ages of 26 to 30 years old, the workforce involvement percentage was increased. The pill was effective in the decline of live births for women between the ages of 18-19 years old greatly reducing the likelihood of becoming a mother by the age of 22. In the times before the release of the contraceptive pill, women in the workforce had to quit working causing a “fertility dip” because there were no maternity provisions yet. Now that woman had access to the contraceptive pill, the “fertility dips” disappeared. (Bailey, 2006). The contraception options of today have evolved into a multitude of options designed to best fit a woman’s lifestyle, preference, or budget. In addition to the contraceptive pill, the options include but are not limited to a patch, intrauterine device, hormone injections, implants, condoms, diaphragms, and vaginal rings. (Shulman, Nucatola & Kaunitz, 2004). The contraception options have become a staple in women’s health care.
From the time that women stepped up to fill the gaps in the workforce during World War II, there was a steady rise of the number of women working. The next barrier to push through was to ensure that pay was equal between men and women. Women had always been paid less than men regardless of job experience or the quality of the work. The Equal Pay Act (EPA) of 1963 was signed into law by President Kennedy to help rectify the difference in wages at a time when women earned 59 cents to the man’s dollar. (Sacramento Examiner, 2013). The act stated that no employer shall discriminate on the basis of sex and that both “…men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work.” (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, n.d.). When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law, it prevented an employer to discriminate hiring based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, n.d.). The two acts have helped to close the gap but this remains an ongoing struggle that is still being pursued presently by women. In our society today, we have women that stand as the lone provider at times for their children which make this an imperative issue to resolve. As of 2013, the millennial women, those born after 1980, is the first generation to be paid the closest to men based on the results of a Pew census data. (Paramaguru, 2013). The data that was collected in 2012 showed that women, ranging from 25 to 34 years old, were earning 93 percent of what the men were earning. For women that were 18 and over the percentage was less at 84 percent of what the men were earning. (Paramaguru, 2013). Over the last 50 years, women have made great strides in their plight to close the wage gap but there is still more work to do in making work earnings completely equal. Women have been relentless in their pursuit to have a voice at the ballot box, determine how they want to live their life, when they want to start a family, and earn equal pay for equal work as men. The sky was now the limit for women to pursue any career they desired. By the 1980s, women were achieving prestigious positions in various career fields. There are five such examples of women achieving prestigious positions marking a “first” for women. One such famous example is a woman named Sandra Day O’Connor. President Reagan appointed Mrs. O’Connor to be a Justice on the United States Supreme Court making her the first woman to be a Justice. (Wohl, 1998). She paved the way for other women to strive for a Justice position. After Justice O’Connor was appointed, three women have also had the honor of being appointed to the United States Supreme Court. The three women are Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1993, Sonia M. Sotomayor in 2009 (who is also Hispanic), and Elena Kagan in 2010. (Supreme Court of the United States, 2014). Another well-known example is a woman by the name of Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to be nominated by a major political party, the Democratic Party, as a vice president candidate to Presidential candidate Walter Mondale. (Gina Conti Special to The Morning Call, 2006). Similar to Justice O’Connor, Geraldine Ferraro has paved the way for a real possibility of a woman Vice President or even a woman President in the future. The third example is Dr. Sally Kristen Ride, Ph.D who was the first women to travel into space. She passed away on July 23, 2012 but she devoted her life to science and stood as a role model to other young girls that wanted to follow in her footsteps. (Sally Ride, 7). Dr. Ride’s devotion to Science included working on the STEM program (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) that is incorporated in the schools presently. (Sally Ride, 6). A fourth example is Dr. Antonia Novella, first woman and first Hispanic to serve as U.S. Surgeon General. She was appointed to the position by President George W. Bush in 1990 and served until 1993. (Academy of Avhievement, 2009). The fifth and final example is Madeleine Korbel Albright. She was the first woman to serve as the United States Secretary of State. She was appointed to the position by President Bill Clinton in January 1997 making her “…the highest-ranking female cabinet officer in U.S. history.” (Albright, n.d.). Her term as Secretary of State was from 1997 to 2001. Once again comparable to Justice O’Connor, Madame Secretary Albright opened the door for other women to be appointed to the prestigious position. Condoleezza Rice was the next woman to serve in the position from 2005 to 2009 and more recently Hillary Rodham Clinton served in the position from 2009 to 2013. (U.S. Department of State, n.d.) Over the last 149 years, women have broken through barriers demanding their voice be heard, proving themselves formidable in the workforce, and setting goals as high as they can imagine. They have been able to accomplish this through their forbearers who went before them setting standards, goals, establishing wisdom and defining a new generation of women who were willing to redefine themselves against the social norms. Women have continuously transformed themselves into a more modern version of the last generation and each subsequent generation that passes grows a little more empowered. This is the inspiration that set the tone for future generations to take leadership roles across this nation. We have seen examples of the resolute women who defined the times, who defined what it is to be a modern woman throughout the history of our nation. Not at any time was the progression of women roles stymied by a male dominated world, though many have tried. Instead we find great examples of women taking charge of their destinies while writing an entirely different historical end.

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