As far as equality is concerned, women and members of the gay and lesbian community have had and still have an uphill battle to go to be considered equal. Women were once considered to be possessions of their husbands and still make less money than men in the workforce. Their femininity has caused them to be labeled the weaker sex with many myths making them inferior to men and their masculinity. The LBGT community has had more recent trials and tribulations starting with activist groups after World War II. They still struggle with marriage and equality rights today even with the largest support numbers the United States has seen. The struggles these two groups have faced and fought for have propelled them to have more rights than ever before while paving the way for more rights in the future.
To begin, throughout history women in the United States have been treated as inferior to men. Their femininity was viewed as subservient to masculinity and were thus not treated as equals in the eyes of the law. Women were often regarded for their maternity which meant their place was in the home while men displayed their masculinity by working and earning money for the home. When women and men got married in early periods women were essentially material possessions to their husbands. They were only legally able to do anything in their own right like own land if their husbands agreed. They did not even have the right to vote until 1920 (WIC, 1995). Women did not start working until the 1860s and it was not until 1910 that laws were created to give women decent conditions in the workplace. These rights however, were imbalanced, as women were not able to work a full eight hours which kept them from certain jobs including management work. The Equal Rights act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 required equal pay for women and men doing the same work and prohibited discrimination against women in the workplace (Woman’s International Center, 1995). These Acts are...