The problem of women’s discrimination in different spheres of social life can be effectively illustrated with references to the timeline, which presents significant events regarding gender equality. These events are the publication of Judith Sargent Murray’s On the Equality of the Sexes; the labor protest of 1834; Abby Kelley’s lectures and speeches; the publication of Margaret Fuller’s Woman in the Nineteenth Century; the Equal Pay Act; the Civil Rights Act; and Title IX. Although these events influenced all the spheres of the women’s social life significantly, the most significant changes were observed in the sphere of education.
1790 – Judith Sargent Murray wrote On the Equality of the Sexes. The work became associated with the declaration of women’s rights in American society. The main focus was on the equality of men and women in all the spheres of social life, including education. Noting that women were equal to men about their rights, desires, and inclinations, Murray demanded equal educational opportunities for women in the United States.
1834 – One of the first labor protests against gender discrimination in the workplace. The women working at the mill of Lowell stopped their work to demonstrate their protest against reductions in wages and women’s general discrimination at the workplace.
1838 – Abby Kelley, a teacher from Massachusetts, began to develop the abolitionist movement and support the Female Anti-Slavery Society with a series of speeches on such topics as equality of all races, ethnicities, and genders. Kelley made the public pay attention to the problem of female discrimination in the context of racial discrimination in American society while focusing on educating the audience.
1845 – Margaret Fuller published Woman in the Nineteenth Century and developed the ideas of freedom and equality related to women. It was stated in the book that women had rights for their personal and intellectual development; thus, they had apparent rights for education.
1963 – The Equal Pay Act was proposed and implemented by Congress in order to resolve the issue of gender discrimination in the workplace. According to the act, women could not be discriminated against in relation to their wages in situations when men and women took the same jobs. This act improved the social position regarding the gender inequality issue in the United States.
1964 – The Civil Rights Act was passed to prohibit any inequalities in the American society associated with the questions of sex and race. As a result of the act, racial minorities and women received equal opportunities to get an education and find the right job. The principles of the Civil Rights Act were also supported with the Affirmative Action policy developed and implemented in the 1960s-1970s in order to resolve the problem of disparities in the social and educational spheres.
1972 – Congress approved Title IX, according to which gender discrimination in higher education was forbidden. Women received a real chance to enter universities as equals to men and without being discriminated against during the application process. Title IX was the final point in the women’s movement for receiving equal access to higher education.
The mentioned events can be discussed as significant points in the history of the women’s movement for equality and overcoming disparities in the social sphere and education.