Women, Gender, and Sex

2020 marked the 100th anniversary of women winning the vote and a record-breaking election with more than 93 million voters casting ballots. Kamala Harris set several records as the first woman, first Black and first South Asian vice president-elect, and candidates from diverse backgrounds were elected in many state and local elections. As part of the Special Collections online exhibit, Founding Mothers: From the Ballot Box to the University, the University of Arizona Libraries, in partnership with Dr. Patricia MacCorquodale, professor emerita in the Department of Gender and Women's Studies, presents this panel discussion to address equal rights in our current historical and community context. In addition to celebrating this moment in history as one that reflects democracy and advances equal rights, the panel discussion includes strategies, issues, practices, and policies that foster or perpetuate inequalities. Our panelists will also talk about ways community members, individually or collectively, can take actions to promote equal rights, ensure participation in democracy, or create safe and inclusive communities. Panelists include: Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, Pima County Recorder Heidi Osselaer, Author, "Winning Their Place: Arizona Women in Politics, 1883-1950" Lisa M. Sanchez, Assistant Professor, University of Arizona School of Government and Public Policy in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vote, increasing the number of those parties' potential constituencies. National and international organizations formed to coordinate efforts towards women voting, especially the International Woman Suffrage Alliance.

Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behavior, whereas in others, they are ignored and suppressed. They differ from broader notions of human rights through claims of an inherent historical and traditional bias against the exercise of rights by women and girls, in favor of men and boys.

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The history of feminism comprises the narratives (chronological or thematic) of the movements and ideologies which have aimed at equal rights for women. While feminists around the world have differed in causes, goals, and intentions depending on time, culture, and country, most Western feminist historians assert that all movements that work to obtain women's rights should be considered feminist movements, even when they did not (or do not) apply the term to themselves.[1][2][3][4][5] Some other historians limit the term "feminist" to the modern feminist movement and its progeny, and use the label "protofeminist" to describe earlier movements.[6]

The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality between men and women. Such issues are women's liberation, reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment, and sexual violence. The movement's priorities have expanded since its beginning in the 1800s, and vary among nations and communities. Priorities range from opposition to female genital mutilation in one country, to opposition to the glass ceiling in another.

Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes.[a][2][3][4][5] Feminism holds the position that societies prioritize the male point of view and that women are treated unjustly in these societies.[6] Efforts to change this include fighting against gender stereotypes and improving educational, professional, and interpersonal opportunities and outcomes for women.

The history of black suffrage in the United States, or the right of African Americans to vote in elections, has had many advances and setbacks. Prior to the Civil War and the Reconstruction Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, some Black people in the United States had the right to vote, but this right was often abridged or taken away. After 1870, Black people were theoretically equal before the law, but in the period between the end of Reconstruction era and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 this was frequently infringed in practice.

Black feminism, also known as Afro-feminism chiefly outside the United States, is a branch of feminism that centers around women of color.

African-American women began to agitate for political rights in the 1830s, creating the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, and New York Female Anti-Slavery Society.[1] These interracial groups were radical expressions of women's political ideals, and they led directly to voting rights activism before and after the Civil War.[2] Throughout the 19th century, African-American women such as Harriet Forten Purvis, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper worked on two fronts simultaneously: reminding African-American men and white women that Black women needed legal rights, especially the right to vote.

The UN Women policy brief series synthesizes research findings, analysis and policy recommendations on key policy areas around gender equality and women’s rights in an accessible format. The series aims to bridge the research and policy divide by identifying issues that require urgent policy attention and propose a set of suitable measures to address them. The series is a joint effort of UN Women’s Policy Division, coordinated by the Research and Data Section. To ensure the quality and relevance of the content, each brief undergoes a rigorous internal and external peer review process. These concise and relevant policy-oriented documents are useful resources for gender equality advocates, civil society and other policy actors working to achieve gender equality and women’s rights.

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The story of the global struggle for women's rights since 1945 is just beginning to be told. For a proper understanding of the continuities and changes in the struggle for women's rights during this period, we need to go back to the League of Nations, the predecessor to the United Nations. In addition, we need to consider more fully the important role of what are now often called traditional women's organizations in advancing women's rights on the international level, at least until 1975.

The Asian presence in North America predates the 13 colonies declaration of independence from Great Britain. However, since the beginning, Asian Americans have faced racism, exclusion, xenophobia or they have been upheld as a model minority. In either circumstance, prevailing racist and sexist stereotypes have created the perception of the Asian American as the other, and, as a result, their lives and issues are practically invisible to mainstream America.

This paper divides the move for women's rights in the U.S. into three historical phases: (1) the early women's rights movement (1848-1875); (2) the suffrage movement (1890-1920); and, (3) the two ...

An analysis of nearly 1 million dissertations over a 40-year period reveals a bias against "feminine" research. The bias limits careers.

The women’s suffrage movement was a decades-long fight to win the right to vote for women in the United States. It took activists and reformers nearly 100

These leaders — Black, Latina, Asian, Arab, Native American — in varied fields, broke both gender and racial barriers as they made … Continue reading Women’s History Month: Women of color whose names you should know →

From a plea to a founding father, to the suffragists to Title IX, to the first female political figures, women have blazed a steady trail towards equality in the United States.

“All across the West, women were voting by the millions before 1920," one historian says, adding a caveat: They typically had to be white, too.

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In commemorating the centennial of the 19th Amendment, with which women first won the right to vote, the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission came together with one simple but ambitious goal: To educate Americans about women’s often-ignored U.S. history.

Girl power.

In 1977, women told the U.S. government what they wanted. In 2017, they're making the exact same demands.