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Student’s Name

Instructions

Course

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Women Rights and U.S. Democracy

Women rights and establishment of gender parity in all institutions is crucial to

democracy. Women rights are intrinsically associated with democracy because democracy is

more than just what is superficially perceived, the political parties, elections but also includes

important factors such as citizenship rights and public participation in national decisions. The

quality of such democracy is determined by the quality of representation in its institutions. When

one social group becomes underrepresented in the institutions then democracy becomes

undermined. In this reasoning the gender democracy is paramount to achieving democracy in

institutions and in the country as a whole. The absence of women from political positions and

activities reflects on the society’s ignorance of women rights which is a sign of de-

democratization of a nation. Historically, democratic rights in the United States were a reserve

for property-owners who were predominantly the while males. Over the time other populations

have strived to demand and attain such rights as voting rights and inclusion in political activities.

Women particularly in different times pursed rights to vote, autonomy on family planning and

abortion, employment and equal pay and inclusion in leadership and in the government. Though

met with strong opposition in their fights much of these rights have been achieved though partly.

Through landmark court rulings and Parliamentary acts such as the Roe v. Wade and the Equal

Pay Act of 1963, women rights have become widely respected and recognized as a necessary
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factor in maintaining the democracy of the nation. The struggle to liberate women in the United

States has suffered significant setbacks in the progress, however despite the hiccups, the nation is

indeed moving forward in granting women their constitutional rights to defend democracy.

The process of democratization in the U.S. has been slow and continuous and has been

primarily driven by revolutionaries seeking liberation. Women have largely remained

disenfranchised in the U.S. until the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century when

feminism groups and international women groups begun uniting to fight for liberation (Rupp, 5).

The nineteenth amendment of 1920 granted women the right vote and participate in elective

politics throughout the country. This was a fruition of the efforts of the Seneca Falls Convention

of 1848 which set the base for future fights for women’s rights (Price Par.3). Despite the

liberation to participate in political choices and to contest for office, women remained

substantially underrepresented in the government. Besides political rights, women have also

demanded equal rights in employment, equal pay and autonomy in decisions regarding

reproductive health and inclusion in government. In 1912, Massachusetts, enacted the first

minimum-wage law which was aimed at cushioning more than 15,000 women living in poverty

despite working long-hours (Price Par. 6). A more pronounced decision to ensure equal pay was

the 1963 Equal Pay Act which mandated equal pay for same work for all genders. As for

autonomy in reproductive health decision, the remarkable case of Jane Roe against Texas State

popularly referred to as Roe V. Wade of 1973 was a landmark ruling that decriminalized

abortion and upheld the act as a constitutional right. Since then women have continued to enjoy

civil and political rights and have thus grown to penetrate the political space. For instance in

2007, U.S. got its first female speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and is currently having the first female vice
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president. The progress in women liberation is evident of a democratic republic that respects all

social groups equally.

In this regard, gender democracy is paramount to achievement of democracy. Gender

democracy strengthens the democracy of a nation. A huge number of studies have proven

beyond doubt that democratic institutions including the elected decision-making institutions,

cabinet ministries, civil society organizations and political parties are stronger when the rights f

women are upheld as much as the men’s (Moghadam 24). As explained by Philips, (8) women

have challenges, interest, motivations, experiences and values which differ from the men’s.

Therefore their interests are best represented by women. Women’s voices must therefore b

represented in political parties and in public institutions as much as their male counterparts. It

should be noted that gender itself is a massive source of power, and if the democracy is anchored

on the regular redistribution of power, the feminine values must be privileged as much as the

masculine traits. For long, political power has been privileged to men over men which has bred

the problem of poor representation of the women in other non-political organizations and

systems. Granting rights such as political participation to women has tangible benefits to

democracy including but not limited to increased cooperation across ethnic/racial and party lines.

Meaningful participation of women in politics affects the political decisions approved and

solutions proposed to various challenges. For instance, a study by Markham Susan reveals that

countries with high numbers of women in political positions have better access to education,

healthcare and infrastructure and thus enjoy better living standards compared to countries whose

political space is male dominated (Markhan 7). This shows a positive relationship between

women rights and democracy in that enhancing women rights breeds equal societies with better

service delivery.
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Women in the United States have made substantial positive progress in securing women

rights and equality over the years. Women rights are represented by the considerable increase of

women in colleges, universities workplaces political spaces and the narrowing wage gap between

men and women. Social scientists have documented a positive trajectory in gender equality in

education exemplified by the proportion of females being awarded baccalaureate or doctoral

degrees especially in fields which were predominantly male dominated such as management,

science, engineering and technology (England et al. 6990). Most studies reveal that women have

outpaced men in education attainment with the large number of doctoral degrees awarded each

year being awarded to women. The increase in well-learned women has led to subsequent

women in white-collar and management jobs now more than ever and has greatly impacted on

the inherent wage gap. Women’s participation in the labor market rose significantly between

170-1980 and reached 60% in 2000 (ILO 1). However this number has stalled and in some states

reduced to 46% by the year 2010 (ILO 1). Though external factors such as the recession of 2007

could be associated with the decline, gender differences in that men were found to recover faster

from the effects of the crisis than women explain the decline. The wage gap is another key

indicator of gender inequality and suppression of women’s rights n many societies. As of 2020,

women earned 84% of what men earned. This is a substantial improvement from 67% in 1980

(Barroso and Brown 1). This improvement further shows a progress in securing women’s rights

to equality in the workplace.

Despite the visible achievements in securing women rights and restoring democracy,

there have been significant setbacks which often threaten democracy. The Supreme court has

been criticized as the weakest link when it comes to protection of women’s rights. For instance

in June 2022, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling despite
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public opinions showing a huge public backing of the decriminalization of abortion. According

to a research of 2019, the U.S. public continue to oppose overturning of the Roe V. Wade ruling

in favor of legal abortion (Pew Research 1). The decision of 2020 reverses nearly fifty years of

reproductive health freedom for women in the U.S. It ends the constitutional protection for

termination of pregnancy which threatens women’s access to quality reproductive healthcare.

This ruling is particularly concerning given the reputation the U.S. has built around protection of

human rights. The supreme court decision exponentially increases hurdles for persons seeking

abortion services in the U.S. and most importantly will disproportionately affect most

communities which have been systematically failed by the current health system more so the low

income families and people of color. The reversing of the Roe v. Wade case will not only hurt the

U.S. women and families but might have a cascading effect considering that the decision of 1973

inspired abortion laws in other countries including Cape Verde and Tunisia. It could also signal a

return to obstructionism on reproductive and sexual rights worldwide. The ruling also exposes

the corrupt nature of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has on many occasions been termed

as corrupt especially owing to the fact that most judges were appointed by presidents who lost

the popular vote.

Women need democracy for them to secure their rights, but the reverse is equally true;

democracy needs acknowledgement of women’s rights for it to be representative, inclusive and

enduring. Upholding the women’s rights breeds an equal society in which all populations have

equal access to infrastructure, healthcare education and most importantly, power. This is the core

of democracy, inclusion of everyone in national dialogue through equal representation and

formulation of policies which are accommodative for all social groups. Women have made

remarkable progress since the start of the twentieth century and continue to close the gender
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inequality gap that has existed since the beginning of the nation. However, despite the relentless

efforts, women are yet to achieve total liberation. But with the current rights and the current

representation of women in government, women have a better chance of soliciting for better

policies to ensure equal rights for all.

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Works Cited

Barroso, Amanda, and Anna Brown. "Gender pay gap in US held steady in 2020." Pew Research

Center (2021).

England, Paula, Andrew Levine, and Emma Mishel. "Progress toward gender equality in the

United States has slowed or stalled." Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences 117.13 (2020): 6990-6997.

International Labour Organization. "Gender inequality and women in the US Labor Force."

(2009).

Markham, Susan. "Women as agents of change: Having voice in society and influencing policy."

(2013).

Moghadam, V. M. (2008, September). Democracy and women’s rights: Reflections on the

Middle East and North Africa. In International Seminar “Comparative Studies on Family

Democratization and Socio-Politics” Buenos Aires (pp. 24-26).

Pew Research, “U.S. Public Continues to Favor Legal Abortion, Oppose Overturning Roe v.

Wade” Pew Research 2019. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/08/29/u-s-public-

continues-to-favor-legal-abortion-oppose-overturning-roe-v-wade/

Phillips, Anne. 1991. Engendering Democracy. University Park, PA: University of Pennsylvania

Press.

Price, Chris. “Women’s Rights throughout U.S. History. Politico, 2019.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/20/women-rights-abortion-us-history-1116040

Rupp, Leila J. "Worlds of women." Worlds of Women. Princeton University Press, 2022.