The American Presidency

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 12.03.03

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Rationale
  2. Overview
  3. Objective
  4. Background Information
  5. Theodore Roosevelt
  6. Woodrow Wilson
  7. Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt
  8. John F. Kennedy
  9. Richard Nixon
  10. Birth of the Women's Rights Movement
  11. Growth of Women's Rights (1920–1950)
  12. The Development of Feminism and the ERA (1920–1972)
  13. Strategies and Activities
  14. Appendices 1–5
  15. APPENDIX 6
  16. APPENDIX 7
  17. End Notes
  18. Annotated Bibliography

The Women's Movement in Presidential Rhetoric

Stefano Cadoppi

Published September 2012

Tools for this Unit:

Objective

This unit focuses on women's equal rights movement from 1900 to 1972 and what kind of rhetoric American presidents used to face women's demands for social justice. My main concern is to make available models which students may use to form a stable point of reference for their evolving perceptions about gender relationship.

The final goal of this unit is to give students an opportunity to compare their views, share their beliefs as well as discover their misconceptions about gender. I want to offer an environment where young adults can compare ideas and possibly question their assumptions about the role of men and women in society. Girls need to understand how their roles have changed from the past to appreciate their present social condition and to respect their evolving identity. Boys, on the other hand, are in the middle of a transition, caught between dissolving stereotypes and fast pace rising female models. It is important that both male and female adolescents begin an honest dialogue leading to a better understanding of their biological, intellectual, and psychological needs.

Ultimately, students will ground their learning using the Socratic method, the buddy system, analysis of primary sources, and writing critically about gender changes in the past one hundred years. This part of the unit satisfies the United States history 11th grade California Standards that requires students to analyze American society through speeches of Eisenhower, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon, among the others. Also, the California Standards require students to analyze women's changing role in the 20th century. (CA 11.11)

Comments:

Be the first to comment on this unit!

Add a Comment

Characters Left: 500