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Madellin L. Gutierrez

English 112

Professor Andrew Rowan

It has been said that women hold half the sky, but throughout most of the history of the

women were considered second class citizens. Throughout most of history, a women`s role was

always being second fiddle to men. Yet women have always fought for their autonomy, and they

yet continue to fight. The women’s suffrage movement was a phenomenon that never ended. It

continued with the sexual revolution and it still continues with the wage gap.

Women were still considered properties of men

In the Declaration of Sentiments, was one of the most intriguing sentences written by

Stanton was, “(man) “has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead” (Stanton et al,

1848). This sentence was referencing that married women were governed by their husbands

through a legal system known as, Coverture. Coverture regarded that a woman would give up

her rights and existence, those would be represented by the husband. The husband would

therefore represent her, “Her rights were “covered” by her husband who, in principle,

represented her interests in both political and economic domains. As Blackstone (legal

commentator) describes, “[b]y marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law” and “the

very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended.” (Arch, Bergner, and McCammon,

2014). This would translate into women not being able to have an existence without their

husband’s consent. Any possessions that the women obtained were not even hers that would

include the clothes on their backs and even children. This legal system is one of the examples of
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how they can be considered as dead. Not being able to legally exist, their legacy and

accomplishments were inextricably tied to the husband, “Married women could not own

property, neither real estate nor personal property, they could not enter into contracts and had no

right to sue. Any property or wealth acquired before or during marriage, through inheritance,

gift, purchase, or earned income, became a husband’s possession, to legally own and manage”

(Arch, Bergner, and McCammon, 2014). This fight would be one of the most tumultuous one’s

because since marriage property right are considered state issues, women would have to

campaign to each state to change these marriage property rights. The right to exist as a married

women, and to be able to live would take 115 years. The next right is one of the most important

ones, the right to vote.

Women were not allowed to vote

The right to vote were exclusively given to white males during the early 1800’s. After the

civil war the 14th and 15th amendments were introduced to extend voting rights and citizenship to

previously enslaved men. Women gained the right to vote with the 19th amendment in 1920.

Obtaining the right to vote was the first piece of the puzzle for women’s equality because that

was never enough. Now women had to fight other battles. The next battle would be the choice of

when to have sex and with whom they would have it.

The Sexual Revolution

The Sexual revolution upended the sexual lives of both men and women. Women became

independent and liberated, the contraceptive pill gave people a choice to fulfill their sexual lives,

and sex was everywhere. From magazines to television, sex became a prevalent and seen force

throughout the United States. The key to the sexual revolution and liberation was women being
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able to make a choice on their sexual lives, “A number of experts accept this relaxed attitude

toward sex outside of relationships as a natural consequence of the sexual revolution, women's

growing independence and the availability of modern contraceptives” (Wilson). Due to women

having ownership of their own bodies women’s’ roles began to morph. Women were no longer

bound and forced to tend to children. They could begin roam the world and bask in their sexual

desires before they made a choice to marry or have children; or to even have those things at all.

“The sexual revolution was a good thing. It has allowed people to remove the shackles of

repressive, puritanical morality and experience freedom. People are sexual beings, and they need to

explore their sexuality when they feel ready, without fear of guilt or shame.” (Boehi). Sexual

liberation became an important theme for the sexual revolution, being able to choose when to

engage in sexual relations or even to engage in sexual relations is an important aspect of it. It is

important to note that the sexual revolution led to many other types of movements as well, “If not

for women’s self-determined sexual liberation, the sexual revolution might have been another

unremarkable episode in the long and varied sexual history of humankind. Instead, with the

impetus the sexual revolution gave to a new feminism and a movement for gay liberation”

(Cohen). Women were starting to be a sexually equal gender and they were able to discuss the

same topics as men had done in the past. Women began to dominate the timing and the flow of

sex, they had sex when they wanted to, wherever they wanted to and with whomever they wanted

to. The Sexual revolution changed the sexual lives of both men and women. Women became

independent and liberated, the key to the sexual revolution and liberation was women being able to

make a choice on their sexual lives.

The Wage Gap

The wage gap has been has always been a problem. It is difficult to measure because it is

attributed to many different factors, “those factors are difficult to measure, including gender

discrimination, and may also contribute to the ongoing wage discrepancy. In a 2017 Pew Research

Center survey, about four-in-ten working women (42%) said they had experienced gender

discrimination at work, compared with about two-in-ten men (22%). One of the most commonly

reported forms of discrimination focused on earnings inequality” (Barroso and Brown, 2021).

Women have always gotten the short end of the stick. The fact that they are considered to be the

primary caretakers of the home and that they have to take time off if any of them wish to become

mothers. To those that do, it comes at a costs because some companies may not even have a

maternity leave policy, if they do they may pay a fraction of the women`s salary, and their

maternity leave may only be 3-4 months, “Mothers were also nearly twice as likely as fathers to

say taking time off had a negative impact on their job or career. Among those who took leave from

work in the two years following the birth or adoption of their child, 25% of women said this had a

negative impact at work, compared with 13% of men” (Barroso and Brown, 2021). It is

embarrassing that women to this day still have to fight to be equal to men.

Women continue to fight for their opportunities and rights. It is astonishing learning what

Women have gone through and yet continue to go through. From being able to separate

themselves and exist, to fight for their right to have a voice in their country, to still fighting for

an opportunity to be valued at the same rate of men. These examples are a fraction to the struggle

that women have had to endure and that they continue to endure. All of this tells me that women

do not actually hold half the sky but rather the whole world.
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Works Cited

Barroso, Amanda, Brown, Ana. “Gender pay gap in U.S. held steady in 2020” N.p, 2021 Web

May 25, 2021 https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/25/gender-pay-gap-facts/

Boehi, Dave. "Casualties of the Sexual Revolution." Casualties of the Sexual Revolution. N.p.,

2008. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.

Cohen, Nancy. "How the Sexual Revolution Changed America Forever." Alternet. N.p., 5 Feb.

2012. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

McCammon, Holly J., et al. “A Radical Demand Effect: Early US Feminists and the Married

Women’s Property Acts.” Social Science History, vol. 38, no. 1–2, Cambridge University Press,

2014, pp. 221–50, http://www.jstor.org/stable/90017030.

Wilson, Brenda. "Sex Without Intimacy: No Dating, No Relationships." Www.npr.org. Npr

Magazine, 8 June 2009. Web. 5 Dec. 2013