The Aftermath of the Progression of Women’s Rights Period Essay

The history of women in the United States is filled with trailblazers in the struggle for equality. Historians describe two feminism waves: one in the 19^th century that grew out of the anti-slavery movement and another wave in the 1960s and 1970s. At the end of the 1800s and the beginning of 1900s, women’s organizations and women struggled for social reforms, to gain the right to vote, and for diverse political and economic equality (Kumar, 2017). From suffragists such as Elizabeth Stanton striving for their voting rights to Hillary Clinton being the first lady to be recommended for the presidency by a key party, females have significantly fought for equality throughout the history of America. While they have achieved significant success and suffered some setbacks, progress continues to be made. This essay describes the aftermath of the progression of women’s rights from 1900 to 1975.

The aftermath of the aforementioned era saw women engaging in politics in various places that they had not considered. After the progression of women’s rights, new notions broke down the impression that females exist in a different world from men; ladies needed not to be enfranchised to practice political power (“Interchange,” 2019). First, President Ronald Reagan swore in Sandra Day O’Connor to work in the Supreme Court in 1981. Sandra as the first woman to be chosen for this position served for twenty-four years and retired in 2006. Regarding riding on the Space Shuttle Challenger, Sally Ride was named the first American woman to fly in space in 1983. In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro, a US Democratic representative, was selected as the running mate of presidential nominee Walter Mondale. The selection made Geraldine the first female nominee of the vice president’s position by a major political party. Moreover, President Bill Clinton, in 1993, nominated and swore in Janet Reno as the first woman attorney general in America. President Clinton also swore in Madeleine Albright as the country’s first female state secretary.

On 4^th January 2007, Rep. Nancy Pelosi became the first woman to be chosen as the House speaker. She reclaimed the title in 2019, making her the first legislator to be in the office twice in over fifty years. Sarah Palin, the Alaska Governor during this era, became the first Republican female to run for the seat of vice president. To top it all, Hillary Clinton received a major party presidential nomination in 2016 (Teele, 2018). However, she lost the Democratic election to Barack Obama. Recently, black women celebrated when Kamala Harris became the first US female vice president. As a Black American, Harris had served as an attorney general in California since 2016. Before her selection as Joe Biden’s running mate, Harris’s presidential bid had been unsuccessful.

Furthermore, there have been changes in various legislation since the progression of the women’s rights movement. In 1984, the Supreme Court banned sex discrimination in all-male groups’ membership, such as rotary clubs. In the same year, the state of Mississippi ratified the 19^th Amendment, giving women a right to vote. In 1986, the court stated that the work environment can be professed as abusive or hostile because of discrimination on the grounds of sex. In addition, Bill Clinton signed the Violence against Women Act in 1994, which provides funding for support programs that assist victims of sexual assault, rape, and other gender-related violent acts (Teele, 2018). Finally, the US military removed the ban against females serving in combat roles.

To conclude, although women had obtained the right to vote by 1975, most of them felt that they had not achieved enough with regards to politics and social and economic reforms. Therefore, advocates pushed for legislation that protects women from discriminatory workplaces and communities. Moreover, women began vying for higher political seats, including the vice president position. The swearing-in of Kamala Harris, in 2021, as the first Black vice president of the United States, together with other political milestones, shows that women are progressing their reinforcement in terms of democracy, political power, and anti-discrimination.

References

Interchange: Women’s Suffrage, the Nineteenth Amendment, and the Right to Vote. (2019). Journal of American History, 106(3), 662-694. Web.

Kumar, D. (2017). Participation of women in politics: Worldwide experience. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 22(12), 77–88. Web.

Teele, L. (2018). How the west was won: Competition, mobilization, and women’s enfranchisement in the United States.The Journal of Politics, 80(2), 442–461. Web.