25 Aug The subject of Unit 6, Lesson 20 in our embedded eCampus textboo
The subject of Unit 6, Lesson 20 in our embedded eCampus textbook is a period of intense political, economic, and social reform: The Progressive Era. One of the signal reforms of the period was the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitutionwhich guarantees women the right to vote. Nearly a century later, issues of income inequality, institutional glass-ceilings, sexual violence, affordable day-care, and media-driven body shaming animate today’s feminist discourse.
Oddly, our online textbook does not address the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. For context, I would like you to read the short segment found in The American Yawp (Chapter 20, Section III, “Women’s Movements,” near midpoint of section) that summarizes the woman suffrage movement known to historians as “first-wave feminism.” The word “suffrage” means the right to vote in political elections. Women involved in the movement were called “suffragists.” You may access this short text through the preceding link or find it in a PDF document available at the link below. The American Yawp text is brief but makes clear the issue of voting rights for women involved not only questions of gender, but race and class as well which speaks to the complexity of historical analysis and interpretation. The text also mentions two women who participated as leaders in the woman-suffrage movement; one of them is Alice Paul.
Who is Alice Paul?
Alice Stokes Paul (b. 1885, d. 1977) was an American suffragist and feminist. Her organizing efforts contributed directly to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. In January 1917, Alice Paul and over 1,000 American suffragists began eighteen months of picketing the White House. They endured verbal and physical attacks from spectators, which increased after the US entered World War I. Instead of protecting the women’s right to free speech and peaceful assembly, the police arrested them on the flimsy charge of obstructing traffic.
The American Yawp has this to say about Paul: “Meanwhile, a new, more militant, suffrage organization emerged on the scene. Led by Alice Paul, the National Woman’s Party took to the streets to demand voting rights, organizing marches and protests that mobilized thousands of women. Beginning in January 1917, National Woman’s Party members also began to picket the White House, an action that led to the arrest and imprisonment of over 150 women.”
Paul herself received a prison sentence of seven months. Once in prison, she organized a hunger strike in protest. Doctors threatened to send Paul to an insane asylum and force-fed her, while newspaper accounts of her treatment garnered public sympathy and support for suffrage. By 1918, President Woodrow Wilson announced his support for suffrage. It took two more years for the Senate, House, and the required 36 states to approve the amendment.
What are your thoughts?
Please proceed with the Discussion Board Forum 2 assignment in this way:
- Read the short text from The American Yawp about American woman suffrage (online at Chapter 20, Section III, “Women’s Movements,” near midpoint of section or see the PDF document in the folder below).
- Consider the photographs (posted below) of Paul and some of her defenders.
- View the 15-minute YouTube segment (link below) from the 2004 movie titled Iron Jawed Angels starring Hillary Swank as Alice Paul.
- The YouTube segment dramatizes Paul’s arrest in front of the White House, and her subsequent incarceration during which she was force fed in an effort to end the hunger strike she led involving dozens of other suffragists imprisoned with her.
- The gripping visual portrayal is a brutal reminder of the struggles endured by American women to gain the right to vote.
- Having read the text, considered the images, and viewed the Iron Jawed Angels YouTube video segment, navigate to Discussion Board Forum 2 – Iron Jawed Angels and respond to this question: Based on your reading, your YouTube viewing, your own life-experiences, and the knowledge you have gained, what is the current state of feminism in America? In responding, think about what American feminism has accomplished. Is it currently making a lot of progress, or is the movement perhaps stagnant? Does American feminism still have a lot to accomplish, or has it perhaps gone too far?
Our website has a team of professional writers who can help you write any of your homework. They will write your papers from scratch. We also have a team of editors just to make sure all papers are of HIGH QUALITY & PLAGIARISM FREE. To make an Order you only need to click Ask A Question and we will direct you to our Order Page at WriteDemy. Then fill Our Order Form with all your assignment instructions. Select your deadline and pay for your paper. You will get it few hours before your set deadline.
Fill in all the assignment paper details that are required in the order form with the standard information being the page count, deadline, academic level and type of paper. It is advisable to have this information at hand so that you can quickly fill in the necessary information needed in the form for the essay writer to be immediately assigned to your writing project. Make payment for the custom essay order to enable us to assign a suitable writer to your order. Payments are made through Paypal on a secured billing page. Finally, sit back and relax.
About Writedemy
We are a professional paper writing website. If you have searched a question and bumped into our website just know you are in the right place to get help in your coursework. We offer HIGH QUALITY & PLAGIARISM FREE Papers.
How It Works
To make an Order you only need to click on “Order Now” and we will direct you to our Order Page. Fill Our Order Form with all your assignment instructions. Select your deadline and pay for your paper. You will get it few hours before your set deadline.
Are there Discounts?
All new clients are eligible for 20% off in their first Order. Our payment method is safe and secure.