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  • Essay / Human Rights and Women's Suffrage

    Human rights have become a common topic of conversation on many social media platforms today. These important conversations help us learn about what is happening in the world regarding human rights and also what rights we actually have depending on where we live in the world. If we look at the demographics of women and men in this world, we find that women are treated differently than men when it comes to their rights and freedoms. Throughout history, women have not enjoyed the same basic human rights as men. In order to have a voice in society, women began to fight to be recognized as both human beings and citizens in society. Women believed in the importance of making their voices heard when it came to suffrage and persevered through centuries of resistance to the cause they believed they deserved. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Over the past two hundred years, many political and social changes have taken place in Europe and America. These countries have both had similar legal histories and events regarding women's rights. The new ideologies of Enlightenment philosophers, such as John Locke, were included in official decrees such as "The Declaration of Independence", written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776. America sought independence from British rule and wanted more democracy in his government. Locke's views on "natural rights" explained that God gives every human being the right to "life, liberty, and property." Jefferson included this reasoning in the declaration, stating: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and liberty. pursuit. happiness.” These rights were written by men for men. We see from the outside how society is evolving in terms of human rights. When we look closer, we see the ideology behind the words and there is a deliberate omission of women's rights. the rights to be included as a person in this proclamation. The French Revolution was also underway in 1789 and the National Assembly was looking for ways to pass a decree that would be widely accepted by the better part of society. was written, The Declaration of Man and Citizen of 1789. After more than a decade, there was still no mention of women's rights or any amendments. Women were not considered citizens or human beings under the law as they were not allowed to own property, only certain men. having status could be owners. Once again, women were denied the right to property, but the statements indicate that men, not women, are born with inalienable rights to property. Men also always took precedence over women and the criteria for being a citizen were marginalized. During the Age of Enlightenment, some women risked everything to speak out against the unequal treatment of women at all levels of society. Women like the playwright Olympia de Gouges who oriented her writing towards social change and in particular women's rights. At that time, men did not want to include women in politics and decided the place of women. They had to be at home, taking care of the children and being seen and not heard from. Men would speak for themselves. Olympia wrote “The Declarationof the Rights of Women" in 1791. It was written only two years after the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789. A completely reversed declaration which was rewritten by replacing the word "man" with "woman' . In the 2nd rights of women, it included men as well as women. “The goal of any political association is the preservation of the natural and inalienable rights of women and men. These rights are freedom, property, security and above all resistance to oppression.” It is interesting to see that slavery and the treatment of women are combined issues in this Declaration, but more importantly, Olympia included both men and women. She wanted to show that it was about being equal. Unfortunately, as a reward for her bravery in the eyes of men, in 1793 she was sent to the guillotine. This is the price she paid for freedom of expression and thought in the age of reason. As a woman, men hoped to silence this disturbing voice and prevent it from re-emerging as she was declared an "unnatural woman." Olympia's writings endure and her cause continues to grow stronger in the years after her death. In the early modern period, the majority of women were the responsibility of their husbands or families and did not have the same rights as men. Women's rights changed when a woman married, “in 1769, her identity was suspended during their marriage. » Many opposed women's rights due to their religious views because this belief was based in the Bible in scriptures such as "the head of every woman is the man." " (Wall 649). Having the same equal rights as men would endanger the whole of society, threatening the roles of "mother, home and paradise" if it were to do anything else, especially in politics. It will still take 150 years of small changes in the laws when the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920, allowing women to vote and regain their God-given right" Considering the legal changes that took place in women's rights in the United Kingdom before 1850. , there were clear distinctions regarding marital status in society. Single women began to exercise limited legal rights by signing agreements in their own names and also owning property. However, when a woman married, any limited rights she had were then transferred to her husband. Married women found themselves virtually without rights. In 1928, after years of women's suffrage and limited legal rights as a woman, the "Equal Franchise Act" was passed and. granted men the equal rights they sought. The Industrial Revolution was evolving during this period and women and children had to work for a living in the early 18th century. Men took advantage of their weaknesses by being subject to many basic human rights and there were. no protection for this type of processing under applicable laws. They themselves had no protection under the law; they had to force their husbands to act on their behalf. There was no protection for these women under current laws, only for men who qualified and were generally required to be property-owning and white. Those who were excluded were: racial and colored minorities, religious groups, young adults, the rich and the poor. They were not considered human beings in the early modern legal system. The Industrial Revolution was also part of the backdrop to women's right to vote. All these concerns did not concern..