What Was The First Wave Of The Women's Movement

Although applauded for fighting for the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, the first wave of the Women’s Movement focused their efforts on more than the right to vote. During the time period within which the Women’s Movement took place, women had little to no power in nearly all aspects of life. From having a voice in government to having a voice in their own home, women were not regarded with respect and did not have many rights in the eyes of the government. First addressed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton during the Seneca Falls Convention, the grievances that defined the Women’s Movement included "social and institutional barriers that limited women’s rights; including family responsibilities, a lack of educational and economic opportunities,
According to Corrine McConnaughy, professor of political science at George Washington University and author of The Woman Suffrage Movement in America: A Reassessment, the leaders of the anti-suffrage movement in America “were generally women of wealth, privilege, and social status and even political power” (Weeks). These women, who were all thriving in the current system, were resistant to say goodbye to their positions of high societal standing. Whether focused on maintaining the racial hierarchy (as anti-suffragists in the South) or worried about preserving gender roles, these woman banded together against their fellow women in order to protect their way of life. All anti-suffrage protestors argued against the passage of the bill with the argument that the reality afterwords was unclear. “Antisuffrage arguments had a certain plausibility, however, because no one could be sure of the impact of the measure if it passed, suffragists traditionally claimed that the vote would bring massive changes, and antisuffragists opposed suffrage precisely on this basis” (Buechler). Woman across the country believed that although uncertain, the female ways of life and standards of living would be compromised if the Nineteenth Amendment passed. From 1911 to 1916, the anti-suffrage movement saw a huge increase in members which peaked at 350,000 within the National Antisuffrage Organization and
In terms of the protestors who fought for women’s rights, they faced opposition by the government, the male population, and even their fellow women. Alice Paul’s fierce tactics and ideas expressed during the first wave caused tensions to rise within the Women’s Movement, and the feminists who supported Paul’s failed amendment were seen as radical feminists of the time period who motivated the formation of a counter-movement aimed to repress the actions of the women’s rights forces. The counter-movement aimed to leave the female way of life unchanged and did not want to disrupt the norm. Both counter-movements of the first and second wave sought to maintain gender roles and received a substantial amount of support. Like the first wave of the Women’s Movement, the second wave feminists accomplished a lot. Despite not being able to achieve everything they set out to, such as the passage of the ERA, the second wave protestor efforts did result in the passage of legislation that changed the female way of life. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 “requires that men and women be given equal pay for equal work in the same establishment” (Facts About Equal Pay and Compensation