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Veronica Penate
Professor Hamman
Political Science 001
May 8, 2016
The Evolution of Womens Rights

Women are a group of individuals who have struggled throughout many years solely
based on their gender. This struggle has taken place because women have been considered to be
the weak gender. Although women were thought to be the weak gender they have shown strength
and preservation and thanks to that a lot has changed because of the womens rights movements,
which started in the nineteenth century. Women have been discriminated against based on their
gender throughout many centuries, and even in todays world equality within genders is not
something that has been fully accomplished, but it is something that is continuously developing
along with other issues about equality. The fact that the US currently has a woman running for
president shows how far women have came in history, but despite that, there is still a lot that
needs to be done and changed in order to truly achieve equality within genders.
One of the major things that women have struggled with is the right to vote. Women were
considered to be of existence only to cater to their husbands and their homes. According to the
article Womens Suffrage, women were not allowed to vote before the 21st century, and
womens rights to vote were granted in some states between 1855 and the 1890s. The movement
of women earning their right to vote was a tough one that many people looked down on because
women having rights wasnt the norm, therefore many people, including women, felt as if it was
ridiculous for women to want rights. According to archives.gov the nineteenth amendment

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prohibits U.S. citizens to be denied the right to vote based on gender. Aaron A. Sargent
introduced this in 1878 but it wasnt approved by congress until 40 years later in the year 1919.
According to the article How a Little-Known Supreme Court Case Got Women the Right to
Vote, although it was in the US constitution that women couldnt be discriminated against
because of their gender when exercising the right to vote, this wasnt completely secured until
the Leser v. Garnett case on February 27, in 1922. This case was about two women in Maryland
who registered to vote soon following the 19th amendment passing. A judge named Oscar Leser
sued so that the womens names would be removed due to the fact that the Maryland constitution
didnt give women the right to vote, it was strictly said that only men could vote because
Maryland hadnt gave its consent to the 19th amendment. This argument went to the Supreme
Court and on February 27, 1922 women were granted the right to vote everywhere in the United
States, even in states where their constitutions alleged otherwise.
Although earning the right to vote was a big victory to women there were, and still are
other issues that needed to be addressed to reach gender equality. A problem that happened and
something that women wanted to have was the right to equal pay. Men would get paid
significantly more than women solely based on their gender, even when doing the same jobs.
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1963 a law called the Equal
Pay Act of 1963 was approved on June 10, 1963,and this meant that no employer could any
longer discriminate against employees based on gender and/or race. When this law passed
employers could no longer pay women less simply for based on their gender and they had to
comply with the minimum wage rules and apply them to everyone. Although this was something
big that happened and a very important law in history, equal pay is still an issue of today. It is
still said that women earn significantly less than men even when doing the same jobs. According

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to The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (Spring 2016) in 2014 women working full
time were only paid 79% of what men were getting paid, that is a significant difference
considering that it is a gap of 21%. This tells us that although the Equal Pay Act of 1963 was
established there is still a lot of work to be done to fully overcome the issue of equal pay for
doing the same jobs. This doesnt mean that the Equal Pay Act isnt working because thanks to
this the wage gap has narrowed down to 21% but it is still not good enough because it doesnt
give women the pay equality that they have fought aimed to have for so many years.
Women have overcome many struggles throughout the years and have achieved great
things. Women fought for the right to vote and they got it, women have changed the social norms
and are continuing to change them throughout the years. In the 19th century women were
expected to say home and restrict their interests to their families and their homes. They werent
encouraged to go to school. In fact they were looked down of if they went to college because it
just wasnt the social norm for a woman to be educated. Before womens rights were established,
after getting married women would basically lose the little rights they did have, such as the right
to own property, keep their wages, or even sign a contract. Looking back at this truly shows us
the advancements that women have made throughout the years. Women are able to continue their
educations; in fact for the most part it is the norm to do so. Women are able to buy their own
properties even after being married, their wages arent taken away, and they have rights to sign
documents. These are things that women before our time fought for and it truly is amazing how
much change they accomplished because they made the world a better place for future
generations of women.
While women did achieve many things, there are a lot of things that still need to change.
Sure, women now have the right to vote, along with other very important rights. Although these

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have been great accomplishments there are still other issues, such as the fact that women still
earn less money than men do for doing the exact same jobs. Not only that but women are denied
work in certain industries that require heavy-duty work simply because of their gender and
because its out of the norm for them to do these jobs even if they have the qualifications.
Equality within genders has come a long way but there is still a lot to do. It can be done as long
as everyone stays informed and voices their opinions about. There are so many issues that yet
need to be addressed such as social inequality, violence against women, the division of domestic
labor, the media and its stereotypes, and so on. Things can change and will change as long as
women voice their opinions. It is important to be heard in order to continue making the world a
better place for future generations.

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Works Cited
"America's Historical Documents." National Archives and Records
Administration. Accessed May 01, 2016. http://www.archives.gov/historicaldocs/document.html?doc=13.

Hill, Catherine. "The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (Spring 2016)."
AAUW: Empowering Women Since 1881. 2016. Accessed May 01, 2016.
http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/.

Rothman, Lily. "How a Little-Known Supreme Court Case Got Women the
Right to Vote." Time. February 27, 2015. Accessed May 03, 2016.
http://time.com/3716603/leser-v-garnett/.

"Suffrage, Womens." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed.

William A. Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Vol. 8. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008.
214-218. U.S. History in Context. Web. 1 May 2016.
URL
https://login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?
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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. "The Equal Pay Act of

1963." (EPA). Accessed May 01, 2016.
https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/epa.cfm.