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Malorie Waldrup

Connie Douglas

UWRT 1104

21 March 2017

Modern Womens Rights Activists

In the past women lived in the shadows, they did what was expected of them and never

spoke their minds, until Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony took a stand. These two

women were active vocalists for womens rights in the late 1800s and early 1900s so the way

they approached the problems women faced were much different than the way it would be

handled in the twenty-first century. Todays society requires women to be much different, they

expect them to do all the things Stanton and Anthony did then some. Being pulled in so many

directions can make anyone feel angry or irritated, but when one is also constantly ignored, it can

rapidly lead to a hostile situation. Which is why women are constantly in search of a way to

make themselves heard, they are holding positions in the government, participating in protests,

and so much more. Three major groups involved in the fight for modern day womens rights

include: The women of the workplace, women in politics, and any individuals who have a say in

womens healthcare. However, the most important aspect of these individuals predicament is

not what they are doing, it is who is participating and what is their motivation, the answers will

be found here.

Women in the workplace are such a crucial factor in the fights for womens rights

because for generations now women have been exerting a large amount of energy to have their

place in society as well as be respected. There are innumerous amounts of women going overseas

and working to make a difference in our country all because they care so much for their friends
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and family and want to keep them safe. Going into the military is a huge commitment, especially

if one has a family, but it pays the bills and keeps their families safe. Whether overseas, or on the

home front, women are at constant war for their rights.

Women in the business world have always been made to feel inferior, now less than ever,

however there are still some groups who chose to show that there is a wage gap between males

and females. The article Women and Work states, American women still earn less than men for

similar work, hold far fewer political and corporate leadership positions. Spelfogel has a

similar belief, equal pay for work of comparable value. (Spelfogel 30). This theory could go

either way good or bad as some people believe that it would cause a major modification of all

wages or it could mean small adjustments. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

(EEOC) works diligently to ensure all women have equal opportunities in the workplace as

described in Spelfogels article.

Another important voice to be discussed is that centered around a womans health. There

are many individuals who believe they know what is best for a womans body, to be more

specific for a mother or a potential mothers body. As I found in my research, there have been

numerous ongoing debates in North America: one is regarding access to Plan B pills (a form of

an emergency contraceptive medication), another is a womans right to have an abortion, and

finally, whether or not women in the military have access to proper contraceptives. These topics

have stirred emotions in not only women, but also in some men. This group believes women

should be able to have access to safe, as well as legal, abortions, however the point up to which

they can do so is still being discussed. They also feel that women serving in the military should

be able to protect themselves from STDs and getting pregnant just as their counter-civilian parts
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can. Lastly, the issue of keeping the Plan B pill is still being debated over and may change in the

future, but as far as womens health advocates, they will strive to ensure it remains available.

The United States has grown to have an astonishing amount of power when it comes to

making decisions for a womans body, and for anyones body for that matter. Military women

can be affected by health regulations the government has set for a woman, pregnant

servicewomen are considered non-deployable (Ponder, Nothnagle 386). This sentence states

pregnant women are not usually sent to a base overseas, however, if a woman gets pregnant

overseas she has the option, to stay on active duty, to request temporary leave, or to request

separation from service. (Ponders, Nothnagle 386). This could be viewed as unfair to a woman

who became pregnant in the United States and has a desire to go back to her station overseas but

isnt allowed to due to her current circumstances. Another point at which decisions are being

made for women that can be viewed as unreasonable is showcased here, the United States Food

and Drug Administration rejected an application to make Plan B,..., available without a

prescription., this decision ultimately created discourse throughout the United States (Wynn, et.

al 253). Women feel it is their right to have access to such a medication in the event of an

emergency without a prescription because if one needed a Plan B pill, they have a very limited

time frame and women may not have the time to get to their doctor to get a prescription in time

for it to be effective. These two sources accurately depict the voice associated with womens

health and why activists fight to improve the care provided to women.

The last group to be looked into is women and their standing in politics and how their

place has changed within the last 100 years. In 1917, the first woman joined Congress and she

was the only one until 1920 when there were four women voted into the House of

Representatives. After one woman got her foot in the door, the numbers of females voted into
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Congress has risen exponentially and today there are 104. However, there are 535 seats in

Congress which means that only 19.4% of the members are female the rest being males. This is

quite a low percentage of women in Congress as women make up approximately 51% of the

United States population.

As shown in the article Women and work, Women now comprise more than half of the

U.S. workforce, earn half of college degrees and hold half of management and professional

jobs., and numerous population censuses women are a huge part of the American society

(Johnson 647). So it does make one begin to wonder why, relatively few have gained top

executive and political leadership positions (Johnson 647). Womens rights activists are

beginning to grow agitated that there is less than 20% of women holding positions in the

government. If the EEOC , Equal Employment Opportunity Commission..., is really all about

equal opportunities in the workplace as shown in Spelfogels article then it makes no sense why

there is such a few amount of women holding positions in the government (Spelfogel 30).

For generations women have come second, but as I have discovered in my research they

are getting tired of not having a true say. All of these voices when they come together can be

strong and powerful, the issues women once faced are a thing of the past, and there are now new

problems for them to face such as the ones above, and more. However, standing together is one

of the biggest hurdles women have to jump because as of today, there is a great divide between

women partly caused by pro-life or pro-choice and another cause by women talking badly about

each other. The time has come for women to realize that while no one wants to take their

opportunity to vote from them, there is someone or a group of people who are trying to keep

women in the shadows. There is power in numbers and women make up a majority of the
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population of the United States, and although it is occurring slowly, there will be more actions

taken to achieve a balanced society.

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Works Cited

Johnson, Michelle. "Women and Work." CQ Researcher 26 July 2013: 645-68. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.

Ponder, Kathryn L, and Melissa Nothnagle. "Damage Control: Unintended Pregnancy in the United

States Military." The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. 38.2 (2010): 386-395. Print.

Spelfogel, EJ. "Equal Pay for Work of Comparable Value: a New Concept." Labor Law Journal. 32.1

(1981): 30-9. Print.

Wynn, LL, JN Erdman, AM Foster, and J Trussell. "Harm Reduction or Women's Rights? Debating

Access to Emergency Contraceptive Pills in Canada and the United States." Studies in Family

Planning. 38.4 (2007): 253-67. Print.