Women in Public Space

The founding fathers and every American official during the 1700s illustrated the great extent that workforce dominated politics. Even with the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed that all men are created equal, women did not attain voting rights for nearly 150 years after the document was written. through and through the 1800s and early 1900s, women gained confidence and established organizations to assert their own rights. They formed effective strikes and voting groups that coincided with political events in the 1900s and aided in passing the 19th Amendment in 1920, granting women the vote.The path to suffrage began as early as the 1830s when the mill girls of the Lo soundly, Massachusetts textile factory, delivered fiery speeches over their poor work conditions, instilling a sense datum of urgency to gain power. In 1909 New York City women shirtwaist workers began picketing in front of their factories, demanding better working conditions. By this time, newspapers h ad the technology to illustrate their stories with photographs. Unfortunately, the technology wasnt advanced enough to capture action moments, so most photos were posted and action moments were drawn. skeletal system 8. is an illustration that appeared in the New York Evening Journal on November 10, 1909. The photographs caption says, Girl Strikers each of whom has been arrested five times for picketing. The posed photo is coupled with a muster showing the action of police arresting the women. When controversy sparked due to the womens formal dresses and elaborate hats, Clara Lemlich responded, Were all human, all of us girls, and were young. We like new hats as well as or so(prenominal) other young women. Why shouldnt we? The shirtwaist strike sparked dozens of garment industry strikes in other cities, including Rochester, New York. guess 8. 2 portrays members of Rochesters branch of robe Workers Union picketing in the winter of 1912 for a cut in hours. The photograph shows t wo women holding a sign that says, Striking Garment Workers, while holding mops in there hand. Another woman stands in front of the sign, very well attired and confident. After overcoming great difficulties and four months of striking, the workers won all of their demands, except union recognition. intent 8. 1 and 8. 2 are similar because they both show very strong and confident women, fashionably dressed and serious in their demands.Leisure-class suffragists also faced many difficulties with trying to move their demonstrations into public spaces. Trying to gain publicity and support, they used unique techniques, such as, turning up on tugboats and in touring cars, they appeared in part store windows and movie theatres, they had bonfires and dramatic pageants. Figure 8. 3 is a photograph from the 1915 Pennsylvania state campaign, featuring a suffragist speaking before a group of working men at a factory gate. In the photograph she holds a map indicating suffrage victories.The mos t successful way of gaining publicity and support was with parades. cardinal of the largest and most well-funded suffrage movement parades was in New York City. These parades featured the participation of women of all classes, including men who support the cause. Figure 8. 4 shows the suffragists marching muckle Fifth Avenue, New York City in 1913. Both Figure 8. 4 and 8. 5 show parades that drew huge crowds and a lot of publicity supporting their cause. Figure 8. 5 is the Suffrage parade that Alice Paul organized in Washington D.C going down Pennsylvania Avenue in March 1913. The parade drew five thousand women from around the surface area who marched in groups with banners identifying them by their professions. Unfortunately the parade was disrupted by crowds of drunken men who opposed the suffrage movement. Ironically, the disruption only gained them more publicity, sympathy, and support because of the polices failure to protect the marchers against the men. The last photo, Fi gure 8. 6, shows the suffrage militants of the National Womans Party picketing in front of the White House during field War I.The college graduates identified themselves with their alma maters, just like the working-class women in Figures 8. 1 and 8. 2 did in hopes to root for publicity to their case. Their purpose was to embarrass President Wilson by graphically pointing out the hypocrisy of a warfare fought for democracy while women at home were not enfranchised. The photos that I mentioned are all similar in the fact that they all illustrate strong, brave women fighting for their rights. The only way that they are different was the women themselves some were working class while others were more privileged.Between the 1800s and 1900s, an accumulation of skills and tactics gave women the confidence needed to twist a countrywide suffrage movement. These movements gained momentum through the 1900s and with the help of publicity and WWI, succeeded in pushing the political sympathi es to pass the Nineteenth Amendment. Because the country realized the power women could gain by pursuing their rights, other underrepresented groups of Americans took the kick in to push for their own freedoms and advancement in society. View as multi-pages