The Feminist Movement

1. Introduction
I have chosen this topic because I have known cases in which women have been the victims
of injustice. Because of the patriarchal mentality, some people refuse to recognize womens
right to equality, right stipulated in the Constitution. For me The Feminist Movement" is a
very important step for what eventually followed. I find the representatives of The Feminist
Movement as the best example of courage and perseverance in the pursuit of their ideals. All I
could wish for is that my research paper becomes a tribute to those women who, through their
relentless work, contributed to the further development of society.
In this material I tried to speak about the problem that the suffragetts encounter in asking for
their rights. In the first chapter a have justifed my decision in choosing this subject. In the
second chapter I have followed the historical thread in order to present the situation of women
in the past. I have also evidence some exemples of discrimination (such as the Napoleon
Code) and I tried to describe the harsh fight of the women in obtaining the right to vote.

In the third chapter I have exposed the suffragett's fight all over the world. First in France,
where the fight was indirectley led by Olympe de Gouges who elaborated the "Declaration of
the Rights of Women and Female Citizens." The document was inspired from the
"Declaration of Human Rights and Citizen", proclaimed in 1789. The few successes were
scored by women during the French Revolution in fields such as education and family rights.
French women's struggle was one of the most enduring. Even if France was the first European
country which had introduced the principle of universal and equal voting rights to men, it
admitted women full voting rights only by 1944. Only by 1980 were removed the last
discriminating articles from the civil law. Then, in England the feminist movement had to face
a firmly rooted traditionalism and the main opponent of the aspirations of women was
actually a woman, Queen Victoria. In other countries fighting has intensified but nowhere as
dramatically as in England. In 1903 at the forefront of the movement in order to obtain the
right to vote was Emmeline Pankhurst (Annex1). In other areas, some women, fighting
solitary and with heroic efforts achieved professional success. Thus the American Elizabeth
Blackwell and the Englishwoman Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, defeating any difficulty,
obtained degrees in medicine and Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War, due to her
selfless work raised to the rank of profession the nurses work.

Afterwards I have continued my paper presenting the Feminist Movement in USA. The
feminist movement from here grew from the anti-slavery movement (abolitionist), which had
gathered an unusually large number of women. These women had to defend their claims
especially in front of the church, but also in front of the preconceived ideas brought by male
abolitionists. Typical for the feminist movement in the U.S. was that there white women
fought alongside their counterparts of color. The Feminist Movement for the right to vote was
held in their own structures, "National Woman Suffrage Association" (NWSA) and
"American Woman Suffrage Association" (AWSA). In the U.S., women have gained full
voting rights in 1920.
In the fourth chapter I pointed out some examples of women who succeed, through huge
efforts, to obtain important leading positions. In the next section I have described some of the
most famous women of the 20th century. And in the final title (chapter) I have presented the
black women fought for inclusion in the womens suffrage movement after the abolition of
slavery.