Growth of Women's Rights (1920–1950)
The three decades following women's suffrage consolidated their confidence. Ask any woman and you will hear the same song promptly served to you: "there is nothing that women cannot do." Note how the word "women" is used in its plural form. It conveys unity as unlimited confidence. The way they say it reminds me of: we've arrived, move off the way and get real kind of songs. Women would not be content until full equal rights were granted. The next three decades would be important to keep building public support and presidential attention.
The years between the Great Depression and the 1950s were seemingly uneventful. The noise, protests, and activism slowed down only in appearance. In reality, another battle loomed on the horizon. Alice Paul, the force behind the passage of the 19th Amendment, began working on a constitutional amendment (Lucretia Mott Amendment) in 1923. On the seventy–fifth anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention, it called for absolute equality between men and women throughout the USA.
The Flappers of the 1920s added color and excitement to the movement. Susan B. Anthony as well as other famous activists died in the decade. Fewer members joined the two major women's parties: PWA and NASWA.
Women in the 20s forcefully pushed for Prohibition laws. Not surprisingly only a few women were elected to office. As Gilman feared, the right to vote was important but it did not alter the socio–political structure of power. Either due to lack of political interest, marital influence, or lack of interest women's right to vote made a substantial impact when they began demonstrating for salary equality beginning in the 70s. In the 21st century, the female bloc helped to elect Barrack Obama. And, it will continue to be a voting force with tremendous influence on any political election. After all, women are the majority of the population.
I need to bring to attention another factor for the slow progresses of the women's movement in the 1930s until 1960. Two factors impacted the progress of women. Two catastrophic events that got all the unconditioned attention of President Roosevelt: the Great Depression and WWII. Both events were all absorbing. No President could have been able to escape the pull of the largest and longer economic disaster in USA history the most destructive war on the planet. True, FDR elected the first–ever female Secretary of Labor (1933–45). The President had too much on his plate by 1939. Historical events would prove too desperate for the leader to try radical experiments when people who starved and kept the country safe. The Cold War of course was the other factor halting women's rights.
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