Preview

Pittsburgh Womens Movement

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
878 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Pittsburgh Womens Movement
The Pittsburgh Women’s Movement
“The term feminism can be used to describe a political, cultural or economic movement aimed at establishing equal rights and legal protection for women” (“History and Theory of Feminism, n.d.). “Feminism involves political and sociological theories and philosophies concerned with issues of gender difference, as well as a movement that advocates gender equality for women and campaigns for women's rights and interests” (“History and Theory of Feminism, n.d.). In this essay the 1968 Pittsburgh Women’s Movement is going to be further discussed as well as its impact on Pittsburgh and women in the business world.
Background on the Pittsburgh Women’s Movement
“Pittsburgh's role in the struggle for women's rights in
…show more content…
Wilma Scott Heide was fascinated by her case and decided to try and recruit Cindy to become a founding member of the Greater Pittsburgh Area Chapter of NOW. Cindy Hill was developing this case because she had reached her max salary potential at the school. Therefore, she requested sabbatical from her teaching job in order to earn her Master’s degree. Hill completed her degree, however was fired by the school district after having her baby while on sabbatical (Ulbrich, 2010). The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran a front-page story about the public hearing with a picture of her and her baby for everyone to see. After this, Hill gained support by not only feminist, but also by state and national levels. Wilma Scott Heide arranged for Hill to attend the annual NOW conference where she addressed a national audience. Betty Friedan, NOW’s president, held a news conference to announce the organization’s support of the case and the Pennsylvania State Education Association provided financial assistance for legal counsel. In August of 1968, the County Court Judge Bengamin Lencher ruled that Valley School District must reinstate Hill for the fall term. Cindy Hill’s experience became symbolic for women’s employment in Pittsburgh (Ulbrich, …show more content…
Following the leadership of blacks “sitting in” at segregated dining counters, women also began challenging authorities and demanding equal treatment (Ulbrich, 2010).
One example of this was the Stouffer’s restaurant in Oakland. At this restaurant men’s dining rooms were separate from the women. Men’s dining rooms were a symbol of male bonding, while women had to wait to be seated in a public area. Pittsburgh NOW members identified this restaurant as a target and fought against it. Members developed multiple tactics to protest this restaurants practice. First, Heide met with the manager of the Stouffer’s who explained the policy came from higher management and “that sometimes women were allowed but generally they preferred not to sit in the men’s section because of the possibility of bad language.” Following, NOW decided to write the manager of the Stouffer’s chain protesting a males-only dining room. That eventually made its way to the Pittsburgh Press where Heide’s comments were displayed for everyone to see (Ulbrich,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The women’s movement has been a long fought battle this assignment helps bring just how long it has been. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony wrote “The Seneca Falls Declaration”. This document was much like the “Declaration of Independence” in which it listed multiple grievances against the government. This was the beginning of the movement and was slow going until 1966. In 1966 Betty Friedan wrote “The National Organization for Women’s Statement of Purpose”. These two documents hold a lot in common but when comparing the two you can see that in the years between them things have changed. This change may be small but is evident when compared. Some examples are in “The Seneca Falls Declaration” women in that time frame could not attend…

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mary Kilbreth, the author of the article “The New Anti-Feminist Campaign,” wrote about about how the feminist movement in the 1920s was not to favor corruption like it was, notwithstanding to gain equality for between women and men. In the 1920s, women who became flappers wanted to have independence and experience happiness, rather than being stuck with controlling husbands and bastardized feminists who did not benefit America itself. These feminists supported “the bureaucratic burden of a Socialist “maternity benefit system,” and nationalized “education,” with “a women in the Cabinet” and the rest of it,” (Kilbreth). What these feminists wanted was very corrupt and that is not what feminism signifies. Feminism symbolizes a “revolt against…

    • 145 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    placed on the need for equality of opportunity between the genders. The influence of the feminist movement…

    • 1690 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The feminist movement began in the 1960s, as women’s groups searched for equality in the workplace. The movement resulted in the increased participation of women in the paid workforce, and the widening of career opportunities from traditional occupations such as teaching, nursing and secretarial work.…

    • 1866 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reform Movements Penitentiaries 1. John Howard was the leader of the penitentiary movement. 2. John Howard started the “Penitentiary Movement” because he had concerns for the jailers since they were beginning to see more and more deaths from the prisoners. Howard’s actions were caused due to the diseases that were intensified by the conditions of the prisoners’ incarcerations.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The civil rights movement was in full gear and the country was working towards finding equality for races and also women. In 1969, Shirley Chisholm, New York state representative, addressed the Speaker of the House on the state of women’s opportunities and equalities. She not only was able to articulate the importance of equality for women but also equality for black women because she was the first black woman elected to Congress. At this time, only 2% of women occupied managerial positions in the workforce even though women outnumbered men by more than 3.5 million (Chisholm). Although it felt like America was moving forward in terms of equality, the country still experiences these marginalized differences…

    • 1995 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    The role of women in American society changed from the traditional homemaker to modern-day breadwinners owing to the outcomes of various events that occurred from the end of the Civil War in 1865. However, this paper will analyze and discuss the various events such as suffrage, the professional barrier held by the male counterparts, and societal discrimination. In addition, the enactment of State laws that illegalized wife battery, equal payment, in addition to the decision by the Supreme Court to allow Belva Lockwood to be the first women to testify before it in 1879. These events formed the basis of the significant events that shaped the make-up of the modern women since 1985.…

    • 1382 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    American women from the late 19th Century through the 1970’s fought through discrimination, racism, and sexism. Women struggled to be acknowledged and given the same rights as men. Slowly, through out each century, women’s political, social and legal issues improved, but with challenges. In this essay, I will discuss some of the significant changes that women overcame.…

    • 1263 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This investigation will explore the question “To what extent did the involvement of women in the Civil War further the Women’s Rights movement?” This paper will begin in 1848 in order to gain an understanding of the beginning of the feminist movement in America, which was marked by the Seneca Falls Convention, then discuss the entirety of the Civil War, from 1961 to 1965, and end in 1885 in order to view the full impact that the Civil War had on post-war progress for women’s rights.…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    1920s Women's Equality

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This document shows how women were fighting for equal rights in not only in the workforce; but also equal rights socially as well. These women were worried about equal pay and that if women do not advance their status now they will never fill top executive jobs with larger salaries than the salaries that are being provided for them during the time. For example; "Because such restrictions mean the closing of opportunity to women whose ability would enable them to rise to executive positions, the business and professional women of the country are nearly a unit in opposing them" (paragraph 7). Because these women were able to fight against this inequality that in "In 1920 the National Federation of Business and Professional Women passed the following…

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    For a countless amount of time, American women have been pushing for their equality rights. Women from the 1848 to the 1900s women have been trying to gain the equivalent rights granted to men for more than 220 years (Mass 6). The Women’s Rights Movement was also accepted as feminism, which it was the most important event in history for the millions of women who fought for their great success in reaching their equivalent rights and respect they deserved from men, and society.…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A legal theory in feminism especially in the period of 1840 to 1870 included abolitionism which gave rise to the women’s movement who in their quest for equal rights of women that included the ownership to property and right to vote, the sort out to abolish slavery as well. Abolitionism garnered male supporters for the women’s movement like Frederick Douglass, Henry Blackwell and William Lloyd Garrison. 1…

    • 4751 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “The women’s liberation movement raised the hopes and expectations of a generation of women. This movement challenged the prevailing notion that women were supposed to spend their entire lives engaged in housework and raising children” (Roesch). The women’s liberation movement from 1960-1980 changed the US forever. During the movement many new laws were formed to help women reach parity with men. The women’s liberation movement altered people’s ideas about the role of women in society on a mass scale (Roesch). Many women did not like the expectation that they were to take care of the children and the house, while the men were expected to earn the money to pay the bills. Some women felt mistreated by men, so they protested for equality which would change the view of women. The US women’s liberation movement of the 1960-1970’s affected the educational system, the work force, and men’s role in society.…

    • 1611 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Women's Movement

    • 2093 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The women’s rights movement was a huge turning point for women because they had succeeded in the altering of their status as a group and changing their lives of countless men and women. Gender, Ideology, and Historical Change: Explaining the Women’s Movement was a great chapter because it explained and analyzed the change and causes of the women’s movement. Elaine Tyler May’s essay, Cold War Ideology and the Rise of Feminism and Women’s Liberation and Sixties Radicalism by Alice Echols both gave important but different opinions and ideas about the women’s movement. Also, the primary sources reflect a number of economic, cultural, political, and demographic influences on the women’s movement. This chapter really explains how the Cold War ideologies, other protests and the free speech movements occurring during this time helped spark the rise or the women’s right’s movements.…

    • 2093 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “Ain’t I a woman” by bell hooks, made me come to a realization that, patriarchy was tied to sexism. The reason of incorporating such reading into this paper on human rights is to make it known that, there are certain things that are lacking in the African-American community. Yes, we are united as one in political and racial matters, but there is a gap amongst us in terms of hierarchy. In chapter 3 of the reading, hooks explained the idea of how black men were denied access to certain office jobs just because of the color of their skin. This is indeed a form of human right violation because, each and every individual is entitled to their right to own a business or work in a field of their interest, without being subject to any form of discrimination. In the same chapter, hooks relayed to her readers and audience the basic ways in which the human rights of black women are also violated when it came to domestic chores. Household chores were considered the least prefered job in the society. Of course, white women especially felt the need to offer such jobs to the black women because they felt it was demeaning to their social status. Therefore, it was not a way of providing a job opportunity to the blacks for the sake of it, but it was mainly due to the fact that it was considered a demeaning…

    • 2514 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics