Females: Voices Being Heard

"...so long as there stands yet in the

way any wrong so cankerous as

reprisal for free speech, so long must

the woman-skald of the future cry

unwelcome truth in the market-place."

(Elizabeth Robbins)

Voices: Females Being Heard

Overall I believe and perceive everyone as equal. Fortunately, a life integrated with all elements of minorities, majorities, and other aspects of less equal, has culminated into high morals and values. Many males find females that express their inequalities within: sexual discrimination, domestic violence, equal pay, rape and etc., as overpowering and competing for superiority. However, the fact of the matter is, men are wrong. It is not a question of superiority, it is a realization phenomenon that occurred and is being accepted that all beings are created equal. Early feminist where first involved with the abolitionist movement for anti-slavery. Proving that other minorities deserve equal rights. But, these females were supporting others therefore; it was never a question of who is number one. With an accumulation of selected subjects, an illustration will be crafted showing the influential leaders of what would become known as the feminist rights movement.

Women were quite active in the abolitionist movement. White women came out of their domestic sphere to work against the enslavement of others. Black women spoke from their experience, bringing their story to audiences to provoke empathy and action. White women who were involved in the abolitionists were married to abolitionists or from abolitionist families, though some rejected the ideas of their families. Key white women worked for the abolition of slavery, helping African American women find their voices as well as their rights.

One of the strongest voices is that of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, born 1815 and deceased 1902. Stanton is believed to be the driving force behind the 1848 Convention, and for the following fifty years contributed a leadership role to the women's rights movement (nps 1). Through her extensive career, she was a backbone for the movement's most important strategies and documents. Elizabeth Stanton like others such as Susan B. Anthony, had early introduction to reform movements, and were strong supporters of the American Anti-Slavery Society. Women became deeply involved in antislavery societies and the role of women in the abolition movement divided the otherwise male dominated society (Brunt 61). Stanton, Mott, Wright, Hunt, and Mary Ann McClintock made the plan to call the first women's rights convention, "initiating the women's rights movement in the United States, and Stanton's role as a leader in that movement" (nps 1). Stanton's career continued and later on would be strongly focused on social reforms relating to women's concerns other than suffrage. Stanton worked with Gage to create the Woman's Bible, which would be rejected by the more conservative ideas in the movement (Brunt 62). They would also collaborate on the first three volumes of 'A History of Woman Suffrage' (Brunt 62). Stanton later agreed to act as President of the combined organization, National Woman Suffrage Association, for a brief period (nps 1). Elizabeth Cady Stanton died in 1902, and like other leaders of her time, did not live to see women's suffrage in the United States. "She is nonetheless regarded as one of the true major forces in the drive toward equal rights for women in the United States and throughout the world" (nps 1).

"Her bondage, though it differs from that of the Negro slave, frets and chafes her just the same. She too sighs and groans in her chains; and lives but in the hope of better things to come. She looks to heaven; whilst the more philosophical slave sets out for Canada." (Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mcphee 13).

Another set out for her voice to be heard by many. Betty Naomi Friedan, born 1921 and deceased 2006, was an American social reformer and feminist. She was educated at Smith College and the University of California at Berkeley (Columbia 1). In 1963 she published 'The Feminine Mystique,' "attacking the popular notion that women could find fulfillment only through childbearing and homemaking" (Columbia 1). From 1966 through 1970 she helped found and served as president of the National Organization for Women. In 1971, she helped found the National Women's Political Caucus. In 'The Second Stage,' she argued that feminists need to reclaim the family and bring more men into the movement by addressing child care, parental leave, and flexible work schedules. (Columbia 1).

"... it's the men who have to break through to a new way of thinking about themselves and society. Too bad the women can't do it for them, or go much further without them. Because it's awesome to consider how women have changed the very possibilities of our lives and are changing the values of every part of our society since we broke through the feminine mystique..." (Betty Naomi Friedan, ix).

Judy Chicago is an artist, author, feminist, educator, and intellectual. She was born, Judy Cohen, into a Jewish family in 1939. She began her art studies at the University of California in Los Angeles and her career now spans four decades. Her art has been exhibited in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Several of her books that she authored have been published in foreign languages, which take her influential philosophy and art too many worldwide (Lucie-Smith). In the early seventies Judy Chicago began teaching at the California Institute for the Arts. Here she developed the Feminist Art Program, which would produce "Womanhouse," 1972, including "Menstruation Bathroom" and a performance entitled: "Cock