Leadership In The Past Movement And Today's Activism

      Aside from understanding the progress of the Women's Movement through important dates and events, it is also important to understand the organizations and activists that made them happen. Although there were and are countless feminists and advocates in the world, this post only highlights a small number.To appreciate the rights and respect women have gained today to the fullest extent, it is crucial to recognize the hardships, perseverance, and discrimination these people had to face to achieve change. 

      What fact many people don't realize is that the Women's Rights Movement did not only occur because of women, it was also from the work of men. In the past before gender equality began to be considered, men held all of the power in the government, societal stereotypes, and homes. There were many brave women activists, but how would their voices be heard without men? Without historical men activists, no one knows if the movement would have even been achieved. And why would certain men stand up for women while others would not? Most men activists were strongly influenced by mothers, aunts, sisters, wives, and daughters, which caused them to recognize that the struggles their loved ones faced were absolutely not fair. 

   

Fredrick Douglass
Photo: blackpast.org

  Fredrick Douglass was a very strong equal rights activist for both women and blacks. He was one of the few men to attend the Seneca Falls Convention, opposing those who were only standing up for women stating that, "women must take the Negro by hand." He wrote a letter to Theordore Tilton in 1867 describing the conditions of his past friend's family after becoming slaves. Being very generous in nature, he provided a safe haven for this family as well as continued support and contribution to the equal rights movement. He said in the letter, "But let the old system go! I would not call its guilty ghost from the depths into which its crimes have cast it. I turn gladly from the darkness of the past to the new better dispensation now dawning. . . ." (Frederick Douglass : Selected Speeches and Writings) Along with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Candy Stanton, he petitioned the New York Legislature for voting rights for women and blacks. He was also appointed as a representative for the Equal Rights Association to argue for an extension of franchise to women. (Frederick Douglass : Selected Speeches and Writings)

Mary Wollstonecraft
Photo: Wikipedia

      Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the very yearly feminists born in 1759, having been the author of the most memorable and moving book in that time period called,Vindication of the Rights of Women. The book provided a moral and obvious-reason based argument for the equal rights of women. A very prominent idea was provided in a statement from her book: “Man has been held out as independent of his power who made him, or as a lawless planet darting from its orbit to steal the celestial fire of reason; and the vengeance of temerity, by introducing evil into the world," questioning why men are taking the power and feel entitled to act as God with power that was intended to be in the hands of all citizens in an equal manner. (Wollstonecraft, Mary)

Margaret Fuller
Photo: virtualology.com

     Another important literary work was Women In The Nineteenth Century by feminist Margaret Fuller. The book described how women should be allowed to be more self-dependent and how the views of men and women should be equal. Another idea she explored was that men would also benefit from harmonic love if equal rights were given to women through her statement: "Whatever the soul knows how to seek, it cannot fail to obtain. This is the Law and the Prophets. Knock and it shall be opened; seek and ye shall find." This means that for man to experience full quality of the earth, happiness, and prosperity, he must find love for all genders and races, which has been lost due to European and other negative influences. The inner souls of people seek to find such love because it was given from God for all the people of the land to inherit. (Fuller, Margaret)

Elizabeth Stanton and Susan Anthony

Photo: ecssba.rutgers.edu

     Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were two early, but two of the most important activists. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the main author of the Declaration of Sentiments. Susan B. Anthony was arrested for attempting to vote to prove that the fourteenth amendment was not in action. Together, attended women's rights conventions, published a women's newspaper called the Revolution, and formed the National Woman Suffragist Association. (Americaslibrary.gov)

Alice Paul
Photo: Americaslibrary.org

     Alice Paul herself and the organization she created, the National Women's Party, protested and fought for suffrage and equality amendments. Herself and others were injured and imprisoned during picketing. She was force fed during a hunger strike and was put into a mental institution until President Wilson released her and others after the shocking news made it to the public. After the release of the abused suffragists, Wilson stated that the support of a suffrage amendment was a "war measure" causing the nineteenth amendment to be ratified. She fought for an Equal Rights Amendment calling it the "Lucretia Mott Amendment" but would later be called the Alice Paul Amendment. (Alice Paul Institute)

      Sojourner Truth was a very religious equal rights activist who traveled in the Midwest to do so. After being a former slave and having children sold into slavery, she was inspired to make a difference. (Sojournertruth.org) Her "Ain't I A Woman" speech was the most moving: This video from youtube.com is a reenactment by Nia Long.

Betty Friedan
Photo: Wikipedia

      Betty Friedan is considered to be the mother of the Modern Women's Movement. She wrote The Feminine Mystique which details how the 1950 time period was a time where women lost individuality. She joined a union to fight racism, especially double burdened black women. She eventually confounded the National Organization for Women (NOW) which is now the largest feminist organization in the United States and is present in all states and the District of Columbia with a half million members. She was awarded the Elanor Roosevelt Leadership Award (whom was discussed in the last post) in 1989. (Parry, Manon)

Shirin Ebadi
Photo: Speakersbulgaria.com

     Shirin Ebadi is a current women rights activist. She studied to be a lawyer because she was not allowed to be a judge in Iran. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for advocating about women's and human rights. She is one of the founders of the Nobel Women's Initiatives which supports rights around the world. (biographyonline.net)

Malala Yousafzai
Photo: basnews.com

     Malala Yousafzai is one of the most well known activists today because of her publicity on the news, for unfortunate reasons. She is a Pakistan schoolgirl who campaigned for education rights among Taliban threat. She recently survived an assassination attempt becoming a leader in women's education rights and respect in Islam. (biographyonline.net)

Ezra Miller
Photo: Wikipedia

     As mentioned before, feminists are not only females. There are many male feminists and women's equality activists in today's society; many being famous celebrities, musicians, or political figures. One of the men I was most informed about due to recent films is Ezra Miller. In 2013, at the age of 21, Ezra attended New York's One Billion Rising to Stop Violence Against Women campaign. He spoke to the crowd: "One in three women in the world will experience domestic violence or rape within the course of their lifetime. To me, I grew up in a household of women and I feel that all revolutionary causes should start with addressing misogyny." Other recognizable male feminists today include: Patrick Stewart, David Schwimmer, John legend, Prince Harry, Ryan Gosling, Daniel Craig, Ben Stiller, Will Smith, Richard Sherman, Ashton Kutcher, and Barack Obama.(Huffingtonpost.com)

Sources:

Butler, Mary G. "Sojourner Truth A Life and Legacy of Faith." Sojourner Truth. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2014.

Douglass, Frederick, Yuval Taylor, and Philip Sheldon Foner. Frederick Douglass : Selected Speeches And Writings. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 1999. eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 8 Oct. 2014.

"Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony." Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2014.

"Famous Women's Rights Activists -." Biography Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2014.

Fuller, Margaret. Woman in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Norton, 1971. Print.

Parry, Manon. "Betty Friedan: Feminist Icon And Founder Of The National Organization For Women." American Journal Of Public Health 100.9 (2010): 1584-1585. Business Source Premier. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.

Vagianos, Alanna. "28 Famous Men Who Prove You Don't Need To Be A Woman To Be A Feminist." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 July 2014. Web. 09 Oct. 2014.

"Who Was Alice Paul - API." API. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2014.

Wollstonecraft, Mary. Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman : With Strictures On Political And Moral Subjects. [Auckland, N.Z.]: The Floating Press, 2010. eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 8 Oct. 2014.