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.