Women have sparked movements through the ages and have succeeded in creating change. Women’s movements first began in 1848. The first women’s rights convention was held by women with 300 attendees. This is what started the decades of activism that eventually led to the Nineteenth Amendment which granted the women the right to vote. In 1955, Rosa Parks started a movement of the first bus boycott after she refused to give up her seat to a white man. During the sixties women began to protest for their rights and gain equality in the workplace. In 1960, women were given the right to use birth control and choose whether to have children or not. Three years later President John F. Kennedy signed into law the Equal Pay Act, which prohibited sex based discrimination between man and woman doing the same job. A year later the Civil Rights Act Title VII was signed into law which prohibited employment discrimination based on race, sex, religion, or national origin. What I have learned from the history of these movements is that people did not get their rights on a silver platter. Women had to fight and persuade everyone from women to men and lawmakers to accept that change was needed.
I know that there are still problems in this present that need to be acknowledged and changed. And because of this I am encouraging every woman to become more active and participate in movements. I believe that it is time for the new generation to take the baton from our elderly leaders and take the lead. We have been given the opportunity of education and should use it as a tool to our advantage. It is necessary to use our knowledge and our voices to make a difference.
I have noticed that the new generation is more active in letting their voices be heard than past generations. It is because of the examples of past leaders that have given this new generation the bravery to stand for what they believe. The way to become involved in the movement it can be to join a protest, and teach to help other women be more informed about women empowerment. It is important to become politically involved in order to make sure that your opinion on something is heard no matter if others are opposed to it. If no one becomes involved in movements especially those that are trying to create or remove laws, they will begin to lose their voice.
So I hope that all women will find the courage to be more involved in participating in movements to create a better world and society for future generations to come. For women to maybe one day become a person like Susan B. Anthony who founded the Suffrage Movement to gain voting rights. Or Ruth Ginsburg who fought in the courts to outlaw discrimation on basis of sex. It is not the idea to become famous like these two women, but the idea of the possibility to create change with just one voice.
Here is a video of a poem by Britta B “Dear Young Woman” a reminder to young women no matter what they are going through, they have a choice to make on how kind and gentle to treat themselves.
Video Link: https://youtu.be/adUToRtRkaY
Work Cited
“Women’s History Milestones: A Timeline.” History, Feb 5. 2020, https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/womens-history-us-timeline
Women Empowerment 