In 1848, a small group of visionaries started a movement to secure equal rights for women in the United States. But it took more than 70 years just to win thr right for women to vote. After male organizers excluded women from attending an anti-slavery conference, American abolitionists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott decided to call the “First Women’s Rights Convention.” Held over several days in july 1848 at Seneca Falls, New York, the convention brought together about 300 women and 40 men. Among them was Charlotte Woodward. A 19-year-old farm girl who longed to become a printer, a trade then reserved for males. By the end of the meeting, convention delegates had approved a statement modelled after the Declaration of Independence. The Seneca Falls Declaration of sentiments began with these words: The declaration then listed repeat injuries by men against women, claiming that men had imposed and absolute tyranny over women. These injuries included forcing women to obey laws that they had no voice in passing. They included making married women civilly dead in the eyes of the law, without rights to property, earned wages, or the custody of their children in a divorce. The injuries included barring women from most profitable employments and colleges. The convention also voted on a resolution that said, it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to vote. This resolution provoked heated debate. It barely passed. In the middle of the 19th century, most Americans including most women, accepted the idea of separate spheres for males and females. Men worked and ran the government. Women stayed home and cared for the family. This notion was based on the widely held assumption that women were by nature delicate, childlike, emotional and mentally inferior to men.
Kerala Academy of Pharmacy on this day of Women’s Equality Day respects and extend gratitude to all those super women who had fought and fighting to give us a wonderful nation. Without their contribution no social improvements can be made. We also thank all the men, family members and friends who extends their hand of help towards them to get what they deserve.
