Did the overturning of Griswold v. Connecticut help accelerate the decision to Roe v. Wade.

In 1965, the Supreme Court overturned a Connecticut law that banned the use of contraceptives and established penalties for couples who were caught using them. The penalties faced by couples involved a $50 fine and not less than 60 days in prison. After constant attempts to appeal the law the case finally reached the U.S Supreme Court who over turned the contraceptive policy in a seven to two vote. The Supreme Court ruled that marriages were a zone of privacy and the law had no right to interfere. However, constant court cases followed. For example the case of Eisenhadt v Baird made it illegal for unmarried couples to use contraceptives. The reproductive rights campaign began to fiercely fight back. Fast forwarding to 1975 when the Roe v. Wade decisions was announced. The Supreme Court ruled that abortions were to be legal for all women. I believe that since Griswold v Connecticut was overturned by the Supreme Court the United States was starting to move into a less conservative era in regards to reproductive rights. The Supreme Court's decision aided those in favor of more reproductive rights and more available means of contraceptives. Since the the reproductive rights campaign was fueled by the overturning of Griswold v Connecticut the fight for legal abortion was already in favor of the pro- choice. So yes, I believe that the overturning of Griswold v. Connecticut helped accelerate the Supreme Court's decision to legalize abortion, and they did so fully knowing that the majority would soon be pro-choice.

Is there a correlation between women growing up poor and neglected (their economic status) and wanting to become flappers, or change the way they look and are? Was becoming a flapper their way of creating positive change for themselves and giving them a higher economic status?

In the article on Clara Bow by ABC-CLIO it discussed her life before she became a famous movie star, usually playing the role odf a flapper. She grew up in a family with very little money and old and ratty clothing. I believe that women who grew up in poor/low economic statuses wanted to become flappers because they led glamorous life styles and got to wear fancy clothes and a lot of jewelry, something people who had little money growing up never got to experience. I think having low economic statuses is what gave many women the yearning to become flappers and movie stars who played the role of flappers,  because flappers were the opposite of how women who were poor grew up. This is because flappers got to wear fancy revealing clothing, something they never got the chance to own, lots of jewelry, something they could have only dreamed of owning, and all the attention was on them and how beautiful they looked. Becoming famous as a result of becoming a movie star of flapper girl gave women the chance to be exposed to a life they had never been exposed to before, a life that they only would have been able to picture as theirs when they were little. Clara Bow love being the center of attention and being rich so much that when her career came to an end she became suicidal and needed mental help. I think the reason made such drastic changes to the ways the looked and acted was because they wanted to get as far away from the past as they could, they didn't want to return to lives that they had been living before they got the rigth to vote, which in return entitled them to more rights, freedoms, and privileges. If flaunting their, women's, bodies off was a way that could open up a new life, and life style, they were willing to do that because they wanted to know what it would be like to have everything they never had when they were growing up. This is why i believe having low economic statuses is directly related to women wanting to become flappers and movie stars that showed off their bodies because it was a way for them to get and become what they could only have dreamed of as children.

How did we forget about the advancement of the women in the 20th century?

When I began the topic of women suffrage I had what I believed to be a solid idea of the advancement of women in the 20th century was like. As it turns out I knew so little it truly scared me. Women were oppressed. That is the truth. The way that they overcame that through peaceful methods, and with much success should be marveled at. In the speech Learning From our Successes by Carol Hanisch she asserts that "We need to always remember that every inch of freedom that we enjoy today was fought for and won by women united in struggle. By women, who, like ourselves, wanted liberation above all else because it was the only way to get what we wanted and needed—to fulfill our dreams." Carol lived in the 1960's and she lived through the struggles that all women of the time had to go through. The oppression, the inequality  She lived through it all, and is able to acknowledge how far we have truly come, and all the great strides made. What is important to note is why? Why did these women do what they do and what goals did they hope to achieve this takes more synthesis. In her article Carol says " We did not see ourselves as—or aspire to be—superwomen, but to create conditions where no woman had to be superwoman to have what she needed, to have respect, to have both a family and contribute in the public labor force outside the home." So from me reading this line and her speech i see the struggle for women to be equal in not only the eyes of men, but also their own eyes. It reminded me of Native Son, and Bigger Thomas. Bigger had heard so much about how bad he was at this that and the other he began to believe. Women had after so much oppression began to believe some of the things said about them. The Goal of women like Carol and others in the women liberation movement was to simply create full gender equality between the two races. This concept is such and easy one but yet so powerful. The thing that surprised me the most is how little information i knew before research. Almost 50 of people in this country are women yet we have not learned about the powerful revolution they went through just 50 years ago. 

How did Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton become so involved in Women Suffrage?

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton became so involved in women suffrage when the 15th amendment was being outlined. The 15th amendment was to give voting rights to former slaves who were released by President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Anthony and Stanton supported this amendment until they found out it was only the right for males to vote. The two women were mad but not worried because they knew that if they worked hard, they could succeed with a separate constitutional amendment "to grant women the franchise" (Gale Virtual). Anthony tried to vote but was prosecuted because voting was only for men. She refused to pay the $100 fine, but that led to thousands of people supporting her from all over the world because they knew Anthony was trying to stick up for women's rights. All of the information I have read about on the primary sources has been the same information I've read about in previous research. I still think the two women are role models- they definitely showed fine examples of how succeeding is possible if you just believe. 

Even before women were allowed to fight as soldiers in battle, in what ways were women still able to directly contribute to the war?

Despite the fact that until very recently, women have been denied the opportunity to fight in battle by law, even before the Civil War, women found many different, and sneaky ways to participate and contribute to the war effort. During both the Revolutionary and Civil War, some women dressed as men, or in their husband's/brother's/father's uniform to enlist and got away with fighting in combat disguised as men. Many women, however, found ways to contribute to the war efforts behind the scenes. During the Civil War, it was more common for women to serve as spies on both sides during the conflict. Some women even helped guard prisoners and rebellious slaves. One famous example of one of these women is Harriet Tubman who acted as a scout, spy, and conductor of the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was the system of houses used to host runaway slaves who were escaping from the south to the north. Harriet Tubman made a total of 19 trips, and rescued more than 300 slaves using this Underground Railroad. Other women served as doctors and ran hospitals for those soldiers who were injured in battle. In February of 1901, The Army Nurse Corps was created and because a permanent corps of the Medical Department under the Army Reorganization Act passed by Congress. Since the Army Nurse Corps was created women were allowed to enter the military in armed forces, although they were still not allowed to fight in combat. During World War I, the jobs open for women in the army became more broad. Women began to serve as occupational and physical therapists, and clerks in the U.S. Navy, and in the U.S. Marine Corps. Women were also allowed to be pilots who would fly dangerous missions for the Women's Army Corps. Although women were frequently killed during World War II, many women served as spies during that war too. It was common for a woman who was serving as a spy to use sex to gain information from men. The feminist movement in the early 1970s was successful in opening up many jobs to women in the military that had been formerly denied to them. More than 13,000 women now served as officers. Lots of specialties and activities opened up for women to take part in. These included serving as pilots, military police, special weapon training, and other combat-support roles. During the Grenada Invasion in 1983, and the Panama Invasion in 1989, women served as helicopter pilots, air transport pilots, refueling tanker pilots, mechanics, and officers commanding supply and repair ships for the navy. I learned that most female officers actually wanted females to serve as pilots and sailors instead of infantry soldiers, however most women felt that if they truly wanted to achieve full equality in the military they would also have to serve as infantry. Currently, American women comprise approximately 15 percent of American armed forces and 6 percent of veterans.

What were women trying to accomplish, or prove, by becoming flapper girls and wearing revealing clothing?

During the 1920s a type of women known as flappers emerged. Flappers wore bright red lipstick, facial makeup, tight fitting hats, high heels, a loose and very short dress, and lots of jewelry. They sang and danced and acted, they were performers. They showed a lot of skin and wore revealing clothing. They did this for multiple reasons. Women had just gotten the right to right and other rights and freedoms they previously did not have, and as a result they wanted to think of way to exercise these new freedoms and privileges and dressing and acting in ways in which women never had before, because it wasn't accepted, was one of the ways they decided to use their new freedoms. Since a lot of positive change had been happening to women, a lot of traditional roles and rules had been broken and women thought that they should change the way women dressed and acted to go along with all the other changes that had been occurring, and so they did. It seems that it was a way for women to, in a sense, rebel against the men and show them what they had been missing out on by oppressing women and not treating them as equals. They showed men what they were capable of and that it was a direct result of obtaining equal rights. They wanted to prove that change isn't all bad and that change could be positive for both sides and not just beneficial for the women. Breaking away from past restrictions and dancing and acting in ways that had never really been done before in public was away for women, flappers, to show their independence and not to be disrespectful, although it was construed that way by elder women who were so use to the ways that they had been raise, reserved, quiet, and limited, that it was had for them to accept and understand why women were now showing off their bodies and were happy doing so. That's just it, it made women feel empowered and free being on stage and preforming because for once all the attention was on them and how amazing they looked and were. Flappers wanted to continue the change that was already going on and make new norms for women and erase the oppression and reservation that women felt because being on stage and wearing and acting in ways that flaunted their bodies had never been done before, and they liked being the center of attention and using their new rights and freedoms and that is why some women became flappers.

How did the passing of the 19th amendment change social equality for women?

The 19th amendment gave women the right to vote, and was passed in 1919. For the next 40 years change was slow, and very few women were given equal rights in terms social gain. The 1960's brought change throughout America especially to the american women. Two organizations that led the charge for change were the League of Women voters and the National Organization for Women. The two groups had their similarities and differences. The National Oranization for women was a more conservative group and they had little differences, but overall the two groups fought for the betterment of women. What I found interesting was a women wrote to NOW and said "done nothing.... Your movement is a farce and a travesty to us, because you uphold the forces that make us beg for our existence ... Your silence consents to our misery. How dare you call yourselves Sisters." This was important to me because it is always important to get both sides of the story when researching history. Together NOW and LOWV changed the perception of what it meant to be an american women. What made these groups special in my eyes was they were not focused on one thing and ignored all social problems in the country, but were very involved in things going on in our country. They fought for equality of blacks, they fought for the women who had no money, and a child to have the same freedoms, and opportunities as any other person born in our country. The social revolution of the 60's was because of the 19th amendment. Right after it was passed changes may not have been immediate but clearly was the start of a revolution for social equality.

Why is it that men outnumber women in law professions, but women do consistently better?

Within law professions in the modern era, women do consistently better then their male counterparts. However, males still outnumber females and are paid higher wages. This situation begs the question: "Why is it that women are paid less if they do better?". In a study done by The University of Michigan, they completed multiple censuses of their graduates. Men outnumber female graduates/ lawyers 6 to 1. However, women had better GPAs then their male counterparts by about .6 and higher LSAT scores. However, men are promoted more often than women and are paid higher wages, not due to sex, but due to the fact that law schools and firms prefer males because they do not need to worry about males following the "mommy track". The "mommy track" is when a woman will drop out due to pregnancy and to raise a family and will put her career on hold which affects her income and the company's profits. Men are considered more consistent in work hours because they do not need to worry about pregnancy or raising a family. Unfortunately, due to the "mommy track" women are stereotyped and therefore must deal with discrimination based upon said stereotypes.

First Post

Research Project-Day 1, Feb. 1st

My subtopic is education for women. 

Key terms are equal opportunities, human rights, rights and freedoms, National American Woman Suffrage Association, 

Central figures include Eleanor Roosevelt, Abigail Adams, and Mary Putnam Jacobi

Important events include the National American Woman Suffrage Association: Congressional Hearing (1892), the Affirmative Action Report (1995), 

Important documents include Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963), and Abigail Adams Remember the Ladies letter (1776)

In-Depth Sources Response

As I continued to research about Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, I continued to think about what motivated them to becoming lecturers about woman's suffrage and the key reasons they decided to leave their jobs to start conventions. I went onto Elibrary to research the two women and found a couple nice articles that described what their background was- what type of family they were raised in, and what their religions were. I found out that Anthony was raised with unconventional views about women because her father was grew up with a Quacker background. Anthony was a school teacher before she realized her calling was to be a lecturer about Woman Suffrage. She was not married, but loved the life she lived. Stanton, however, was presbyterian and attracted to reform causes. After traveling to several convention, Elizabeth Stanton met the man she would  be able to call her husband in 1840. After just recently getting married, Stanton traveled to London to the world's Anti-Slavery Convention around the 1840's. All of the information I have gathered about the two women help me piece together why and how they became so iconic.

What kind of impact did Margaret Sanger have on the ideals linked to abortion

Margaret Sanger dedicated her life to giving women the same opportunity as men in determining when to have a kid. She did this through trying to legalize birth control. Contraception was denied to women at the time she lived. Sanger sought to change these ideals in hopes for the improvement of rights overall for women. She used civil disobedience as a main resource in creating change. She opened up birth control family clinics, and fought to end the one package law. Birth control was illegal so obviously her clinic was illegal as well. She ended up opening over 300 clinics though. Sangers actions showed how being self reliant and using civil disobedience can create change. People who are trying to eliminate abortion are trying to eliminate what Sanger fought for 120 years ago. Sanger taught women to fight for rights. Her impact, and courage had a profound impact on more than abortion, but on the power, and possibilities women of the time had. Although she was not officially part of the new women movement the way she fought for what she believed in was inspirational and can be directly linked. Even though most girls could not tell you who Margaret Sanger is her impact on the people of the time and abortion changed the impact of women in America even to this day.

Why did certain changes occur? What led to that change? What were the results?

The years between the Civil War and World War II the percentage of women within the United States work force sky rocketed. They began taking over jobs previously held by men. Ranging from secretaries to factory workers to business executives. This sudden sky rocket of women within the work force was due to the fact that men were being drafted to war and bodies were required to fill those positions; women being the only bodies available. This era helped accelerate women further into paid roles within the work force. However, the results of this sudden change also helped accelerate the stereotyping of women and what roles they should fill within the work force.  Law, medicine, science, and engineering—emerged as primarily “male occupations,” as did higher-paid white-collar professions. Women were more associated with lower paying sales jobs.

What was the main goal/point of the League of Women Voters?

The article titles "League of Women Voters" talks about what the LWV did and what priorities as an organization it had. LWV main priorities were to improve "the electoral process, citizenship education, women's legal status, the condition of women working in industry, child welfare, social hygiene, and food supply. In 1923, its goals were redefined as the following: women's legal rights; the promotion of pacifism; and effective government handling of social welfare objective." The main goal of the LWV was for women to be able to vote and have their vote make a difference. Being able to vote was a huge mile stone for women and was a very important because having their vote count and matter gave the them power to make a difference on a much larger scale and enforce what they wanted and voting was a way to obtain their euality and rights on a national level. LWV put a lot of time, effort, and attention on issues of “disarmament, wages and working hours, and child labor than to women's rights like the right to use birth control, divorce law reform, equal pay, and the right for women to serve on juries." LWV also  wanted to enforce pride in women and their rights and how far they have come. LWV was made to help women assert their power and gain the rights and freedoms they deserved because women are citizens of the united state and they wanted to use the political power that they just got to help obtain their rights and freedoms to help them become, and be treated, and viewed, as equals in the United States.

First Post

First Post

I'm very glad that I was able to get the topic of women. After our group finished our initial research we divided our topic into subtopics. These subtopics include conventions, abortion, voting, the new woman, jobs, role in military, and the role of women in the government. I especially found the topics of abortion, and jobs a personal topic of interest. Abortion is a topic relevant to the lives of all Americans, and one that many people have strong opinions on. During our presidential campaign we heard all about it. I have an opinion,  one that I try to eliminate while researching. I was able to find research about the history of abortions, and the role an abortion can have on a women from a mental perspective which was totally new information for me. The topic of women's role in the economic field was also something that I wanted to learn before the project, and now have the opportunity to do so. From my initial findings the issue of women in the workplace is an ongoing issue, and one that has been changing for quite some time. What truly excites me though is being able to take this information and more gathered to help synthesis what the role of the women is on America.

Landen

Who are the key people - what motivated them? Who followed / led them?

Two key people I did research on are Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Anthony was the leader of women’s rights and the abolition of slavery, which later on led to her starting a nation convention with her partner, Elizabeth Stanton. They were both against slavery and were always speaking out against it, and that is what led them to wanting to create groups to help other women cope with their problems. When Elizabeth traveled to London with her husband, who was a deligate within the anti-slavery convention, women were excluded from hearings. Together, Anthony and Stanton crusaded and organized more conventions, which led to Seneca Falls. Seneca Falls was the first convention held that kicked off the womens rights convention, created by Anthony and Stanton. The convention at Seneca Falls only had 300 supporters but they gained more supporters as they continued to succeed. Anthony originally wasn't for the women's rights campaign, she thought it was going to fail and she treated it with a lot of a humor lightheartedness. 
 

First Post

Some first thoughts I had on the topic were how many issues there were in sucha a short period of time.  There was everything from a woman's role in the home to reproductive issues that are still relevant today.  So much of these things are pretty recent and modern.  An important event that happened is the Seneca Falls Convention.  Some important people: Susan B. Anthony, Margaret Sanger who made birth control available, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were also important.  Some important events were the nineteenth amendment to the constitution, Roe vs. Wade, and NOW. Some subtopics our group is thinking about doing are: Conventions/Movements: Ariana, Anita
Abortion (reproductive rights)-/Jane Roe/Margaret Sanger/Catherine Brown: Lavin, Landen, Matt
Voting/Social Equality (how women are treated in society): Anita, Lauren
New Women: Lavin Anita
Suffrage: Lauren, Danielle
Education: Ariana, Danielle,
Susan B. Anthony: Matt, Lauren
Jobs/Equal Pay: Landen, Matt

Military: Ariana, Landen
Government: Ariana, Landen

First Response

While researching for my groups topic about Women, I learned a lot about women suffrage and how it affected women all throughout the 1900's. Some important key figures were Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, and Alice Paul. All of these women suffered, however, they all helped create several women suffrage groups so help others who were suffering as well. There were several factors that went into women suffrage but a key topic was commissions. Women earned 30-60 % less than men when they worked, even for the same job. I thought this was unfair and that the women shouldn't be denied money if they earned it. Another key topic is sex discrimination, which is a key factor in commissions. Women couldn't teach school if they were married because they had to take care of their husbands and children. I didn't really research too much on other key ideas outside of suffrage, sex discrimination, and commissions but I understand there is a lot more that connects to women back in that time period.

First Thoughts:
Our group's topic is women. This is an extrememly broad topic, as there are so many different aspects and perspectives that one could chose to research about women. I just find it so strange that just like blacks, women were seen as unequal members of society. There is absolutely no logical reason why women should have different laws and and expectations than men simply becuase of their gender. It is very unfortunate that the topic of "women" is even something that students are studying as there should never have been a reason to have anything to study- that just likemen in America, all women should have been seen as equals since the start of America. However that is clearly not the case, and so our group is learning about the different aspects in American womens' lives throughout the history of America. Our group has divided our research categories based upon what women have struggled to gain equal rights in, and how they have gone about doing so. We have decided to narrow down our focus reguaring womens' role in American society by catorgorizing our research topics to the following: We are going to have a category focusing on the conventions and movements that have been held/led in attempt to prove a point, or to change an existing law or stereotype regaurding womens' rights in America. We are also going to focus on how society views abortion/reproductive rights/birthcontrol, and the different views reguarding how much control a women should have over her own body. We will also focus on how equal women are treated in terms of their education, in the military, in the government, and in all aspects of their own society. Clearly the role of women has shifted dramatically since the 1850s when women first started taking serious action against the societial norms to stand up for themselves, until present day today. However I also feel that even though women have equal opprotunities to education and also have the right to vote, and participate in military and government is it extrememly important for us to focus on how women got to this point. Also, even today not everything is equal for women, and there are many instances where sociatal views on women have allowed for womens' rights to not be guaranteed or protected, and it is important for us to learn about what the future will be like for women in America.

First Thoughts 
One of my first thoughts on the broad topic of women in American history was how broad it really is and how many different things happened to women and what they had to go through in order to create a change and become, and be viewed as, equals. I knew that there was a period of time when women started 'going against the norm' by changing their appearances and what they did, but I never really understood what fueled this yearning for change, and what they had to go through in order to obtain equal rights, privileges, and opportunities. The name of women changing their hair style, clothe length, and activities was the New Women, because they acted and looked a lot different from previous women. Carrie Chapman Catt, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Margaret Sanger are some of the women who played a huge role in the history of American women. These women played a large part in the many social reforms and movements that occurred to try and create the change that the women wanted. Women not only wanted more rights and freedoms, but they also wanted political power, including the right to vote know as the women's suffrage movement, and more power in general. The women understood the importance of education, so educating other women, and young girls, was one of their main priorities. Abortion was one of the main focuses because women felt that they deserved to be in control of their bodies and what happened to them, so girls were being educated of their bodies, and birth control, which was what Sanger is most well known for, educating girls on their bodies, reproduction, and prevention. I think this is a very interesting topic, and by researching it, it will allow me to deepen my understanding of women, and what they had to go through in order for me to be able to live the way I am today. Just from the short amount of research that I have done already, I have gained a lot more respect for women in the past; I have also come to the realization of just how large of a movement, or movements, it was for women to be able to have the same rights, equalities, political power, job opportunities, educational opportunities, freedoms, and privileges that men have. I think that people know women wanted, in a broad term, equality, but I don't think they fully understand what had to happen in order for that to occur because I know that I don't know all of what had to been done, and the lengths they went too to allow women today to be where they are now. We, as a group, divided the topic of Women, in America, into these subtopics/categories: Conventions/Movements, Abortion (reproductive rights)-/Jane Roe/Margaret Sanger/Catherine Brown, Voting/Social Equality (how women are treated in society), New Women, Suffrage, Education, Susan B. Anthony, Jobs/Equal Pay, Military, Government.

First Thoughts

My first thoughts on this topic is that there is far more information within this topic than most people would think. There are many different events and people that contribute to this topic ranging from Susan B. Anthony to reproductive rights or the many different conventions held for women's rights to their role in the government through time or from events like Seneca Falls to the Roe v. Wade case. So far within our topic we have these subtopics:
Conventions/Movements:
Abortion (reproductive rights)-/Jane Roe/Margaret Sanger/Catherine Brown:
Voting/Social Equality (how women are treated in society):
New Women:
Suffrage:
Education:  
Susan B. Anthony:
Jobs/Equal Pay:
Military/Government: