Women in History

What is Women Empowerment?

• The true definition has been debated since the 19th century

• But can simply mean: to make women the best they can be. To give women the rights and opportunities they deserve. 

• Can also mean when women gain power economically, socially, politically, and through education 

• DOES NOT mean that women are given the same opportunities as men 

  • Gives special treatment/reservations for women so they could be at parity with men

Women Empowerment in History

• Anna Filosofova

  • Was ahead of other women’s rights advocates

  • Believed it was better to educate the poor than give them money

  • Cofounded a society to support the poor providing affordable housing, decent work, etc. 

• The Declaration of Sentiments is signed at the Seneca Falls Convention (1848)

  • Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and other women’s advocates protested for civil, social, political, and religious rights

• In 1893, led by Kate Sheppard, women were granted the right to vote in New Zealand

  • Gave parliament a petition with nearly 32,000 signatures demanding the women’s right to vote

  • A turning point for women empowerment

  • Shows that voting rights for women were achievable

• 1911, The first International Women’s Day was born

• Dr. Alice Paul 

  • Staunch activist for women’s rights in the 20th century

  • Was imprisoned several times for involving herself in Emmeline Pankhurst’s group, which smashed windows and went on hunger strikes in prison 

  • Before President Wilson’s inauguration, a parade was planned, but nearly devolved into a riot when spectators assaulted the women and the police did nothing

  • In 1917 in the midst of WW1, Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party (NWP) held demonstrations in front of the White House, a first 

    • People felt these protests were disloyal since it was happening in the middle of a war

    • Women were beaten and jailed for “obstructing traffic”

    • Jailed at the Occoquan Workhouse and District Jail in DC

      • Conditions were horrible

      • Alice Paul and other women went on a hunger strike, but Paul was restrained and force-fed

      • Superintendent of Occoquan had 40 guards attack the protesting women, who were battered, choked, and worse, some were beaten until they were unconscious 

  • Paul and NWP continuously organized in front of the white house until 1919 when Congress voted to ratify the Susan B. Anthony Amendment (an amendment that would grant women’s suffrage)

• The All India Women’s Conference gathers in 1927

• Raichō Hiratsuka

  • Pioneering Japanese Feminist, editor, writer, and activist 

  • Challenged traditional gender roles in Japan’s first all-women operated journal Seitō, which she co-founded

  • Drew attention to women’s issues such as sexuality, chastity, abortion, sufferage

• Eleanor Roosevelt 

  • Oversees the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, emphasizing women’s rights

• Doria Shafik

  • Accelerated Egypt’s women’s rights movement

  • In 1951, she along with 1500 women, charged into parliament fighting for political rights, economic equality, and social reform 

  • On top of other movements after the storming of parliament in 1951, women got the right to vote in 1956 

• Rosalind Franklin

  • British chemist who discovered the DNA’s double-helix structure through X-ray diffraction, a revolutionary method 

  • Breakthrough for science 

• Rigoberta Menchú (Guatamala)

  • First indigenous Noble Peace Price winner

  • Fought for social justice, ethno-cultural reconciliation, and rights for indigenous peoples

  • Co-founded the Nobel Women’s Initiative to highlight women as the driving force behind peace, justice, and equality 

• Sirimavo Bandaranaike

  • Elected as Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister 

  • World’s first elected woman Prime Minister

  • A step in the right direction against the underrepresentation of women in politics 

• Billie Jean King

  • American tennis champion and social activist

  • Threatened to boycott the U.S. Open in 1973 if women weren’t awarded equal prize money

  • U.S. Open became the first major tournament to offer equality in pay 

• 1975 Icelandic Women’s Strike 

  • 25,000 women went on strike (one-tenth of the population) demanding equal pay 

• Unity Dow

  • Won a landmark case in 1992, allowing women married to non-citizens the right to grant nationality to their children

  • Botswana’s first female High Court judge

  • Won a case that allowed Botswana’s San people to return to their homelands

• Malala Yousafzai

  • A strong advocate for women's and girls’ rights 

  • Shot by the Taliban for defending girls’ right to education, but survived

  • Continued her activism and funded the Malala Fund to support women by

    • Funding educational projects across the globe, partnering with global leaders and advocates, and empowering young women 

  • By 17, she won the Nobel Peace Prize 

    • Youngest winner of the Nobel laureatew

• Amanda Gorman

  • Recited her poetry during Biden’s presidential inauguration

  • Founded the youth writing and leadership program One Pen One Page

  • Poetry centers on oppression, feminism, race, marginalization, and the African diaspora with critical thinking and hope

  • Made history multiple times and plans on running for president in 2036

• Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul

  • A student who spoke against the Thai monarchy at student demonstrations in Bangkok 

  • She volunteered to read the student activist group’s list of 10 demands gaining her attention (trying to reword “...put her in the spotlight”)

  • Demands focus on democracy, free speech, a constitution, and a reduction in the monarchy’s power

  • Sithijirawattanakul risked 15 years of prison for speaking up 

• Rima Sultana Rimu

  • Member of “Young Women Leaders for Peace”

  • Recognized for providing educational resources for women and children in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh 

  • Spreads the message of the UN Security Council about women, peace, and security through radio, theatre, and traditional teaching

  • Wants to bring gender equality to Bangladesh 

• Alice Wong

  • Disability rights activist 

  • Captured the media’s eye when she released “Disability Visibility 

Barriers

• Patriarchy (and sexism as a result)

  • A system where men dominate women over economic, political, and social matters

  • The traditional belief that men hold power over a woman’s life

• Traditional Gender Roles

  • Early forced marriages

    • Often required to cut their education short to take care of their family

  • Traditionally, women are seen as the nurturer, or ones who are supposed to care for the husband and children and for the household, leaving any opportunities to work out of the question 

  • Traditionally perceived to be able to hold a job or position in government 

  • Husband’s/men’s property, explaining violence and sexual violence and overall mistreatment 

• Lack of political representation

  • Government positions across the world are held mostly by men

  • Women only got the right to vote in the last century, still countries that restrict women’s suffrage 

• Education

  • Poverty prevents girls from receiving a full or any education at all 

    • Poor families often invest in the boy’s education since they only have enough money for one of them

      • Boys are chosen bc of patriarchal beliefs, that men are better and can be more productive with the money spent on them 

  • In many developing countries, girls are illiterate due to the lack of access to education 

  • Other schools do not meet the safety/hygienic needs of girls

  • Some have teaching practices that do not include women and a girl’s skill development stagnates because of this 

• Gender-based violence 

  • Disproportionally impacts women and girls

    • 35% of women experience physical or sexual violence (some studies have suggested up to 75%)

    • Female Genital Cutting affects at least 200 million women and girls 

    • Human trafficking with women and girls making up 71% 

  • In many less-developed nations, the mistreatment of women is normalized

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-is-womens-empowerment_b_9399668

https://serudsindia.org/blog/women-empowerment-meaning-definition/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_UjYOfmkn8

https://interactive.unwomen.org/multimedia/timeline/womensfootprintinhistory/en/index.html#section08

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage

https://illustratedwomeninhistory.com/raicho-hiratsuka-was-a-writer-journalist/

https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/25/archives/iceland-women-strike.html

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/malala-yousafzai

https://www.nps.gov/people/alice-paul.htm

https://www.unicef.org/education/girls-education

https://culturalpractice.com/2018/03/5-paths-to-sdg-5-breaking-down-barriers-to-womens-empowerment/