Women In America Essay Research Paper The

Women In America Essay, Research Paper

The role of women in American society has changed dramatically over the last one hundred years. Women were originally seen as daughters, wives and mothers but are now viewed in a totally different light. Women s views are now respected and sort after and this is why they will play an important role in the upcoming election. To understand how women will be involved in the election you first have to look at the history of women in American society and the roles that they play.

American women had been campaigning for equality even before the turn of the Twentieth Century but it wasn t until Nineteen Twenty that they were able to vote for the first time after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Many believed that this would create a huge change in politics and this made many politicians at the time (all male) nervous. The expected huge change never really materialised until much later though due to economic constraints (the depression and then the Second World War). During the depression the emphasis was taken away from equality as twenty five percent of America was unemployed.

The greatest change to women s roles though was not political at all. It was the transition from a primarily agricultural economy to a corporate, commercial, industrial economy. This meant that whereas before women were seen as business partners to their farming husbands, helping to saw the land whilst simultaneously rearing the children. But in the new urban environment the middle class ideal relied on a single wage earner meaning that the women were now expected to stay at home while the husband/father would work away from the home. Only women from poor families would go out and work because it was thought, at the time, that if it was economically feasible then once a women was married she should become a housewife and stay home and raise the family and look after her husband. This was actually a backward step (as far as equal rights campaigners were concerned) from the advances that had earlier been made in the fight for equality.

After the Americans joined the Second World War, women had to leave their housewife status and go back to work to cover for the men going off to war. Although there were now more women working than ever before it wasn t long before the men came back and, because of the employment and educational benefits that veterans received, the gap between men and women in high-paying positions widened. Women went back to being housewives but this stagnant lifestyle would not even last ten years. By the time the Sixties came along women were getting restless and with the business and public sectors rapidly expanding this opened up the way for more women to go back to into the workforce.

During the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties campaigners fought hard and many new equal rights laws were passed. It is ironic, however, that in the new Millennium, with women not needing to fight for equal rights, most of the key issues to women are the same now as they were one hundred years ago. This essay hopes to look at these issues and address them.

There are five key issues that women across America are concerned with for Election Two Thousand. These issues could be the key for either Gore or Bush in the race for the Whitehouse. The fiveissues are as follows Education, Childcare, Economy/taxes, Abortion and Gun Control.

The Department of Education released statistics stating that Math scores have been climbing an average of one percentage point a year for the last thirty years but reading scores have been stagnant. They stated that twenty percent of high school graduates could not even read at a fourth grade level. Dick Cheney, Vice Presidential candidate for the Republicans, was quoted as saying,

The current administration has made little or no progress improving reading and math scores in national achievement tests during the last eight years. This is something we plan to rectify. Susan Bowen, a student at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, agrees with Dick Chaney and the Republicans policies but states that Although I m a republican, I m not sure if the general consensus of women across America would agree with me but I would think that they would be supportive of improvements in education. The Democrates do concede that they may have slightly neglected education in the past but are promising that this will be one of the first items that they will address. But just why is education important to women across America. Maria Locklear, A shop worker form Pembroke, was asked that very same question. She responded by saying One of the reasons education is so important to women is that they are the ones who have to deal with the kids as well as going out to work. Who are the ones who have to go to P.T.A. meetings and help the children with their homework. Women!

Childcare is important to every mother across the country. How many women are there in America who have to stay up all night with a sick baby. Deb Nyberg wrote an article to the Shesgotvote web page on the world wide web explaining her plight. She explains how she has to cope with looking after two hungry children with no support from her abusive husband who drinks away far too many paychecks. She explains how she has to deal with having to worry about how she s going to pay for the electricity