In the first half of the course, we covered the "woman's sphere" and women's work voluntary reform. How is the work of women during the Progressive Era a continuation of this theme in American history? Describe the work of Hull House and the Women"??s Christian Temperance Union.
Women in the progressive era worked extremely hard to influence changes in legislation to allow them the vote and other basic human rights. In America the movement in favour of women was quite strong and worked on several fronts which were not just focused on women’s rights. These included the issue of temperance which needed to be addressed accordingly due to the fact that several men were turning to the bottle to alleviate their pain and troubles. Hull House and the Women’s Christian temperance Unin worked extremely hard to alleviate the problems which arose from such a lack of temperance and this is very much reflected in Woloch’s book. She actually focuses on the good work of the Christian temperance union as an example where women threw off the shackles and chains of oppression at home and went out into the open to help and assist those who required it. This was undoubtedly reflected in the way they operated soup kitchens and other outlets for the needy and it was also common knowledge that these women continued to work alongside other women who were themselves quite unfortunate.
Hull House was also an important way of bringing together those women who had fallen and who did not have much hope in moving on in life. To sum up the issue of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union is an important one in the development of the suffragettes.
2. The second half of the course covered 1910-2010. Which story did you enjoy most from Topics 7-13 and why?
The story regarding the campaign for voting rights was definitely one of the issues which I enjoyed most. Here one could observe the sheer determination of women who against all odds campaigned with a strong fire in their belly to get the vote for their fellow women and here they faced substantial opposition from men and the powerful. One must remember that politics was an exclusive dominion of the male sex especially in the early years of the 20th century so the fact that in such a short period of time, women managed to get the vote was something quite remarkable. Woloch describes several stories where women actually went to prison for the cause and all this shows that they were truly committed to their beliefs and values. The campaign for women to get the vote shows that nothing is impossible and all this comes together in a way which Woloch describes rather brilliantly in her narrative which is very gripping from first page till llast.
3. The campaign for voting rights for women is the major turning point or climax of American women's history. Explain the history of the Suffrage Movement and how the arguments for suffrage change over the eighty year struggle. How did they win the vote for women in 1920? What are the anti-suffrage arguments?
The Suffrage movement worked hard to get the vote for women even in periods when this was considered to be practically impossible. The movement focused on the injustice of not granting women the vote on various factors, amongst them one can say that women were kept in the house and were not allowed to go out and have their say, something which was always left to men to do. The Suffragettes argued that women had as much right as men to be the shapers of their own destiny and this sort of injustice could not continue going on without any sort of resistance. They argued that the vote was a basic expression of a human right and as such had to be granted to women on this basis. Woloch is very circumspect in her description of this campaign focusing on several individuals, most of all the Pankhurst sisters who worked tirelessly for the vote to come to women. Although there was initially substantial opposition from the establishment against the vote for women this mellowed over the years and was eventually overcome. The main arguments against the vote for women in this regard was that the woman’s place was in the home and there was nothing much else that she should be doing, least of all get involved in politics. Naturally enough men did not want women meddling into their affairs and this led to the suffragettes being totally excluded from any sort of progress in their affairs. However at the end, the women managed to win the right to vote and this was actually much more than enough for them as Woloch describes quite pertinently.
3. One of the most significant changes in women's lives in the twentieth century is the ability to plan when (or not) to have a family. Describe the history of Margaret Sanger"??s campaign for legalization of birth control from pre-World War I to the development of the pill in 1960. Why is legal, safe birth control important for women in America then and now?
Margaret Sanger worked extremely hard for women to have their own say on fertility issues and also on contraception. More often than not, men did not care or give a hoot if their wives or partners became pregnant for several times and the women would have to face the consequences of their husband’s actions. Sanger petitioned Congress to pass a bill legalizing birth control and although she was initially unsuccessful, she never gave up putting pressure to make this happen and with the added campaign for women’s rights taking a front seat, everything became much clearer. Eventually, the second World War began changing things for women who began to be more assertive on their rights and they could also lay claim to several achievements, most of all the fact that they were serving in the Armed Forces and could be said to be equal to men on that score. This brought about a major upsurge in the interest of female birth control issues and family planning which was given a front seat in this regard and which continued to dominate affairs until the 1960’s when the pill was introduced. Legal and safe birth control was important for women then and now as it enables them to plan their own life and not get tied down to multiple issues such as lots of children which they cannot support financially.
4. How do American women face the emergencies of the Great Depression and World War II with patriotism in both their private families and in public roles (such as in the military)?
The second World war brought a sea change in the way women were perceived and the way they managed to portray themselves. Obviously they were already emboldened by getting the vote and this made them feel quite important to society and there were several who wished to contribute to the war effort. This was made possible as large factories were operating and had been built to accommodate the requirements of the American war effort and with the large bulk of the men away fighting, it was left to the women to man the factories with their own power. This resulted in several thousands of women taking on men’s jobs in these factories which also resulted in them being taken away from their homes. This obviously required much more effort for women to balance their work life responsibilities but they managed it pretty well and in fact after the war, the campaign for the woman’s right to work and have a family intensified with the eventual positive results.
The Great depression also saw the heroism of women in the context that they gave their husbands and children total support even in the bleak context of absolute and wretched failure. This was reflected in the fact that women had to consistently face hunger and severe hardship but they rose to the occasion with flying colours. Every aspect of their being was affected by the Depression but they managed to overcome it with heroism and the result was that the standing of women rose substantially both in their own communities and also on the world’s stage.
5. Explain the post World War II return to "domestic ideology" and the rise of the 1960’s Women’s Movement. What were the demands and gains of the women’s movement?
After World War 2 when the whole rush of women working ended, there was a return to basic ideas about the family which put women further into the limelight as regards family and other issues. There was a conservative movement which continued to argue that the place of women was in the home and this gained currency and new ground largely due to the fact that women were now seen as the backbone of a new society once several men had died in the war. It was important that women continued to remain at home and bear children so that society could see an increase in the population which was a crucially important issue too. This obviously led to women adapting to the changes but it also led to others taking up the crusade for more liberalism and rights. This led to the rebellion of the 1960’s and the women’s protest movement which was quite a strong one and which gained several other rights such as the legalizing of contraception and a more relaxed view on drugs. All this created a stronger blueprint for women who could now assert their rights on a far greater spectrum than they did in the past and actually establish better their place in society.
It is obvious that women were not seen as welcome in several universities particularly in the South and when the women were black this was even worse. One can refer to the Little Rock, Arkansas case in 1957 where eight black girls were initially allowed to enter High School but incredible resistance along racial lines made that almost impossible. This trend was also seen when African American students attempted to enter Southern universities such as the case of James Meredith at the University of Southern Mississippi which ended up with the deployment of the National Guard.
Women instilled values of thrift and hard work in the educational movement after the Second World War which were not always prevalent due to the male dominated regime of secondary education. They also brought certain women related values to particular courses like sociology and other disciplines which were perhaps absent before and which became much more instilled in the national curriculum as time went by. According to Woloch discrimination against women in higher education was still rampant and rife. The women’s movement gained a lot in terms of recognition after the war as barriers began falling down.
6. What happened to feminism in the 1980"??s and 1990"??s? What happened to the Equal Rights Amendment? What is the "glass ceiling"? Was there anti-feminist backlash?
As women gained most of the rights they had been clamouring for in the 1960’s, the 1980’s and 1990’s saw a considerable reduction in the appreciation of women’s values and their contribution to society. Since feminism was also equated with gay rights and other controversial issues, the situation turned quite nasty for women who were now being seen as too liberal and rather too pretentious too. This resulted in a considerable backlash for women who were seen as the cause of all trouble and this obviously had a substantial effect on their development. Women began to be discriminated against and the idea of gender control was also mooted. Quotas were not allowed and there was also a lot of subtle discrimination against women in the workplace. The backlash was considerable and this resulted in considerable anti feminist tendencies which eventually created a difficult world for women. The glass ceiling is the fact that women could not always reach out to their aspirations and goals and were consistently downtrodden. The Equal Rights Amendment was also given certain interpretations which were not always correct in the 1980’s and 90’s.
7. What issues does Woloch identify for women in our current day? Do you agree? What predictions can you make regarding the role of women in society in the future?
Woloch believes that women can continue moving forward in society irrespective of quotas and other issues which may perhaps help but are an aberration in some cases. Women are also moving forward in a big way in areas such as higher education where they have managed to achieve an incredible sense of achievement with most graduates now being women. Women brought an alternative approach to post secondary education after the Second World War due to their drive and zest for learning. The male dominated regime fell as women began instilling their ideas and trends into the classroom and with more and more lecturers joining the staff at top universities they also brought an alternative approach to teaching and instructing which differed considerably from the male approach.
Naturally this was not an easy process but a rather painful one which continued to influence education as decades went by and which today can be said to be part and parcel of the American school system.
Woloch argues that women have transformed the debate on higher education by instilling their values and have also infiltrated into male dominated professions which for centuries were completely a male prerogaritive. Women are now found in professions such as the medical, the legal, and architecture etc, where they bring a much needed alternative approach to issues which have perhaps been too closely adhered to by males.
It is important to note that women continue to increase their participation in higher education even as we speak so this phenomenon will not be going away anytime soon. Female participation can only be described as one of the singularly most important elements amongst the transformation of the higher educational system in post war America and the trend is set to continue. It has certainly transformed the whole system accordingly and with considerable aplomb.
There have been various trends in the American Higher Education system, which have transformed the way we think about this institution but the one which I feel has been the most significant is the role of women within the system. Before the war it was extremely rare to find women in the higher educational system as the faculties and colleges were chiefly manned by men and even female participation as regards students was rather low too.
Still the increase in faculty professors and lecturers ever since the war has been pretty short of phenomenal. Some universities, especially those in the North were perhaps more attuned than others to employ female staff although in the South, this remained a very much male dominated society. Women however brought a new perspective to teaching especially in the social sciences where they could bring their not inconsiderate experiences to the fore and could also assist female students with more controversial issues.
Obviously not all students or fellow lecturers accepted women into their universities. There was resistance on quite a large scale in several universities as women were seen to be as somewhat inferior to men on the academic scale. However when several students began attaining high grades and the majority of these were women, it appears that resistance rapidly vanished and women continued to populate universities and colleges at even higher rates, in fact today we are in a situation where women far outnumber men in a college education.
