Dan+K.

Has Equal Rights Between Men and Women Been Achieved? “I remember it like it was yesterday. It was August 26, 1970. Me and some of my friends decided to go aid in the protest for Women’s Equality. We weren’t part of the people who were actually striking because we didn’t have jobs but we still were very much a part of the protests. I remember one of the chants was, “We are the 51% minority!” This was my favorite one because it really showed how there was no reason why women shouldn’t have the exact same rights as men.” American society now does not favor one gender more than the other. This has happened through the passing of numerous laws which have assured that males and females have equal rights in America. The most major one is the 19h amendment which gave women the right to vote, ensuring that they would have a say in how the government is run. Movements such as feminism are the reason that Women have gained equal rights. When the United States of America was created, men and women were far from equal. The creators of America, the Founding Fathers were all males. Women weren’t even to own land at first. Women also had a harder time getting jobs because most people believed that they weren’t as skilled as men. But the Women’s Rights Movement helped to change that. In 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act which made it illegal for an employer to pay a woman less than what a man would receive for the same job. In 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act barred discrimination in employment based on race or gender.  Before 1916, a woman had never been elected to Congress. In recent years, there have been two female Secretaries of State and one female Speaker of the House. In the current congress there are also 93 women. This change shows how women have become able to be trusted to hold positions of high authority, which many years ago was not as common as it is today.  For all my life, I have known someone who is a big believer in equal rights for men and women, my grandmother. My grandmother has been a member of the League of Women Voters for many years. One of the main objectives of the League of Women Voters is to increase the amount of women who vote in the elections. She has also attended numerous protests and marches in her lifetime.  As a child she had been somewhat interested in the Women’s Rights Movement because her mother was interested in it as well. In 1963, her view changed a little and she became more interested in the Women’s Rights Movement. Her view changed because she read // The Feminine Mystique //by Betty Friedan. This book sparked a national debate on the role of women and how many women were unhappy with being confined to the housewife role. This debate is what led to the modern Women Right’s Movement.  Over the past 100 years, the rights of women have drastically changed. Women have gone from not being able to vote to being the Secretary of State and have gained equality in society.

Lot's to do here--first start with a personal anecdote or two. Surely she has a story that captures the big idea here. MrC

__Laura__ -Have the opening paragraph be a story so the reader can really get drawn into it. -I like the factual information you give, but it kind of sounds like you are just listing things, so try to explain the rights that women received a little bit more. Bilal -I like it, but it could be a little bit longer -Could have anecdotes with dialogue, like an actual story __George__ You should make it more of a story make it a lot longer