Women's Rights Vs Men's Rights

Recently in history class we studied the women's reform movement of the 19th century, where women protested for more rights.  During this lesson, we compared women's rights to men's rights today, and in the 19th century.  We examined many documents and came to conclusions about how people reacted when women demanded for equality.  Despite the women's reform movement of the 19th century and other reform movements today, there are still differences between women's and men's rights.

“The Sphere of Woman” illustration from Godey's Lady's Book, March 1850http:// www.assumption.edu/ whw/workshop/ untitled1.html 

the 19th century, women were expected to take care of their children, keep the house tidy, cook, mend objects, and keep the house decorated, and yet they still had less rights than their husbands.  Many of the responsibilities of an upper-middle class woman are shown in this drawing (right) of a typical family home. During the day, the father would work, while the mother would stay at home to fulfill her requirements as housekeeper.  Men had more rights than women, but women deserved to have just as many. Women were not allowed to have their own property, vote, were paid less than men, and if their husband died, their children would be taken away from them.  Many women agreed that many of these restrictions were not fair, and began to protest for their equality with men.  Although the women's reform was completely justified, some groups of people didn't agree with the idea that women should have the same amount of rights as men.

In the Seneca Falls Convention, many public newspapers and associations reacted to the women's reform.  Some agreed that women should indeed have more rights, but other groups said that women were meant to be below men.  The Mechanics Advocate, Female Department stated in their article that women should never have as many rights as men.  The article says, "1st. Adam was made before Eve. 2nd. Eve sinned before Adam.  Now, there is no escape for women here, for if she is older than her husband, then of course she must be subject to him, because she must have sinned first.  If on the contrary she be younger, she must be subject to him because he was made first."  This newspaper was based on the Christian religion, and were against the women's reform because of the content of the Bible.  Adam came before Eve, and yet he sinned after her, so they believed that women must always be subject to men, specifically, their husbands.  On the other hand, the Oneida Whig newspaper stated that women definitely deserved to protest.  The article states, "The is the age of reform.  Our ideas of female excellence, formed from the study of such models as Lady Russell and Catherine of Arragon, are getting sadly out of fashion." This newspaper agreed with the women's reform, and knew that women deserved more rights and were just as able as men.  Some newspapers reacted positively to the Seneca Falls Convention, and others negatively, but the women involved in this movement didn't tsp protesting until they had most groups on their side.

Today, women have many more rights than they did in the 19th century, although there are still set differences between women and men.  The women's reform movement in the 1800s was highly successful, and laws were eventually changed so that women could vote.  Today, women are paid the same amount as men in most jobs, and it is more typical for a women to have a full-time job now than it was in the 19th century.  Despite these changes, there are still unjust differences between men and women.  Women's clothing are expected to dress much differently than men, and certain household jobs are considered more feminine than others, such as cooking and cleaning.  This commercial (above) is an accurate representation of a woman's place in society compared to a man's place in society.  There are a few issues that need to be changed in the future regarding women's rights. However, women already have very similar rights as men, and the women who protested during the 19th century women's reform movement were the first people to convince others that these changes needed to be made.