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Gender Inequality: How Far We Have Come

By Jocelyn Giammalva

  • First Women's Rights Convention

    First Women's Rights Convention
    The first women's rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. 12 resolutions were created for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women.

  • National Woman Suffrage Association

    National Woman Suffrage Association
    Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association. The main goal of the organization was to achieve voting rights for women by means of a Congressional amendment to the Constitution.

  • Women can vote in Colorado

    Women can vote in Colorado
    Colorado is the first state to adopt an amendment granting women the right to vote.

  • WTUL

    WTUL
    The National Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) is established to push for improved wages and working conditions for women. [There is no exact "set date" found for when this event occured]

  • Birth Control

    Birth Control
    The federal law prohibiting the dissemination of contraceptive information through the mail is modified, and birth control information is no longer classified as obscene. [There is no exact "set date" found for this event, only known that it was sometime in July]

  • President's Commission on the Status of Women

    President's Commission on the Status of Women
    President John F. Kennedy establishes the President's Commission on the Status of Women, and appoints Eleanor Roosevelt as chairwoman. The Commission describes the discrimination against women in the workplace, and makes specific recommendations for improvement, including equal/fair hiring, affordable child care, and paid maternity leave.

  • Equal Pay Act

    Equal Pay Act
    Congress passes the Equal Pay Act, making it illegal for employers to pay a woman less than what a man would receive for the same job.

  • Equal Rights Amendment

    Equal Rights Amendment
    The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. The original draft was created by Alice Paul in 1923, and it read: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex" (infoplease 2007). The amendment died in 1982 because it failed to achieve ratification by a minimum of 38 states.

  • Roe v. Wade

    Roe v. Wade
    The Supreme Court establishes a woman's right to have a safe and legal abortion, as a result of Roe v. Wade.

  • Marital Rape Law

    Marital Rape Law
    The first marital rape law is enacted in Nebraska, making it illegal for a husband to rape his wife. Other states slowly followed and finally in 1984, the New York State Court of Appeals decided that "a marriage license should not be viewed as a license to forcibly rape [the defendant's] wife with impunity" (WeNews July 1, 2009).

  • Violence Against Women Act

    Violence Against Women Act
    President Bill Clinton signs the Violence Against Women Act. This act tightened federal penalties for sex offenders, and helps fund services for victims of rape and domestic violence.