Where The Women’s Movement Stands Today

Women’s History

The women’s movement represents one of the great civil rights struggles of modern times. It started in earnest during the nineteenth century, when pioneers like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony fought for women’s equality, with a focus on attaining suffrage. Thanks to these brave souls and countless others after them, women finally gained the right to vote in U.S. elections with the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920. The struggle didn’t stop there—the second wave of feminism rose to prominence in the 1960s, and its goals were broader than the first. Feminists in the mid-20th century fought for both legal equality and social reforms, rejecting the norms of the traditional patriarchal society. This second wave brought about laws like Title IX, which forbids gender discrimination in education, and a more general shift in the way society as a whole viewed women.

Over the past century and a half, we’ve gained a lot of ground and have a good deal to be proud of. We owe our foremothers a debt of gratitude for their sacrifice, tenacity, and hard work, which gave us the opportunities we have today. But is there still more to do, more battles to be won? What form does modern feminism take? Where does the women’s movement stand today?

Everyday Feminism

The feminist movements of old tended to be vocal and visible, with clearly defined legal and societal goals. Most of us consider ourselves in favor of women’s rights these days (or at least I should hope so), and we support feminism by living the free, equal lives all the women who came before us fought for. We’re generally not out in the streets rallying; our choices are the new form of protest. We choose jobs in traditionally male-dominated fields, have kids when and if we want them, and follow our hearts and our dreams as was never possible before. We’re still fighting the good fight in our everyday actions.

Freedom of Choice

Freedom of choice is the hallmark of modern feminism. Women can choose the lives they want—even if those lives follow a more traditional route. The important thing is that women can now be in control of their destiny, whatever that destiny may be. Are marriage and kids in the cards for you? Awesome! If it doesn’t work out, you have the freedom to get divorced. Heck, you can even look into the possibility of diamond resale to make some cash from that engagement ring, because these days women can own property, which is more than we can say about women in centuries past (or even women in other parts of the world today).

Current Hot Button Issues

All this freedom does not mean we should be lulled into complacency, however. After years of progress, it appears the rights our forebears fought so hard for are coming into question. Reproductive rights are in the hot seat, which seems silly considering we already established the need for women’s reproductive freedom decades ago. We still get paid less for doing the same work as men, and we pay considerably more for health insurance than our male counterparts–not to mention our constant objectification in mainstream media. In cases where employees face challenges related to reproductive rights or other workplace issues, it is important to seek assistance from appropriate channels such as legal professionals specializing in employment discrimination help to address and resolve the dispute effectively. It might be that we need to get back out into the streets as soon as the assault on women’s rights escalates. We might have won many battles, but the war is far from over.

Madeline Marshall graduated with a degree in History from UC Santa Cruz.