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The Highway to Equality: The Struggles and Triumphs of the Journey of

Women’s Rights Movements

One of the deadliest industrial accidents in U.S. history, the Triangle Shirtwaist

Factory fire, redefined the hierarchy of society. The fire broke out in a garment sweatshop in

which most of the employees were young women. Resulting in the death of 146 workers, the

incident revealed the harsh and unsafe working conditions of workers, predominantly young

women in this case. The fire is a prime example of the intensified reforms and the growing

recognition of women’s rights. This devastating event had a profound impact on women’s

labor conditions, which further advocated labor reforms and inspired movements for

women’s rights. The nineteenth and early twentieth century was a time where social

movements forever changed women’s role in society. Restricted by social and traditional

norms, women often found themselves facing injustice, inequality and exclusion. This period

of reform changed the status of women in society and reshaped the future of women’s lives.

Women have long suffered from degradation and prejudicial treatment, and social movements

during 1800~1940 have brought a transformative impact on women's role in society,

considering three main aspects: labor experiences, the right of suffrage and family roles. This

essay aims to explore how the path of reformation led to the reshape of women’s role in

society and the great change in gender dynamics.

Working class women of the period faced economic disparities and gender limitations

in comparison to men and women of higher class. Bessie van Vorst and Marie van Vorst

described their daily encounter with working class women in the The Woman Who Toils:

Being the Experiences of Two Ladies as Factory Girls, 1903, “Their conversation is vulgar

and prosaic; there is nothing in the language they use that suggests an ideal or any conception

of the abstract”(Document 1). Further described in a song, The Rebel Girl, by Joe Hill,

“Some are living in beautiful mansions, and are wearing the finest of clothes. There are blue
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blood queens and princesses, who have charms made of diamonds and pearl”(Document 10).

These documents reveal the large differences between higher class women and working class

women in the aspects of education and living conditions. While working class women faced

limitations in terms of wages, working opportunities and living conditions. Higher class

women, on the other hand, enjoyed the privilege of education, luxurious lifestyles, social

status, and even women’s suffrage. Higher class women were shielded from the harsh

realities of the working force while working class women struggled everyday to barely meet

their basic needs. Meanwhile, men enjoyed prevailing gender disparity. Gender inequality

was significant during the period and women were often restricted to gender norms. The

song, Bread and Rose, reveals the distinct difference between men and women, especially

working class women, where the song goes, “As we go marching, marching. We battle too for

men. For they are women's children. And we mother them again”(Document 10). The author

describes men as children as women have to do the dirty work and take care of them. This

reveals a break in the thinking of traditional norms, in which most tend to believe that men

are usually the one doing all the hard work and providing for the family, while in this case,

the author argues the opposite. In which they argue that women are the one taking care of

men and that men are like children and women act as their mother. Women were still often

tied to domestic jobs due to traditional gender roles despite also having to contribute to the

family income. This can be further emphasized in the van Vorst sister’s narrative where they

wrote. “What, I wonder to myself, do them ne do on scrubbing day. I try to picture one of

them on his hands and knees in a sea of brown mud. It is impossible”(Document 1). Gender

norms had such a profound impact on society that the thought of men performing domestic

responsibilities were almost impossible to imagine. Which is why social movements for

women’s rights in this period played such an important role in reforming women’s labor

conditions. The divergence in education, working and living conditions between working
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class women and men and higher class women during this period reveals the necessity of

transformative social movements to address the issue of inequality and disparities.

Mostly employed in factories, working class women suffered from fatigue and

challenging living conditions. Facing harsh working conditions, it was no surprise that most

women were overworked and exhausted, in which many were compelled to compensate for

family incomes and had to work during the day while taking care of domestic duties at the

same time. Highlighted in the same document, the van Vorst sisters described the working life

of lower class women as “suffering and anxiety in homes of squalor and ugliness” and she

also describes themselves as “the protectors between you and the labor that must be done to

satisfy your material demands”(Document 1). Bessie and Marie’s narrative captures the

struggles of these women that endured horrendous working conditions that demanded

extraordinary physical and mental tasks. Furthermore, the van Vorst sister’s narrative also

illustrates the issue of low wages for these women. Women were mostly relegated to lower

paying jobs in association with gender discrimination. As the sisters described a weekly

routine for working class women, “They hurry along delighted at the cheapness of a bargain,

little dreaming of the human effort that has produced it, the cost of life and energy it

represents”(Document 1). The document emphasizes the meager wages and economic

challenges that made it difficult for them to meet the basic needs in life, which further leads

to lower living conditions. Exhausted, underpaid, and considering all the discriminations

mentioned in the previous paragraph, all of these factors fueled the rise of working class

women’s voices which developed into social movements that advocated labor reforms for

women. Through rebels, unions, and chants, women started to fight for their own liberty and

equality. In the Rebel Girl by Joe Hill, the song goes, “Yes, her hands may be hardened from

labor. And her dress may not be very fine. But a heart in her bosom is beating. That is true to

her class and her kind.” And in the song, the Union Maid, by Woody Guthrie, “Get you a man
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who's a union man and fight together for liberty. 'Cause married life ain't hard if you got a

union card. And a union man has a happy life if he's got a union wife”(Document 10). The

rising of feminism and labor movements during this period advocated for better working

conditions, higher wages, and shorter working hours. Events such as the Triangle Shirtwaist

Factory fire previously mentioned had a profound impact on encouraging labor reforms and

movements for women’s rights. Such social movements and feminism encouraged women to

participate in labor reforms that further resulted in greater working conditions, equality and

the gaining of financial independence.

The 19th and early 20th century was a transformative period where women’s right to

vote gained momentum and reached a significant milestone. Following up with the advocacy

of gender equality, the right to vote became a growing concern during the period. As women

were confined to gender norms, the idea that women should gain suffrage and participate in

political matters faced significant opposition. Arguments for and against suffrage became a

heated debate that flew across countries and newspapers. In Janes Addams speech on

women’s rights, she stated that, “The problems of our time will be solved only when all of the

best minds, conscience and talent in the community are brought to their solution”(Document

16). As there are growing opportunities for women's education, Addams argues that society

cannot be preserved other than “by the co-operation of men and women in

government”(Document 16). For the betterment of society, women should be given the equal

right to vote. In a debate pushing for equal rights to the Constitution of the United States,

Alice Paul argues that “The amendment would override all existing legislation which denies

women Equal Rights with men and would render invalid every future attempt on the part of

any legislators or administrators to interfere with these rights”(Document 19). While in this

failed attempt in this debate, we could also gain an insight on the opposing arguments. Mary

Van Kleeck stated in the Arguing against the ERA, “We hold that besides being unnecessary,
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it is dangerous because its vagueness jeopardizes what we have and indefinitely retard what

we have still to gain”(Document 19). And in an anti-suffrage flyer, in which they argue that

“Because the women suffrage movement is a backward step in the progress of civilization, in

that it seeks to efface natural differentiation of function, and to produce identity instead of

division of labor”(Document 21). Many of both men and women opposed the idea of

women’s suffrage due to various reasons. Many clung to traditional gender norms where they

believed that women were not emotionally or intellectually capable of making political

decisions and that they can’t uphold this responsibility. A significant portion of the opposition

argued that women lacked understanding and awareness in politics. Having most women

haven’t accepted decent education, also stated in the anti-suffrage flyer, “Men have always

been in politics, women, never, and it is going to take years of careful and serious study for

women to catch up and go ahead of men”(Document 21). Considering various factors, the

opponents came to the conclusion that giving women the right to vote is a threat to social

stability and that it is “a backward step in the progress of civilization”(Document 21). In

1920, the passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution granted women

the right to vote. This topic was a significant milestone to the transformation of women’s

rights, and suffragists were able to dismantle deeply engraved social norms and give women

the opportunity to actively participate in political matters.

The rights of suffrage were not only specified for American women, as suffrage

became a growing issue of equality, women of different nationalities and other races

advocated for the equal right to vote. While significant progress has been made in securing

women's suffrage, women from marginalized communities still face barriers such as cultural

disparities and racial discriminations. Once again, Janes Addams argued in her speech on

women’s voting rights, “Foreign-born women in my neighborhood are always asking me why

women do not vote at municipal elections in Chicago, as they do in so many of the countries
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from which they come -- England, Ireland, Scandinavia, etc. I am at a loss how to answer

them”(Document 16). Addams argues that while other nations have granted women the right

to vote, America was too clung to traditional norms and they “cannot get away from that old

idea”(Document 16). She believes that if America insists on traditional norms, it was only a

matter of time that society was going to fall apart as she said was already happening. On the

other hand, black women faced racial discrimination. Fights for black women’s suffrage was

a distinctive social movement as black women were not only challenged by gender norms but

also confronted long standing racism. As Mary Church Terrell proposed her argument on

racism in Women Suffrage and the 15th Amendment, The Crisis, “But how can any one who

is able to use reason, and who believes in dealing out justice to all God's creatures, think it is

right to withhold from one-half the human race rights and privileges freely accorded to the

other half, which is neither more deserving nor more capable of exercising them?”(Document

20). She emphasizes the racial discrimination between black and white women and stated

that racial prejudice shouldn’t exist not only in the contexts of suffrage, but all in society in

general. Other documents such as Nannie Burroughs take on suffrage for African-American

women on The Crisis, where she believes that black women are as capable of holding the

right to vote as others and the society and the nation will improve as a whole, “The world has

yet to learn that the Negro woman is quite superior in bearing moral responsibility”

(Document 18). She also believes that black women’s suffrage is a step towards confronting

racial discrimination because it elevates black women’s status in society as she asserted that,

“The ballot, wisely used, will bring to her the respect and protection that she needs. It is her

weapon of moral defense”(Document 18). To conclude, the fight for foreign and black

women’s rights to vote was a significant path towards fighting against both cultural

disparities and racial discrimination.

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Women were bounded to societal norms in taking responsibility of domestic duties.

As talked about in previous paragraphs, lower working class women were double tasked with

managing the household while also contributing to family incomes. Binded with gender

expectations, women were compelled to cleaning, cooking, and childcare. While on the other

hand, men enjoyed the privilege of prevailing gender disparity and the role of head of the

family. Women were restricted to family on many aspects and the rise of social movements

and feminism brought a transformative change to the evolving roles of women in families.

“Ideal home life, indeed! The woman, instead of being the household queen, told about in

story books, is the servant, the mistress, and the slave of both husband and children”

(Document 22). Emma Goldman described the life of housewives in What is There in

Anarchism for Women? 1897. She argues that women were just like slaves as they had no

sense of freedom or equality that they deserve. The rise of feminism and new ideologies

brought a profound impact on women’s role in the patriarchal family structure. Edna Kenton

challenged gender stereotypes in The Delinerator as she believes that feminism “is her

conscious attempt to realize Personality; to make her own decisions instead of having them

made for her; to sink the old humbled or rebelling slave in the new creature who is mistress

of herself”(Document 26). She proposed the idea of breaking free from societal norms and

gaining their rightful independence. She believes that women are not only confronted with

gender expectations, but they were also forced “to act, not according to their instincts of what

was right for them, but according to what others said was right for them”(Document 26). She

encourages women to strive for feminism and the freedom they deserve. Various feminist

movements pushed the ongoing efforts of reevaluating traditional gender roles and striving

for greater gender equality as well as the transformation of women's roles within the family.

With the advocacy of gender equality within the family, the rights to birth control

drew the attention of women and feminist movements. With the lack of independence,
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information and the pressure of social norms, it resulted in women with uncontrollable birth

with disproportionate responsibility of childcare. Written from a doctor’s point of view,

Margaret Sanger viewed the lack of contraception as the “root of evil” to the “density of

mothers whose miseries were vast as the sky”(Document 11). She highlights in The Story of

Sadie Sachs, 1938, women desired for knowledge and access to birth control, many of which

even were willing to pay extra to “reveal the ‘secret’ rich people had”(Document 11). This

document illuminates the scarcity of information on birth control. In which due to the lack of

information, women were not able to make informed decisions on their reproductive health

and birth control. Furthermore, one of the most radical feminist voices, Crystal Eastman,

proposed that birth control is one of the center ideas of feminism. As she wrote in Birth

Control in the Feminism Program, she asserts that “ the whole structure of the feminist's

dream of society rests upon the rapid extension of scientific knowledge about birth

control”(Document 25). She critiques society’s lack of knowledge on contraception and sex

education. Which she argues that, “We want this precious sex knowledge not just for

ourselves, the conscious feminists; we want it for all the millions of unconscious feminists

that swarm the earth,—we want it for all women”(Document 25). She urges women to strive

for sexual freedom, sexual knowledge, and control over birth. The advocacy for reproductive

rights and access to contraception became central ideas of feminism. And social movements

encouraged women to gain sexual freedom and independence, which brought a significant

impact on the elevation of women’s roles in the family.

1800~1940 was a period where reform forever changed the status of women in

society. Having long suffered from degradation and prejudicial treatment, this period of

reformation was a time of dramatic change for women’s rights. Social movements advocated

for greater gender equality on many aspects. Women participated in labor reforms which

strived for better working conditions, financial independence and equality in the workforce.
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Suffrage movements gained significant momentum and women of different races and

nationalities strived for the equal rights to vote and actively participate in political matters.

Women were restricted to gender norms and were responsible for domestic duties, where

feminism and reforms encouraged women to gain independence and greater access to birth

control. This period of reformation had led to a profound impact on women’s role in society

and paved the foundation of a more egalitarian society.

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Works Cited

Lampe, Evan. “Documents on the history of American Women, 1880-1940.”

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p59a6UkyGAeqFvlnHwPNAr_MTEEw9HbF/vi

ew. Accessed 15 Jan. 2024.