Chapter 17: Atlantic Revolutions and their Echoes

Had the multiple echoes of feminists movements NOT occurred, where would I be? Certainly not at NDNU or any other university for that matter. I'd probably be illiterate, and spend all day back at home, doing chores with my mother. I wouldn't be able to read the history text book, type out this blog, or even operate, let alone turn on my macbook. Now wouldn't that be a devastating life? :D

Though there were/many feminists, the one mentioned in the text, Olympe de Gouges (France) wrote the "Declaration of the Rights of Woman". I wonder what triggered these feminists in the Modern Era to 'demand' equality between men and women. In the "Declaration of the Rights of Woman", de Gouges wrote: "Woman, wake up; the warning bell of reason is being heard throughout the whole universe; discover your rights." Whoever the first feminist was, what evoked her to begin such a movement that eventually travelled across the Atlantic?

However it started, I'm glad it did. Despite the fact we still deal with a degree of gender inequalities, it has improved. (It's the same with slavery. It still exists in many parts of the world, but it was a lot worse.) Today, women can attend universities, manage businesses, be employed, and even vote. I wasn't of age at the time of the 2008 U.S. Presidential elections, but it is difficult to imagine a time when women were prohibited to vote. How would America's presidential offices differ had they still only allowed men to vote?

Criticisms against the Feminist movement were numerous. "...feminists were viewed as selfish, willing to sacrifice the family or even the nation while pursuing their individual goals (522)." Wow. They weren't selfish, they were sick and tired, sick and tired of being considered the weaker race and looked down upon. They only longed for change, equality.