Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States

I found this reading particularly interesting because I'm also taking Introduction to Women's Studies this semester. As discussed in class, like Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony first complimented and praised the progress that the United States has made so far. The Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States was written 24 years after Douglass gave his speech, "What to the Slave is the Forth of July?" The writing techniques, however are very similar. They give praise and compliments first and then continue on to make passionate and convincing arguments for their cause (abolition of slavery and women's rights, respectively). 

A point that Stanton and Anthony use a great deal is that "sex is a crime" in the United States. The women point out that the word "male" is added into all State constitutions. This denied women the right to vote. This also means that women are denied a jury of their peers. Women have had to answer to juries made up entirely of men. Men, especially in those days,  just simply do not understand women's issues such as rape, domestic abuse and adultery. There was no other woman's voice to aid a fellow woman in defense. 

As a feminist, the unfairness of the way that women were treated not only makes me angry, but sick as well. I think that modern United States culture has gotten lazy when it comes to women's rights. A women is still making $0.75 for every $1.00 that a man makes for the same job. A women's right to choose whether or not she can terminate a pregnancy in her own body is in jeopardy. In conclusion, I think that it's important for the people of the United States to remember the hard work and dedication that people like Douglass, Stanton and Anthony had for their respective causes. While we may have made a lot of progress, we have a long way to go.