The progressive era sought to correct labor issues, women’s rights, and social affairs across the board. Essentially, the progressive movement would mend the wounds that remained open from the Gilded Age. Reformers were the key to righting the wrongs of America during that time. Muckrakers were bold and brave journalist who exposed scandal in big business practices and politics. Women arose to claim their rightful position in the world beyond their expected stereotypes. Ida Tarbell was a muckraker who targeted the pioneers of the Gilded Age, exposing their dirty deeds. Tarbell wrote about the questionable competition in politics, and would expose the Standard Oil Company for their shady business practices. Women were (are) the golden key during the Progressive Era, fighting for suffrage and being at the core for leading reformers. History was captured by photographers such as Jacob Riis, and written by profound authors. Kate Chopin was an author, a women’s activist, and leading …show more content…
Both Zora Neal Hurston and Kate Chopin were female authors, activist, and with respect, tycoons of the reforming age that they lived in. To begin, both women individually wrote notable works that are still of rave today. Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Chopin’s The Awakening are books that examine social issues and gender roles from a fictional approach. Given the demographic differences, it speaks volumes that such issues were very much alive in these ladies lives. Chopin was a white woman born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri in 1850. Hurston, a black woman, was conceived in Alabama 41 years after Chopin and still faced sexism, and