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Women rights

Violence, or an equal threat of it, is a regular certainty for millions of women and girls,

accounting for one of the most prevalent and insidious human rights cruelty. In the face of many

decades of a hard-fought campaign by feminists, women’s rights movements around the world,

and myriad measures to abolish the abuses against women, the levels of violence have upheld

unsatisfactorily high position. Several feminists have used the power of literature and art to echo

their concerns about women’s rights. In the event, they have depicted women suffrage as one of

the most provocative issues of human rights in the eve of the 19th century well through the 20th

century. There is a long history of human rights issues, including discrimination, sexual

harassment, and other forms of violence.

Despite the unceasing struggle, women’s problems continue to exist in the modern

society. At present, the universe remains enthralled with images of women cueing to cast their

votes, thus demanding for the attention of the long struggle against marginalization. In addition

to that, there are alarming accounts of abuses of rights of women depicted in the wealth of

literature. Notwithstanding the global improvements for women in the preceding decades,

gender-based inequalities, violence, and discrimination continue to encroach women’s and girl’s

aptitude to claim their rights and realize their potential as citizens and equal partners in the

political, economic, social, and cultural development of society.

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Women’s rights- a new concept

The acceptance of the need for women rights emerged in the recent past when the society

began to spell out female gender as a separate category in the society. Early efforts to do so

emerged as a separate aspect of human rights in the international women’s movements of the

1980s. In a short time, after enormous efforts on the end of millions of women and men, the

world has since recognized that beyond civic and political rights, there are economic and social

arenas where people have overlooked women’s rights. Early in the 19th century, women’s right

movement united women based on various issues that seemed fundamental rights for all citizens.

These included rights to access higher education, own property, reproductive rights, and

suffrage. After securing the right to participate in elections in 1917, the women’s movement fell

short of its momentum. The events of World War I and II motivated women to assume their

patriotic chores by entrenching the labor force to support the war determination. Many women

anticipated they would abolish the labor world when men reappeared from war, and many did.

Nevertheless, numerous women relished the economic incentives of working outside the home

and retained their positions in the workforce permanently.

The unfolding events in women’s rights prompted feminists, such as Virginia Woolf to

ponder the plight of women throughout history. In her famous novel, A Room of One's Own,

Woolf reads the lives of women and determines that if a woman requires a space in the

economic, social, and political areas to prove her worth. Woolf infers the events of the 19th-

century female writers in a bid to explain conditions that affected women. Indeed, after World

War II, the women had difficulty unifying themselves until the explosive feminist movement in

the 1960s that women resurfaced again. In the four decades, the feminist movements have

countered some issues that form the major themes of literature. Equal to all modern social
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movements, women’s rights movement occasions varied ideas. Feminist commentators and other

responses to the movement have fallen into major categories of demand for radical change,

support of the moderate and gradual change, and steadfast opposing to change.

Suffrage

The concept of suffrage proved to be one of the leading driving factors behind feminist

actions, especially in the United States. At the birth of the movement, however, many moderate

feminists focused on the fight for voting rights as a feared and radical change that would

disadvantage their efforts to reach less controversial objectives, such as higher education,

property ownership, and equal chances of employment. Woolf (464) symbolically expressed for

the liberation of women from suffrage of torture and aggression. A room of One’s Own came at

a time when women struggled for the rights to higher education, employment, and overall credit

in reading and writing. In a similar dimension, Woolf resonated that women must have money,

and a room of her own is she if to write fiction. Despite the continued cry, the society preserved

privacy for the elite men, thus finding one’s own room was an uphill task, at least for Woolf. The

suffrage of women deprived them of economic independence as well as limited freedom of

choice. Women’s role in the society, at its core, implied a routine of dull household chores that

was simply uninspiring for the development of feminists’ ideologies. Further, women did not

have the freedom to choose their life activities as societies married their young teenage girls off

for incentives set by culture rather than attending higher education.

America’s participation in the World War I over the spring of 1917 affected women’s

suffrage movement in various ways. Besides, some of the women considered the fight their quest

for freedom over. The application of women’s rights in the 20th century brought together

feminists, perhaps because of the deeper understanding of the roots of gender inequality. Many
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issues challenge women in the 21st century, especially in connection with political and economic

status in the world. Ellen (231) shows that challenges in gender inequality occur in different

approaches, with the predominantly recognized issues. In particular, men tend to have higher

educational achievement compared to their female counterparts in the US and other parts of the

world. Next, the issue of wage and employment has historically favored men than women. Men

have assumed jobs that pay more, frequent promotion, and receive higher recognition for their

achievements. Health care in some states has men receiving more access and better services than

women do. In many colonized worlds, women demanded the right to vote from the colonial

powers rather than the stable republics. Anti-colonial nationalists campaign in some of the cases

of women suffrage.

Issues of interest in the fight for women’s rights

Educational attainment

The unhampered access to educational openings among women is a strong point feminist

have expressed their interest. While substantial achievement appears evident, the gap in

educational attainment remains wide, especially in developing worlds. For industrialized worlds,

the gap on educational attainment is shrinking rapidly. The principal focus on the middle years of

adolescence and childhood is ensuring access to education blended with the completion of the

same. In the novel, “In Search of Our Mothers’ Garden,” Alice Walker talks about the search for

African women’s suppressed talent through slavery. The accounts of Walker prove the points

that despite the women’s ability in higher educational attainment, black communities were

agents of oppression by their masters. In fact, reading or wiring among the African-American

women remained illegal among women. Women required educational qualifications to allow

them to make their garden. She uses the concept of the garden as a symbol of faith in the future
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people may never see. Certainly, Walker herself contended that with the dominant culture,

particularly the White communities that focused on the literary tradition in education, suppressed

women in such areas.

Gender pay gap

A gender division of labor exists across the world, as men are the prime candidates for

better jobs. In the United States, women performed nearly two-thirds of the country’s work,

received 10 percent of the wages worldwide, and owned a mere 1 percent of the global property.

While research has validated that industries demonstrating workplace diversity and promote

women leadership roles have better financial performance levels, women still earn less compared

to men. Many countries, including the US and the UK, has grappled with the existence of gender

pay gap for decades. For instance, the US passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963 while the Great

Britain constituted its Equal Pay Act in 1970. In these acts, women had the legitimate avenue to

seek remuneration for unsatisfactory pay (Ellen 231). Women abandoned their jobs, and instead

look for children at home represents one of the reasons for the existence of wage gap in many

economies. According to Walker (426), the Black communities experienced numerous forms of

racism and discrimination that overlooked their integrity and values. Walker made similarly

inquiries to Woolf expressing the suppression of many women in the society. One of the

impediments to women’s rights, deficiency of economic freedom required that women overcome

their captivity arenas.

The gap pay difference and economic powerlessness of women led to the feminization of

poverty, a scenario that is, unfortunately, is on the rise. Women of the modern society, as Walker

observes, increasingly suffer the consequences of poverty compared to men. Ironically, women

produce a significant percentage of food crops in the universe, and they are accountable for the
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running of households. Walker hints that there is no country with men coming closer to the time

spent in work, especially those colonized. Despite the efforts by women’s movements, some of

the wealthiest countries have shockingly poor women living in absurd poverty. The

misappropriate suffering from women results from the discriminatory ideas that they work more

hours and earn less income as payback. Poverty, economics, and trade are the every issue Woolf

and Walker underscore at the much related to women’s rights subject to the impact they have on

their living standards. Overall, the gap pay difference it the link to gender inequality concerns

that has fallen the well-being of women into a ditch of poverty, lack of voice, and always second

in command.

Conclusion

The history of women’s rights is long subject to the lasting discrimination in the society.

Although feminists have recorded significant gains, there is much-needed transformation in the

women’s rights for complete assimilation in the society. Today, most women suffer enslavement

in the hands of men who still believe that they are the rightful guardians. In sum, women rights

have become better, but there are still some issues. There is a need to empower women for them

to echo their concerns. In addition, women should go to higher positions of business, education,

and politics to facilitate fairness in the society.

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Works cited

Ellen Dubois, “Woman Suffrage: The View from the Pacific,” Pacific Historical Review, Vol.
69, No. 4.
Walker, Alice. In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose. San Diego: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, 1984. Print.
Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One's Own. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989. Print.