The Movement of Women During the Civil War - Article Example

FEMINISM Essay Plan Feminism through the Course of history the initiators of the feminist movements Grimke Sisters http://169.244.90.130/emints/orange/images/grimke.jpg Sojourner Truth http://www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/truth_sojourner.jpg Harriet Beecher Stowe http://www.civilwarphotos.net/files/images/136.jpg the onset of 19th century feminism 1.) http://www.history.stir.ac.uk/img/site-images/FemaleDelegatestotheScottishTradesUnionCongressinApril1911.CopyrightNationalLibraryofScotlan.jpg 2.) http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/photos/assets/photos/1020.jpg feminist movements http://www.canadiandimension.com/issues/v40n4/quebec2.jpg Introduction There are many people, mostly women, who have been fighting for their equal rights – and we now commonly call this as feminism. Feminism started not merely on 19th century, but even during the 17th century. This is the very reason why feminists have gotten so much attention from well respected organization and government officials. With this idea in mind, many are now asking, what really are the women and sexuality issues highlighted during the Romantic to the 20th century (when things and concepts got more advanced and highly developed). This paper is aimed at analyzing the gender issues related to the women’s lives, works and vision highlighted in the 19th century feminism. Specifically, this paper tackles about: The brief summary of feminism (to get the real picture as to why and how feminism started) The real definition of feminism (which includes various terminologies related to feminist’s views) The people who started fighting for women’s rights History of Feminism Feminists’ ideas started during the time of the infamous Enlightenment, with Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and the Marquis de Condorcet who initiated championing women's education. The first scientific society for women was founded in Middleberg, a city in the south of the Dutch republic, in 1785. Journals for women which focused on issues like science became popular during this period as well. Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is one of the first works that can be called feminist, although by modern standards her comparison of women to the nobility, the elite of society, coddled, fragile, and in danger of intellectual and moral sloth, does not sound like a feminist argument. Wollstonecraft believed that both sexes contributed to this situation and took it for granted that women had considerable power over men. Indeed, it was during the late 17th century to the early 18th century that the earliest works on the so-called "woman question" criticized the restrictive role of women, without necessarily claiming that women were disadvantaged or that men were to blame (Ahmed, 2004). When 18th century came, the movement is generally believed to have begun as people increasingly came to believe that women were treated unfairly under the law. The feminist movement is rooted in the West and especially in the reform movement of the 19th century. The organized movement is dated from the first women's rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848 (Ahmed, 2004). This feminism started not on one place or country, but coincidentally, a lot of women from various countries around the world fought for their rights as and equal and rightful members of the society. Emmeline Pankhurst was one of the founders of the suffragette movement and aimed to reveal the institutional sexism in British society, forming the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Often the repeated jailing for forms of activism that broke the law, particularly property destruction, inspired members went on hunger strikes. Due to the resultant force-feeding that was the practice, these members became very ill, serving to draw attention to the brutality of the legal system at that time. In an attempt to solve this the government introduced a bill that became known as the Cat and Mouse Act, which allowed women to be released when they starved themselves to dangerous levels, then to be re-arrested later (Ahmed, 2004). Meanwhile, the Feminist movement in the Arab world saw Egyptian jurist Qasim Amin, the author of the 1899 pioneering book Women's Liberation, as the father of Arab Feminist Movement. In his work Amin criticized some of the practices prevalent in his society at the time, such as polygamy, the veil, or women's segregation, and condemned them as un-Islamic, and contradicting the true spirit of Islam. His work had an enormous influence on women's political movements throughout the Islamic and Arab world, and is read and cited today (Ahmed, 2004). The Women behind Feminism and the Issues they Highlighted Various women were able to raise their voices during that time. They were able to capture the attention of many and hear out their grievances. Let us take a closer look at each of the famous and most influential women during this Abolition Movement, and create a more prominent appreciation on their ways and methods of fighting for their cause. The Grimke Sisters Among the most influential women whose actions were all aimed at highlighting the feminist rights, the Grimke sisters (Sarah Grimke and Angelina Grimke Weld) topped the list. Motivated by religion and a desire to live a useful life, they were among the first American women to speak in public. They wrote a number of tracts against slavery and for woman's rights. To abolitionist acclamations, Angelina became the first American woman to address a state legislature. Both sisters would remain abolitionists and woman's rights activists for the remainder of their lives with Angelina concentrating on the abolitionist movement and Sarah concentrating on the woman's rights movement (Lerner, 1998). Sarah Grimke offered the best and most coherent Bible argument for woman's equality yet written by a woman. She was also able to identify and characterize the distinction between sex and gender; she took class and race into consideration; and she tied the subordination of women both to educational deprivation and sexual oppression. She identified men, individually and as a group, as having benefited from the subordination of women. Above all, she understood that women must acquire feminist consciousness by conscious effort and that they must practice asserting their rights in order to think more appropriately (Lerner, 1998). Angelina, on the other hand, in several of her pamphlets and speeches, developed a strong argument for women's rights to political equality. In her insistence on women's right, even duty, to organize for political participation and to petition, she anticipated the practice and tactics women would follow for the rest of the century. In both her "Appeal to Southern Women" and in her "Letters to Catherine Beecher" she fashioned a defense of women's right to organize in the antislavery cause which connected it with the causes of white women and influenced the practice of several succeeding generations (Lerner, 1998). Sojourner Truth Sojourner Truth was an extraordinary woman, and her life in Northampton reflects an extraordinary historical moment, when a group of men and women joined forces across lines of race, gender and class to struggle against the evils of slavery and to seek equality and a better life for all people. She sought to increase justice and improve society by promoting advancement in truth and goodness. She has talked and eased the minds and spirits many men and women of that time, sharing her views and experiences with them (Yee, 2002). Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Beecher Stowe is predominantly known for her first, Uncle Tom's Cabin. In writing the book, Stowe drew on her personal experience: she was familiar with slavery, the antislavery movement, and the Underground Railroad because Kentucky, across the Ohio River from Cincinnatti, Ohio, where Stowe had lived, was a slave state. Following publication of the book, she became a celebrity, speaking against slavery both in America and Europe. She wrote A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin extensively documenting the realities on which the book was based, to refute critics who tried to argue that it was inauthentic; and published a second anti-slavery novel, Dred in1856. In 1862, when she visited President Lincoln, legend claims that he greeted her as "the little lady who made this big war": the war between the states. Campaigners for other social changes, such as Caroline Norton, respected and drew upon her work (Yee, 2002). Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Lucretia Coffin Mott Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, a Black abolitionist, teacher, and poet, wrote the famous line: "The conditions of our people, the wants of our children, and the welfare of our race demand the aid of every helping hand." She used this very perspective in her continuous allegiance to fight f or her right, because she believed that it will not only to her benefit, but to the whole community and eventually the whole country as well (Yee, 2002). Meanwhile, Lucretia Coffin Mott, a white abolitionist, emphasized that the ultimate focus of the abolitionist movement was to destroy slavery "root and branch. The visions of abolition by this two dedicated activists, illuminate the existence of diverging definitions of the movement to abolish slavery between 1817 and 1860 (Yee, 2002). Some women abolitionists pushed the boundaries of acceptable behavior in public reform by stepping into male domains and expanding discussions about "equality" in the movement. In so doing, this generation of women activists forged a collective legacy for subsequent movements for sexual and racial equality in U.S. society. More important, however, their participation in abolition and women's rights also foretold the continuing struggle over racism and sexism both within the movements themselves and in society at large (Lerner, 1998). Other notable 19th-century feminists include, Emma Goldman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Margaret Sanger (Ahmed, 2004). In all cases, it is apparent that a feminist upsurge was formed and initiated by women who would want to function politically in the major reform movements, and had found that because they were women, they would be unable to do very much at all. They found that they would be isolated from positions of decision-making, and instead they would do the not-so-important works (the typing, petition-gathering, meeting-organizing, etc.) while men made the decisions and got the recognition (Dubois, 1971). Concepts of Feminism during the 19th Century Feminism is a political concept with three parts (Dubois, 1971): an analysis which tries to explain why and how women are oppressed a vision of a society in which women are liberated and sex role stereotypes are obliterated a conviction that the oppression of women is a primary contradiction in society. The first wave of feminism of the mid-nineteenth century grew out of the major reform movement - abolitionism. Like contemporary feminists, women working in abolition found that their full and equal participation in political activity was not especially wanted, in a way that as long as the women work within "woman's sphere," everything would be fine. But as soon as they stopped beyond it, they were severely reprimanded by their abolitionist brothers. Hence, the 19th century sister feminists discovered that the political world in which they moved - and which they thought was dedicated to equal justice for all - was perfectly content to abide by the rules for "proper feminine behavior" that the outside, less politically sophisticated world provided (Dubois, 1970). Various Views on Feminism Feminism, according to some, is just an action involving emotions of certain females who happen to have negative experiences with the people around them. This may be in the form of gender discrimination and/or harassment. The urge to highlight the female rights usually starts when there are female who have been under bad circumstances and would want to prevent other females to suffer from the same experience. Moreover, there are female member of the populace who would want to initiate a change in the society and thereby establishing more firm laws protecting the females in the area hence feminism arises (Ahmed, 2004). This, is the common perception in the public sphere. Feminism is and will always involve histories of contact, in such a way that it will be shaped by what it is against, just as women’s bodies and lives that may be shaped by histories of violence bringing them to a feminist consciousness. Therefore, if feminism is an emotional as well as an ethical and political response to what it is against, then what feminism is against cannot be seen as ‘exterior’ to feminism (Ahmed, 2004). Anger is also a ‘defensive’ reaction towards something. Feminism and anger could be considered as closely related if anger would be redefined as an ‘against-ness’ or an opposing reaction towards what negatively happened or will happen. But feminism is neither for revenge nor just to show anger and pain. It is about correcting what is happening in the society and preventing to probability of repeating those wrongdoings (Ahmed, 2004). Lastly, feminism is for wonder. Wonder in a way that women want to uphold feminism because of their strong hope for positive things. Feminism is actually for ‘for-ness’. It is wondering of ‘what ifs’ and ‘as ifs’. Feminists are opening the possibility of good things that may come to the female’s world. Feminism is really not initiated because of pain nor of anger and desire for revenge, it is about the hope that feminists have for the society. A hope that society will soon treat them right and give them with equal respect (Ahmed, 2004). Conclusion “…The white woman slave owners were supposed to be on a pedestal, but they were (metaphorically) chained to it and supposed to be silent…” (Deckard, 1975). The above-stated lines are basically what feminism is fighting for… the real gender issue. These are the most common notion for the women in general during that time, and that is why various women have fought so hard to ultimately erase these biases on women During the Civil War, the women's movement died out as the women concentrated on abolition. After the war, they expected equality for both blacks and women but were disappointed when the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments restricted the right to vote to male citizens. The abolitionist and women's movements split after this. The male abolitionists had been northern businessmen who wanted the black vote to ensure Republican victories in the South and the expansion of business in the North. Once satisfied, they quit as they saw nothing to gain from women's suffrage (Deckard, 1975). In spite of this major setback, the women's movement went on. It had been given a steady foundation by women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony whose work was rewarded with the gain of women's suffrage when the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified on August 21, 1920 (Deckard, 1975). And as you may very well know, women’s liberation is very much recognized nowadays. And we have to thank the initiators of this movement. References: Ahmed, Sara (2004). “The Cultural Politics of Emotion”. Routledge Publishing Boydston, Kelley, Margolis, The Limits of Sisterhood, p. 178. Deckard, Barbara. (1975) The Women's Movement: Political, Socioeconomic and Psychological Issues New York: Harper & Row. p. 253. Dubois, Ellen. 1971. http://www.cwluherstory.com/CWLUArchive/wave.html “Feminism History” [online images] http://www.history.stir.ac.uk/img/site-images/FemaleDelegatestotheScottishTradesUnionCongressinApril1911.CopyrightNationalLibraryofScotlan.jpg “Feminism History - US” [online images] http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/photos/assets/photos/1020.jpg “Feminist movements” [online images] http://www.canadiandimension.com/issues/v40n4/quebec2.jpg Lerner, Gerda . (1988).The Grimke Sisters from South Carolina: Pioneers for Women's Rights and Abolition. Oxford University Press. “Sojourner Truth” [online images] http://www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/truth_sojourner.jpg “Harriett Stowe” [online images] http://www.civilwarphotos.net/files/images/136.jpg “The Grimke Sisters” [online images] http://169.244.90.130/emints/orange/images/grimke.jpg Yee. Shirley J. Abolitionist Movement. February 2002. Sunshine for women. [online] Read More