Introduction
The question of women’s status, place, and role in the family and society has attracted attention for a long time. The female movement is women’s struggle for equal rights with men in economic, socio-political, and cultural spheres and their participation in the general political competition. Women’s suffrage must be now in force in the vast majority of world countries. Thus, it is crucial to identify the goals of the women’s suffrage movement.
The Reasons and Consequences of the Women’s Suffrage Movement
The struggle for women’s suffrage was the motivation for socio-political modernization. The suffragist movement emerged in Britain and the United States in the late nineteenth century as a result of middle- and upper-class females who were dissatisfied with their position in society (Steinem, 2019). Due to their secure financial position and family obligations, well-educated and unencumbered women wanted to establish themselves at home and in the community. In the nineteenth century, social and political opportunities for females in most countries differed sharply from those for males (Steinem, 2019). Women generally could not claim the same rights as their male counterparts in public service, property ownership, education, employment, and child custody. Men were almost exclusively the only ones who ran for office and participated in various elections.
Nevertheless, more women in the U.S. began participating in public life to achieve equal rights. They formed and joined charitable societies and became an influential force in movements advocating restraint and an end to slavery. In July 1848, more than 300 social activists assembled in Seneca Falls, New York, for a two-day conference that included speeches and debates on women’s civil and religious rights (Steinem, 2019, p. 23). At the conclusion, Elizabeth Cady Stanton proposed a Declaration of Sentiments. The document described the legal, financial, educational, and societal restrictions women faced and demanded the right to vote for women. Such meetings as the Seneca Falls conference prompted an organized campaign for the right to vote that became known as suffrage for females at the time (Steinem, 2019). In this way, women formally secured the right to vote, which was the primary goal.
As women’s movements developed, their range of interests and objectives expanded from the original issues that formed the basis of the feminist movement. The right to vote was a central demand of the first political organizations of women in Britain and America in the second half of the nineteenth century (Steinem, 2019). Therefore, the first period of the female rights movement became known in history as suffragettes. In addition to electoral rights, suffragettes sought the same rights as men to property, higher education, and professional employment. They wanted equal pay and the right to education (Steinem, 2019). Women desired control over their bodies and equal rights with their husbands over their children. The suffragettes demanded the right to dispose of their inheritance or the money they earned. They also educated females by distributing pamphlets on feminine hygiene and contraception (Steinem, 2019). This was crucial for the low-income classes, who could not provide for a large family but had no control over their birthrate.
Conclusion
Hence, one of the distinctive features of the twentieth century was the increased role of females in the life of society. The women’s movement’s essence was women’s struggle for equal rights with men in economic, political, and cultural spheres of life and their participation in the general political formation. The women’s suffrage movement, as an ideological and political current in society, played a significant function in the formation of understanding of the rights and role of females in the political and electoral process.
Reference
Steinem, G. (2019). The women’s suffrage movement. Penguin.