The Adavncment of Women

Women today are the CEO's of companies, high ranking military officials, scientists, doctors, lawyers and U.S. Supreme Court justices. This is a far cry from the women of the early 1900's who were thought to have one place in society, by the sides of their husbands tending to their children. Over the past one hundred and ten years women have made great strides in society towards becoming the women they always dreamed of being.

In 1920 for the first time in history women were given the right to vote through the 19th Amendment after years of protests of the laws prohibiting women to have the same rights as men in America. In the 30's women began to expand their horizons and challenge the social norms. For example, Amelia Earhart became the first woman the fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932. Some women who held social standing and some form of authority tried to use such standing to give other women a chance for advancements. One such woman was Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1933 she held a press conference and only allowed female reports to attend, giving them the advantage to succeed over their male counterparts.

Although by the 1950's many women had made great strides towards ending the stereotypes of what women "should" be, the pressure of expectations still loomed in their everyday lives. This was made very clear during the "baby boom era" which is also referred to by many as the "baby scoop era". During this time following World War II many women became pregnant, not all of these women were married however, which in a "leave it to beaver" society was unacceptable. Many of these women were sent away to homes for unwed mothers and were told the only choice they had was to give their children up for adoption. The fathers of these babies were not held responsible and were able to continue on with their normal everyday lives. For the women, this was not possible if they planned on returning to their home towns. This double standard is, in part, what lead to the pursuit of the legalization of abortion in America. This crusade met an end when the Roe v Wade case went to the supreme court. And in 1972 woman's lib groups everywhere felt a sense of victory over "the man" when the supreme court ruled to have abortion legalized. Though I am not a supporter of abortion myself, I have great respect for the women who had the courage to strongly voice their opinions on what they thought was right in a society that told them to shut their mouths and sit down.