Women, the Constitution, and Public Policy

1. Women, the Constitution, and Public Policy Rachel Giordani Shilpa Kancharla Parker Yount Cayla Culbreth

2. The Battle For the Vote • Women were equivalent to slaves in society due to their status, and limited freedoms. • Lead by feminists Susan B. Anthony, Stanton • Gathered at Seneca Falls • To come up with a list of complaints about the wrongdoings against women. • 19th Amendment granted women suffrage

3. The “Doldrums”:1920-1960 • Winning the right to vote didn’t automatically make women equal to men in society. • Split groups of feminists opinion: • accepted and wanted to keep the “family model” • Wanted opportunity to extend roles into society

4. The “Doldrums”: 1920-1960 • Public policy toward women still focused on protection rather than equality. • Women limited from doing hard labor, and working long hours. • ERA (equal rights amendment) • “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

5. The Second Feminist Wave • Civil rights movement attracted a lot of women attention as well. • The Feminine Mystique • Encouraged women to question traditional roles and assert their rights. • Groups were formed which advocated women's rights. • Reed v Reed • Craig v Boren

6. Disadvantages to Men • As a result of the family model, women were more likely to get custody of children after divorce and receive alimony • Drinking, statutory rape, and admission into nursing schools became more restricted upon men

7. Quiz: True or False • In the Supreme Court case Reed v. Reed, the court did not uphold a claim of gender discrimination. • Patterned after the Declaration of Independence, the Seneca Falls Convention began the movement towards the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

8. Quiz: True or False • It took the ERA 50 years to gain the support it needed to be ratified by the states. • Advocates of women’s suffrage including Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton had lots of success in the west and some states even allowed women to vote before the 19th Amendment.

9. Quiz: True or False • Situations such as a higher drinking age for men, alimony payments only for women, and the requirement of men to pay for their wives needs show how men had not always been treated equally. • Losing the ERA battle only helped stimulate feminist activity.