Feb. 21: A History of Women

           Recently, a new wave of feminism has hit the United States, mostly sparked by the 2016 Presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. This being the first woman ever to be nominated as a one of the major Party's candidates, women everywhere were inspired to find a voice, some speaking out against Hillary Clinton and some supposed criminal activities, and others speaking out for her, supporting her and her message of social equality and rights. Many women found their voice when faced with a candidate such as Donald Trump, notorious for demeaning comments, calling Clinton a "nasty woman" and especially, upon the release of a recording in which (now President) Trump described a claimed sexual assault on a woman he once worked with.
           Ever since the November election of President Trump, women across America, and the world, have been marching in solidarity for one another. One of the current issues in which women have been speaking out is the unequal pay for women and men in the workplace. The Balance, a personal finance website, lists the following statistics for women in the workplace:

Pay Inequality - Women Earn Less Than Men Across The Board

• Women working 41 to 44 hours per week earn 84.6% of what men earn working comparable hours.

• African American women earn only 72 cents for every dollar men earn.

• Latinas 60 cents for every dollar that men earn.

• Women who work more than 60 hours per week earn only 78.3% of what men do who work the same long hours.

• Even in jobs categories that are predominantly occupied by women (i.e. childcare), women still only make about 95% of men's wages for performing the same jobs.

            These kind of statistics have women (understandably and appropriately) up in arms and reflecting on inequality throughout the history of the United States. Not only is there evidence of unequal pay, but unequal opportunity for women to obtain insurance through their places of occupation. There has also been a disconnect in that in many workplace restrooms, men's restrooms generally have free access to condoms, whereas in women's restrooms they have to pay for necessary feminine hygiene products. Other patterns like this are repeated throughout society--the idea that women cannot work as hard as men or that if they do, it would be inappropriate to show how hard they work. For example, my professor was talking with her coworker the other day, and she apologized for the bags under her eyes. She later explained to us that after she did that, she immediately was frustrated with herself for feeling the pressure to apologize for showing weakness in the workplace. Her coworker, a male professor, also had bags under his eyes, and was also discussing how exhausting their profession was, and yet he felt no need to apologize for it or make excuses.  While the prevailing currents of emotion in regards to women in the workplace are changing, there is still an attitude of women needing to work twice as hard as men in order to gain equal recognition, social standing, and socioeconomic status as men in the workplace. In fact, in 2014, Maryam Mirzakhani was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in mathematics in 78 years.

         Feminism has been around long before the United States was officially organized. Women such as Margaret Fuller, Mary Wollstonecraft, Susan B. Anthony, Cady Elizabeth Stanton, Virginia Woolfe, and many others have been speaking out since the American Revolution, attempting to achieve equal treatment and equal rights for women everywhere. The need for women to speak out for their gender was influenced by scientific explanations that women's brains were smaller than men's brains, thereby meaning that they held less capacity for intelligence. Other physical examinations, explaining that women's bodies were less suited for hard labor or physical stress meant that women were weak in general, and that they could not be trusted to take care of the heavier matters, despite the fact that many women worked out in farms on the US frontier, while also working inside the house. Many women suffered not only from oppressive husbands, a lack of educational opportunities, and a society that regarded them equal to children or slaves (Margaret Fuller, "The Great Lawsuit"), but also from the men who would drink and spend time with the prostitutes at the bars and pubs.  The WCTU (Women's Christian Temperance Movement) lobbied the government until it passed the Mann Act in 1913, prohibiting prostitution, and in 1919 they successfully petitioned the government to pass the 18th amendment, which was Prohibition. Women were denied the right to vote in the United States from the time of the American Revolution in 1776 and the ratification of the US Constitution by all 13 states in 1790 up until the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1920, allowing women to vote. Anti-suffragette propaganda looked a little something like this:

Insinuating that women who want equal rights
 will neglect their children and their home.
(all-that-is-interesting.com)

Notice that women are so stupid that they can't even spell "women" correctly?
The house is a mess. What a pity.
(dailymail.com)

George Washington himself is grieved at the idea that women would be able to vote. Ironic, since
he encouraged everyone to sit under "his own vine and figtree and there shall be none to make him afraid."
(historyoffeminism.com)

Those poor, poor policemen, abused by the beautiful and thorny women. Be careful, they're
pretty, but they bite.
(historyoffeminism.com)

The only logical thing to do with a suffragette. And, for the record, this wasn't far off from
what they actually DID to them.
(historyoffeminism.com)

And, the pinnacle of anti-sufragette propaganda: the monster woman. Not only does she look monstrous, but she looks stupid, old, and uneducated. The claim is that they haven't helped build society, so why should they have a right to decide anything about it? Selfish, stupid wimmen. Can't even spell.
(historyoffeminism.com)

The overall idea is that women, because of their ability to reproduce, are intended to stay in the home and to care for and nurture children. Some people don't believe that women are still oppressed today, don't acknowledge wage gaps or think that women should have anything to complain about. Many people believe that women are fussing over nothing, especially white, privileged women, but there has been a history of ignoring women's claims of rape and sexual assault, while the men responsible have walked away free or with minimal sentencing due to a lack of evidence (because a woman's testimony isn't valued as much as it could be). The following are some modern anti-feminist memes:

           These memes make me so frustrated and upset that I don't even want to comment on them.
         
           Many men have said that, like the Black Lives Matter movement compared to its rebuttal with the All Lives Matter slogan, feminism should be disregarded and instead replaced with a respect for all humans, regardless of gender. This, however, isn't the point. The current feminist movement, linked with the refugee, LGBTQ, and Black Lives Matter movements, move to acknowledge first of all, that there has been and continues to be a systemic oppression of these demographics, and that while, yes, all lives really do matter, the ones that have been oppressed should be recognized and respected, and something should be done. The banding together of these groups allows them to focus on unity, on united strength, on the pain and difficulties of others as well as their own social or racial groups. This allows for more compassion in society in general and enables others to make their own voices heard, when assured that someone will listen.

         I think that understanding the history of the oppression of women will enable teachers to understand the stigmas that are present not only in schools (that men are naturally better at science, math, etc.) but in the workplace as well, as educators will enable their students to work toward a college degree and a career. Having equally high expectation in the classroom for boys and girls will not only enable women to feel like they are capable of the same level of achievement, but will inspire them to push out against those who do not think they're as capable as men.