THE FIRST WAVE (1830’S – EARLY 1900’S):
1)
Introduction
a. Organized
activity from 2nd half of 19th century
b.
USA and Britain
c. Origin:
i.
The wave formally began at the
Seneca Falls Convention in N.Y 1848, when 300 men and women rallied to the
cause of equality for women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton (d.1902) drafted the Seneca
Falls Declaration outlining the new movement's ideology and political
strategies followed by the passage of 12 resolutions relating to women’s
rights. Advent of bloomers and dress reforms.
ii.
At that convention a Declaration
of Sentiments was issued, objecting to the following:**
¨
1. Women were not allowed to vote.
¨
2. Women had to submit to laws when they had no
voice in their formation.
¨
3. Married women had no property
rights (and 90% of women over 25 were married at that time.)
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4. Husbands had legal power over
and responsibility for their wives to the extent that they could imprison or
beat them with impunity.
¨
5. Divorce and child custody laws favored men,
giving no rights to women.
¨
6. Women had to pay property
taxes although they had no representation in the levying of these taxes.
¨
7. Most occupations were closed
to women and when women did work they were paid only a fraction of what men
earned.
¨
8. Women were not allowed to enter professions such
as medicine or law.
¨
9. Women had no means to gain an
education since no college or university would accept women students.
¨
10. With only a few exceptions,
women were not allowed to participate in the affairs of the church.
¨
11. Women were robbed of their
self-confidence and self-respect, and were made totally dependent on men.
d.
They were not primarily concerned
with the problems of working-class women, nor did they necessarily see
themselves as feminists in the modern sense (the term was not coined until
1895).
e.
They realized that they must
first gain political power (including the right to vote) to bring about change.
