Essay about A Debate on Women Rights

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A Debate on Women Rights The articles about to be discussed were all written in the first half of the nineteenth century and were all concerned about women’s rights in different ways. At that time women were deprived from many of their rights. There were no equality between men and women as conceived today and that was the norm in America as well as many other countries. Women were looked upon as inferiors, weak and unable to think and do the things that men can do. It was necessary that women should stand for their rights and defend them in every way and these articles could be the spark that made the nation wake up and believe that women are human beings that must have equal rights with men and share with men roles and responsibilities. In one of the letters sent by Angelina Grimke to Catherine Beecher commenting on her essay about slavery and abolition and defending the activism of antislavery women, Grimke addressed women’s rights. Grimke believed that the Anti-Slavery cause is the school that teaches why human beings have any rights. They have rights because they are moral beings or have moral nature no matter they are kings or slaves. Although slaves were deprived from their rights, they would carry their moral being as long as they live. Since all rights are based on moral beings the type of sex should not be involved and should not make any difference. Accordingly, men should not be given rights and responsibilities that were not given to women. Believing that all humans are moral beings leaves nothing to be considered as distinction in sex. Rights and responsibilities should not be regulated on sex as it must not be regulated on the color of the skin or eyes (A. Grimke). Both men and women can do what is morally right with no difference. Duties of men and women might differ but this difference is not based on sex, it is based on the variety of each sex’s connections in life, their skills and talents as well as the era they lived in. These duties should only be regulated by the main principle of moral being and type of sex should not be considered. Thinking other than that led to many evils coming out of the anti-Christian doctrine which placed the man in a higher position and converted him into a warrior while the woman was directed to be in the protection of the man either as a soul dressed in gold and pearls admired for her charm or as a servant or an inferior to fulfill the needs of her master or lord. This principle was common in the whole world and directed all relations in life giving the man the right to be selfish, arrogant and to exercise brutal violence on women while depriving women from their right to think, speak, or share responsibilities as men. Grimke saw that women were created and crowned with glory and honor as a companion and equal to men and not given to men as a gift. Women should have the right to share in making the laws and regulations that will govern them and anything done other than that is considered a violation to human rights (A. Grimke). In her letter “Legal Disabilities of women” sent to Mary Parker, Sarah Grimke addressed the laws that kept women under estimated. Grimke considered the laws enacted by the government destructive to woman’s identity and independence and they represented a great obstacle in the way of improving her ability to carry her duties. Women were deprived from their political rights and they were not considered in the nation. Grimke criticized the strict laws about the married women which says, “By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law; that is, the very being, or legal existence of the women is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband under whose wing, protection and cover she performs everything” (S. Grimke, “Legal Disabilities of Women” 146). These laws looked upon women as slaves to their husbands captivated in them. Sarah Grimke
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