The Oppression Of Women's Role In Society

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Through establishments in American history, citizens of all races and genders emphasized their rights for equality and political power within society. White males were most often viewed as superior citizens, granting them legal and political equality, while excluding women from achieving full citizenship rights. The oppression of women’s basic rights, such as property, voting, marriage, roles in local government, and education, living in a largely patriarchal society, greatly influenced acts of organized American movements for women’s rights. The attempts for gender equality spurred from women’s desire to achieve the same upward mobility within society at the same rate as men. Women’s emancipation was a war willing to be fought by women striving …show more content…
People often “linked such personal independence to individual ownership of property” and women, married or single, struggled with attaining property ownership rights. Legally, women who were married had little access to property and “those without property could not be independent, therefore they could not be autonomous, virtuous citizens” , emphasizing the struggle for women to exert any independence. By definition of marriage, “the husband and wife are one person in law: that is, the very being or existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage” . The issue with this concept is that it offers little room for improvement because not only do men succumb to this ideal, but also it can be inferred that society has accepted that women lose any hope for independence once married. The Declaration of Sentiments states that “after depriving her of all rights as a married woman, if single and the owner of property, he has taxed her to support a government which recognizes her only when her property can be made profitable to it” . Essentially, married women are suppressed of their rights and single women are only considered relevant in society when she has money to show, and eventually will be depleted by taxes. In the case of divorce between a husband …show more content…
Male dominance is present in all areas of society and many women’s rights activists brought this to attention. Women desired the ability to grow within their society and exhibit the same civil rights that men exhibit. A comparison between white males full legal and political equality, and rights of women during this time spurred the occurrence of women’s rights movements to eliminate oppression of women’s civil rights. The Declaration of Sentiments was derived in these efforts of emancipation and emphasized the main points of the Declaration of Independence, based on that all men and women were created equal. This document was the beginning of the movement for achieving social, political and civil rights for women in society. When the Declaration of Independence was introduced at the Seneca Falls Convention, after much deliberation and some minor alterations, it was adopted by majority
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