My Writing Samples
At a time when women’s rights were not of importance or relevance, the world was at battle with a different set of rights…the equal rights of slaves as human beings. In 1840, the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention in London was the main focus of the public. According to Jim R. McClellan’s book “Changing Interpretations of America’s Past,” many delegates from around the world answered to the need of such a convention to deal with the “liberty and equality of all men held in human bondage.” When planning this convention, the organizers had no idea that they would be accommodating antislavery societies that included women. Their plans only incorporated delegations that included male abolitionists. Little did they know that the delegation from the United States would include eight women.
The Americans viewed women as viable abolitionists of slavery. Throughout the United States, women had played a major part in the campaign to abolish slavery and create equal rights for slaves. The Americans believed that it was the woman’s right to serve as a delegate in the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention in London, but the men in London thought otherwise. After a long and drawn out discussion over the women’s place in the convention, “the delegates who had come from around the world to discuss the urgency and justice of human freedom voted to exclude women from their meeting.” It was with much irony that the women were excluded from the meeting because the very men that were fighting to grant equality to the slaves were denying it to their own wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters.
Although the women were not allowed to be present in the meeting, they were allowed to listen from behind a curtained room on the balcony above the proceedings. The women had to be out of sight and out of mind for the men to continue with their meeting. The women had to sit in complete silence.
Two of the female delegates happened to be Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who would later become two of the major players in the Seneca Falls Convention, which was one of the earliest gatherings for women’s rights in the United States. The women that traveled to the convention were there to fight for the freedom of blacks, but in the process they realized that the male half of society was also oppressing them. Born from this anti-slavery meeting was the idea that women could revolutionize the status of their gender, and this is exactly what Mott and Stanton were determined to do.
It took a while for the women to organize and plan their movement for the convention. Eight years passed before they finally implemented their decision by organizing a local event that would soon launch a national women’s rights movement in America. The organizers of this meeting would soon find out how difficult and time consuming their journey would be. They had no idea that even after their convention, the ideas and thoughts expressed during these two days would last a lifetime, and continue to influence and inspire women in the generations to come.
McClellan’s “First Impressions” explains the beginnings and reasons for the Seneca Falls Convention. To start things off, Mott and Stanton put an advertisement in the Seneca County Courier on July 14, 1848. The advertisement stated that “a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious rights of women, will be held in the Wesleyan Chapel, at Seneca Falls, N.Y., on Wednesday and Thursday, the nineteenth and twentieth of July, current; commencing at 10 o’clock A.M. During the first day the meeting will be exclusively for women, who are earnestly invited to attend. The public generally are invited to be present on the second day, when Lucretia Mott, of Philadelphia, and other ladies and gentlemen, will address the convention.” By putting out such an article, Mott and Stanton invited and insisted that women, as well as men, come to the convention in order to hear the complaints and grievances of other women.
On July 19, 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton gave her address to the men and women present at the convention. At this time, men were the only ones that were experienced in public speaking therefore Stanton was not very educated in the area of speech. Although she was not experienced in this field, she felt that only a woman communicate “the height, the depth, the length, and the breadth of her own degradation.” According to Stanton, the question of Women’s Rights was among the highest of the many important questions brought to the public that dealt with the human family. She believed that God put man and woman here on this earth to compliment each other and to enjoy the earth together, because it was as much her home as it was his. Stanton stated that “having the same sense of right and wrong, and looking to the same Being for guidance and support,” men and women should have the same rights. Both were made by God to live under God, and there was no reason why the two should be separated.
Stanton discussed the ways in which man thought that he was superior to women. Men were thought to be intellectually superior to women but Stanton believed that “man’s intellectual superiority cannot be a question until woman has had a fair trial.” What she meant by this was that women could not be considered inferior until they were considered period. Man was also thought to be of moral superiority also. In Stanton’s opinion, man “is infinitely woman’s inferior in every moral quality.” Man’s selfishness makes him a less moral character because he stunts the growth of women. Men believed that it was a woman’s place to deny herself and suffer for the well being of her husband, and not herself. Women held “the noble virtues of a martyr” because they did practice self-denial and suffering. According to the male half of society, “God has made woman more self-denying than man. It is her nature. It does not cost her as much to give up her wishes, her will, her life, even, as it does him. He is naturally selfish. God made him so.”
Stanton’s beliefs were that “God’s commands rest upon man as well as woman” and she intended for both to have the same code of morals. Males were also believed to be physically superior, but Stanton reversed this by saying that “We cannot say what the women might be physically, if the girl were allowed the freedom of the boy in romping, climbing, swimming, playing whoop and ball…Physically, as well as intellectually, it is use that produces growth and development.”
In closing, Stanton declared that they were only present to be free as man was free and to be represented in the government which they were taxed to support. She ended with a statement designed to demand their right to vote.
The overall business of the convention was to separate the woman from her husband and his rule. Seventeenth-century British jurist Sir Edward Coke wrote, “Husband and wife are one in the law, and the husband is that one.” Women were sick and tired of their decisions being made by their husbands, brothers, sons, and fathers. They wanted their own voice in the government. Among many other things, women were not allowed to own property, attend colleges, sit on juries, and it was thought improper for a woman to hold opinions on political matters. The main goal being worked towards at the convention was the removal of the social, religious, and political restraints that kept women from rising to their full potential as human beings.
Many agreements and resolutions were made during the two days at Seneca Falls that declared “that it is the duty of the women of this country to secure themselves the sacred right to the elective franchise.” Over and above the many resolutions made, the convention participants approved the Declaration of Sentiments that was written by Cady Stanton. “This document has served as a blueprint for the women’s movement from that day to this.” The Declaration of Sentiments was mainly a list of reasons women needed to be recognized with more equal rights. It was a lengthy explanation of the ways in which their male counterparts degraded women. In this declaration, Cady Stanton stated that women felt aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights. She explained that they “insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States.”
As expected by the women of the convention, the press ridiculed and misrepresented their desires to become more equal parts of society. The Public Ledger and Daily Transcript stated, “A woman is nothing. A wife is everything.” Other journals such as the Mechanic’s Advocate were “sorry to see that the women in several parts of this State are holding what they call ‘Women’s Rights Conventions,’ and setting forth a formidable list of those Rights in a parody upon the Declaration of Independence.” Many writers poked fun at the idea that women should be equal counterparts to men, but there was one in particular that somewhat agreed with the women of the Seneca Falls Convention, but added their own twist to the convention. The Rochester Democrat supported the idea that men and women should switch roles, or at least learn more about each other’s societal rank. This writer believed that men should stay at home from time to time, and women should do all of the masculine work for a change.
In reply to all of the press attention, Cady Stanton called such writers ignorant because they were writing about a subject that they knew nothing about. They were changing the appearance of the convention from a women’s rights meeting to a battle of the sexes. Stanton replied “We did not meet to discuss fashions, customs, or dress, the rights of men or the propriety of the sexes changing positions, but simply our own inalienable rights, our duties, our true sphere.”
The second half of McClellan’s chapter on the Seneca Falls Convention, Second Thoughts, he discusses the outcome of the convention and the ways in which it has affected generations that have come and gone since the time of the women’s rights meeting. Many progressions have been made since the days of Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Women have gained numerous rights and are more and more accepted as man’s equal rather than his footstool.
The Seneca Falls Convention led to many other women’s rights conventions throughout the United States. One specific convention was that of the Akron (Ohio) women’s convention on May 29, 1851 at which Sojourner Truth, a former slave, spoke. In her address to the women of the convention she said, “If de fust woman God ever made was strong enough to turn de world upside down all alone, dese women togedder ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now dey is asking to do it, de men better let ‘em.” Sojourner Truth was convinced that women were powerful enough to get the world back together, not necessarily with women on top of things, but just equal to the men.
On March 25, 1888, forty years after the meeting of the Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton gathered with a large group of women “to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the first organized demand made by women for the right of suffrage.” In a speech that she gave on that day she said, “Believing self-denial a higher virtue than self-development, they ignorantly made ladders of themselves by which fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons reached their highest ambitions, creating an impassable gulf between them and those they loved that no magnetic chords of affection or gratitude could span.” Stanton was speaking of how women were the stepping-stones to the success of their male family members. Never was it the female that was succeeding, but rather suffering from the success of her loved ones.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton looked back on the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 as a huge success in the civil rights of women. Due to her and many other women, females were granted many of their God given rights that were previously denied them. It was truly the first organized convention that had ever been seen, and the most momentous protest against the injustice that had been inflicted on the character and destiny of women for years.
According to Barbara Welter’s article, “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860,” women were not only requesting equal rights, but also a release from the cult of true womanhood. The virtues of True Womanhood were piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. If women abided by these four values, they were guaranteed happiness, but this was not true for some women. Many women were tired of being complacent and wanted a change. We see the beginning of these changes with the Seneca Falls Convention. “The True Woman evolved into the New Woman—a transformation as starling in its way as the abolition of slavery or the coming of the machine age.” Women were no longer accepting their “duties” as housewives, and were searching for more adventurous ways of living. This spark created the movement of women’s rights conventions and rallies around the world.
On July 19, 1848, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton started a trend. A permanent trend. Because of these two women and their amazing journey called the Seneca Falls Convention, women across the world will always search for more in their lives. Women will always want the equal rights of men, as they should. According to Carrie Chapman Catt and Nettie Rogers Shuler, “Never in all history did so small a beginning produce so great an effect in so short a time.”
Works Cited
McClellan, Jim R. “The Seneca Falls Convention.” Changing Interpretations of America’s
Past. Second Edition. Dushkin/McGraw-Hill. 2000 286-299
Some Change Please…But Not Too Much
How lenient has America become with television and film? Are we really accepting change in our daily television shows and movies? Television and film have always been a major source of how the American people view the differences between males and females. Susan Douglas addresses the approaches that are taken in portraying these differences in her essay “Signs of Intelligent Life on TV.” Douglas analyzes a group of television shows that demonstrate a feminist and antifeminist demeanor, and she also concentrates on the traditional and untraditional ways in which the male character is evolving. Douglas’ main focus is on the “bias against strong, professional women,” which is often seen in TV and film (260). Many images in TV and film today show “strong, accomplished women” who are independent and powerful, and yet they still “take a backseat to the boys” (Douglas 260, 262). Douglas accurately comments on the underdeveloped female characters and the evolving nature of the male characters that are illustrated in the images of modern TV and film. As seen in the film Miss Congeniality, women are making huge steps in furthering their presence on the big screen, but they are still supported by the male character, and the male characters are increasingly moving into more untraditional roles but at the same time they are also maintaining their conventional backgrounds.
Although Douglas does not mention any films, they are not exempt from the statements made in her essay. One such film that follows along the lines of Douglas’ opinion and displays both a feminist and antifeminist portrayal of women, and also a traditional and untraditional portrayal of men is Miss Congeniality. In this film, Sandra Bullock’s character Grace Hart illustrates a two-sided view of women because she plays a cop that goes undercover as a contestant in a Miss USA pageant to find a serial bomber. Hart’s situation with the beauty pageant is a lot like Douglas’ example of an episode of Chicago Hope in which “a psychiatrist prevails upon a female nurse to dress up like Dorothy (ruby slippers, pigtails, and all) because a patient refusing surgery is a Wizard of Oz junkie” (262). In this example, the psychiatrist has no concern in the fact that the nurse would be humiliated by this act. Just the same, Hart’s peer police officers beg her to take the assignment because she is the only one that has the looks to pull it off. Hart takes the assignment because she wants to keep the contestants in the pageant from any danger that may come their way. Her humiliation does not even cross the minds of her male co-workers. Hart is now made into an adaptable character that can do her job though she may face ridicule. By making Hart a versatile character, viewers are convinced that females can maintain a high status in both worlds.
Following in the footsteps of Douglas’ “theory,” Miss Congeniality places Bullock’s character Hart between the feminist and antifeminist modes. In the beginning of the movie, Hart is shown in her childhood years. While on the playground one day, Hart witnesses a little boy being beaten up, and her tomboy exterior acts on the feminine instincts inside of her to take care of and protect the little boy by beating up his bullies. The little boy shows that his pride is obviously hurt when he says to Hart, “Now everybody thinks I need a girl to fight for me.” Another example of Hart’s mixture of caring nature and her tough exterior is shown in the next scene of the film. In this scene, Hart is working undercover in a restaurant to bust three men with illegal business, when one of the men begins to choke. While holding a gun pointed at the choking man, Hart suddenly loses her police-like instincts and performs the Heimlich maneuver on him. In doing so, she causes a riot and a police officer is shot. The undercover plan goes haywire because of Hart’s simple need to save the man’s life. It is left for the male police officers to clean up the mess that Hart made by following her feminine instincts. This is where Douglas would step in and say that no matter what women do they are always the “weaker sex” (262).
Hart is seen as a strong and independent cop, but at the same time her independence is weakened by her need for help from the male characters. Douglas states that “We see female cops, lawyers, doctors, and administrators, who are smart, efficient, and successful. But in too many ways, the women take a backseat to the boys” (262). What she means by this is that no matter how much women claim that they can do things by themselves, they eventually seek help from men. This proves a negative antifeminist stereotype that women cannot fend for themselves. Douglas also points out that “On the surface, these shows seem good for women” (262). Douglas makes a good point here that the tough exterior and racy jobs that women in television and film portray are only a type of cover up that makes us think that women are moving into higher positions on the food chain of careers.
Women were not the only sex addressed in Douglas’ essay. She also discussed the traditional male characters and how these roles are changing. The male characters in this film range from a “by the book” cop to a homosexual stylist, which paints the picture of traditional vs. untraditional male characters and how this role is changing. Benjamin Bratt’s character, Eric Matthews, represents what we see as the All-American Man, displaying characteristics of masculinity and sexuality, but maintaining a traditional image. In the beginning of the film, Matthews is seen as a sexist womanizer who cares nothing about the women that he is involved with, but towards the end he softens up and seems to become a more sensitive character although he doesn’t lose his overconfidence towards sex. There is an obvious sexual attraction between Hart and Matthews, but it is not actually shown until the end of the movie when he asks her on a date in which she replies, “Are you asking me on a date?” and he says “No, just a casual dinner. If we happen to have sex afterwards, so be it.” This shows how men can become more sensitive, but at the same time they still maintain their masculine way of thinking. Douglas says that television and film “depict(s) “real men” being feminized for the better […]” and a direct example of this is how Matthews changed into a more sensitive man (263).
This film not only focuses on men in the traditional form, but also in an untraditional manner. In this film, Michael Caine’s character Victor Melling is a homosexual pageant sponsor who takes on the responsibility of transforming Grace Hart into the Miss USA contestant “Gracie Lou Freebush.” Throughout the movie, “Vic”, as he is called by Hart, is constantly flirting with officer Matthews. Not only does his homosexual side come out in his flirting with Matthews, but also in the way that he is able to train Hart in becoming more of a lady. It is shown that Vic can teach Hart more about how a woman should carry herself than a female could. This illustrates how Vic’s homosexual character strays from the traditional character such as Matthews. It seems as though viewers are becoming more accustomed to this type of character because they are seen as “helpers” and not someone that can harm or affect someone’s sexuality.
Women and men in today’s television and film are making strong efforts to find a happy medium between the extremes of feminism and antifeminism, and traditional and untraditional characters. More women are seen as male oriented characters such as Sandra Bullock’s character in Miss Congeniality, and more males are being accepted as homosexuals because of films such as this in which Michael Caine’s homosexual character is balanced out by the testosterone of Benjamin Bratt’s character and vice versa. Viewers are pleased with the images of today’s TV and film because it allows a difference in life that they may not normally be accustomed to. They want to keep tradition but spice it up a little with the things that are not considered normal and yet not taboo. While women are placed in higher regard in TV and film, they are also “put in their places”, so to speak, by the actions that they take. Men are continually changing and evolving into different characters, and more actors are “opening the closet door” just wide enough for viewers to get a little peek. These things amuse viewers because it allows them to live out a life through others that they wouldn’t dare explore themselves.