Equality For Women In The Early 20's

From the 1900s until present day many opportunities and movements have opened up to women. Women continuously strived to have equality among men. Now that we have the equality, roles of women and men have changed. One thing that has struck me odd are how women actually choose to go to work than stay home with their children. I would love to say home with them and do a “woman’s job”, but now I can even say that because it could offend someone. Things have changed for the good and some for the bad.

While social change has brought on more changes than what women are a custom too, at one point in history women actually felt a form of importance in fulfilling their roles not only in the home; but outside as well. “These demographic shifts account for many new or altered roles, such as increased number of duel-earner families, later and fewer marriages, fewer children, increased life expectancy, and the massive migration shifting employees across a nation and across the globe” (Lindsey, 2011, pg. 275).

Women have been a vital key to the shaping and progression of our society. Throughout time, women’s roles and opportunities in the family, workplace, and society have greatly evolved. They started from being housewives that don’t have many rights, even in the household, to being valued citizens in our

Women in the 1920s started to earn more respect and equality in society, mostly the right to vote. During this time, women had the opportunity to access higher education, minimum wage, better domestic living, and better healthcare. But women are still coming across challenges where they are submissive to men. Fredrick Lewis Allen introduces women as“... the guardians of morality; they were made of finer stuff than men and were expected to act accordingly” (Allen 129). Clearly, women were expected of something, but men were able to do whatever they so please to do whether it would be to hang out late at night at bars, drinking with friends, or being the one to have a house under his name and making his own money. According to Allen,

The 1920s was a period of changes exactly as the Progressive Era. Everything was developing very fast. The economic boom caused a high living standard, therefore, people earned more money and wanted to live a modern life, in view of the fact that, they could afford it, especially in the cities which offered more stores, job opportunities, and saloons and bars for entertainment. People wanted to have fun after World War I, take a rest and just hang out together, for that reason it caused a moral decline, the enormous consumption of alcohol caused a lot of crime and women had a new way of living. The two biggest changes were the rights for women and prohibition.

Women are sometimes more nurturing than some men when it comes to taking care of their family members or children. When a woman becomes pregnant they receive a maternity leave which also puts a hold on their income, making it easier for the man of the household to have a higher paying job (Joan Acker, 1989). Another example, when a child of a family gets sick most of the time the woman is the one to leave work early and stay home with the child. Some job sites have paid maternity leave but then many do not. Women have greater recourse to part-time work so they can combine work and family responsibilities (Joan Acker, 1989). During the older days, women were not allowed to enter professions such as medicine or law, married women had no property rights, they were not allowed to vote, married women were not even present in the eyes of the law. From then to now a lot has changed but women still are not

Gender roles have been changing throughout the centuries with both men and women. The most and drastic change has occurred in our 21st century to women. Women are now viewed as equals in the work and home, they are able to achieve just as much as men and no longer have limits suppressing them. There have been limits put on women since the beginning of time, women were to attend to the house and children but never other responsibilities beyond that. This change in gender roles has shaped our society in numerous ways making new jobs for women and breaking through social norms. Throughout history the role of women has dramatically changed, first with women being primary caregivers and up keepers of the house to women being able to have their own careers and lastly to being equal to men and no longer being inferior to them.

Prior to the 20th century, the majority of women were expected to perform arduous obligations around the home – the principal and by far most strenuous

After World War I, also known as the great war, America went through a period called the ¨Return to Normalcy¨ created by Warren G Harding. United States helped to return to normalcy following the great war by improving equality amongst black and white people. They also had debates on science and religion and gain equality rights for women that sparked a positive changes.

the 1920’s is recognized as one of the greatest decades in American history. It was a time of exciting change, filled with increased personal freedom. Items like jazz, movies, the radio, and illegal liquor became very popular during this decade, making it popularly known as the Roaring Twenties. The Roaring Twenties was a time of great political, economic, and social change, and just like every other period in American history women tend to be brushed aside in this era. Thus, most do not know that it was a great time for social and political change for American women. For one, at the beginning of the decade on August 21, 1920 the 19th Amendment was ratified giving women the right to vote. They had worked hard to gain the right to vote, and

With the rise of the modern age economic survival has become difficult for families based on a single income. This economic need along with modern attitudes toward gender equality has resulted in women being represented in the workforce in greater numbers. However, until the 1960’s women faced severe discrimination when trying to enter and maintain a position in the workforce. Often qualified women would be passed over for men with less experience and education. Employers were fearful that women were too emotional and were not equipped to handle the stress of the work environment. Also driving the decision to not hire or promote women was the concern over the additional health care expenses and leave time pregnant

Gender and work exist sociologically as a way to maintain both authority and inequality. Women’s roles throughout history shed a light on the expectations and stereotypes that exist today; however, navigating a gendered economy and overcoming sex segregation continues to be a challenging task for most women. Wages continue to be uneven, and wives continue to bear most of the child rearing and domestic responsibilities despite increasingly working the same amount as their husbands do. Becoming educated on these inequalities and viewing them with a sociological perspective will allow people to see gender and work in an accurate light and continue to develop

Women have been trying to assert their rights since the 1920s. Waging a war with men and society to not be dominant but to be equal. They wanted to have an equal wage and equal power. Feminisms was and still is a very real cause but the meaning of the word gets confused. It is for women to be treated like men are. It isn’t to get rid of men or become more dominant than men. It is a feared word but in the 70s women tried to achieve this idea of equality as they still do today. Annie Lennox, a songwriter and a philanthropist, once said, “We all fight over what the label 'feminism ' means but for me it 's about empowerment. It 's not about being more powerful than men - it 's about having equal rights with protection, support, and justice. It 's about very basic things. It 's not a badge like a fashion item.” Fashion can reflect an era but what does that have to do with feminism? Many women used their fashion sense to prove a point that they were equal to men or that they wanted to break free of societies conforms. In the 70s women dressed and acted a certain way to show their feminist views in terms of the government and how they felt they should be able to live their life.

Gender roles is a very controversial topic in today’s society, especially when it comes to working. 100 years ago, in Europe, women were working long hours in factories. Women also worked as nurses, cleaned wealthy people 's homes, and were craftswomen. Meanwhile, 100 years ago in the United States women were expected to stay home and take care of the family/home, while the men went out and worked an average of ten hours a day for six days a week, compared to the traditional five day weeks and 8 hour days.

The roles of men and women have drastically altered the past century and men now take on some responsibilities that were once viewed as tasks of a woman. As a result women have been able to advance their careers, express their political views, and have become equals next to men in society, which illustrates that had women not been discriminated against and viewed as the homemaker for so long, equality between men and women would have occurred ages ago. In my vision of society an individual's sex would not inhibit one from fully participating in the activities of the community that he or she desired. The burden of childbirth for women would still be present but after the child was born, men would play a more prominent role in the tasks of raising his son or daughter. Sharing the benefits and burdens of child-rearing responsibilities will allow both the male and female to maintain steady employment and balance their schedules to make time for family and a career. Females that wish to enter a profession will be accepted solely upon their abilities, not their gender, and seen as equals in the work place. Should a working woman choose to start a family she deserves a sufficient amount of time away from work (with pay) to care for herself and her newborn baby without being hassled by her employer for not being entirely committed to her job. Also, a man should receive certain benefits