The Global Struggle for Women's Rights

March is Women's History Month. March 8 is International Women's Day, and this year marks the 36th anniversary of the failed Equal Rights Amendment (March 8, 1972).

The amendment was approved by Congress, but subsequently failed to be ratified by the required minimum of 38 states. Many states that refused ratification indicated their opposition by citing the Civil Rights Act as being sufficient to protect the rights of women also.

The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that 'all the battles have been won for women' while many feminists from the 1970's know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy.

With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women still don't receive pay equal to that of their male counterparts and they are still not present in equal numbers in business or politics. Internationally, most women in underdeveloped countries lack education, healthcare, justice, and representation in government.

However, women have made significant progress during the period starting with the Women's Suffrage Amendment in 1920 and continuing on through the women's rights movement of the 60s and 70s. Today, we have women as CEOs of major corporations, female astronauts, presidents of major universities, governors, and Congressional leaders. And for the first time in history, a woman, Hillary Clinton, has a great chance to become the next president of the United States.

Students can learn more about the Equal Rights Amendment and other initiatives of the Feminist Movement of the 60s and 70s by using the following pathfinders:

Pathfinder #1: Click the icon for 1960, then select Sexual Revolution.

Pathfinder #2: Click the icon for 1970, then click Gender Equality and Sexuality.

Assign students to respond to the Document Based Questions (DBQ) for one of these topics or the other. Student essays should be about 200 words and utilize at least three resources. Oral reports of two to three minutes provide an opportunity for students to share their views with each other.

An alternative to the DBQ essay assignment is for students to respond to at least two of the following essential questions for critical thinking. The following are examples, but you can create others:

• What are the motives of the Feminist Movement and why?
  
  
• Who were some of the successful initiators of the movement and what were their strategies?
  
  
• Do women's rights need a renewal of the Equal Rights Amendment -- why or why not?
  
  
• What single additional right do women still need today and why?
  
  
• How does the Roe v. Wade decision correlate to women's right and what would happen if it is reversed?

Here are some new ProQuest models that students can use for their PowerPoint (model 1 and 2) and written reports (model.)