While many women today have successful careers, some still feel limited in their efforts to land higher positions in their chosen fields.
Why do Americans disagree over women’s rights?
In early America, women had few legal rights. They could not vote, hold office, or work at most jobs. Married women could not own property and were under the legal authority of their husbands. The women’s movement helped change all this. Nevertheless, Americans still remain divided over women’s rights. Use the time-line below to explore this enduring issue.
1848 Seneca Falls Convention
Women meet in upstate New York to declare support for women’s rights
1869 The National Woman Suffrage Association
Anthony and Stanton form organization to fight for women’s suffrage
1920 Nineteeth Amendment
Women gain right to vote
1964 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
Law protects women against job discrimination
1972 Title IX of the Education Codes
Law bans sex discrimination in schools
Supporters of women’s suffrage gather in protest.
Women in the Workplace On average, women earn less than men in the workplace. This wage gap has led to charges of sex discrimination. Feminists also argue that a “glass ceiling” keeps many women from rising to the top of their profession. But other factors may be involved, too.
“The wage gap is the result of a number of factors in addition to discrimination, such as the differences in women’s education, their shorter time in the workforce, and their concentration in a narrow range of jobs that are underpaid because women are in them. Nonetheless, a significant portion is attributable to discrimination.”
—Sonia Pressman Fuentes, founding member, National Organization for Women
“[Feminists] often portray working women as victims of rampant discrimination [which] [they say] … renders women powerless in the face of an impenetrable glass ceiling. While discrimination does exist in the workplace, levels of education … and time spent in the workforce play a far greater role in determining women’s pay and promotion.”
—Naomi Lopez, Director, Center for Enterprise and Opportunity