Women’s Growing Independence in Urban Environments
The growing urban population that the late nineteenth century saw led to women being more involved in their communities. Declining birth rates and increasing divorce rates led to women feeling a sense of independence that they had not experienced in more rural environments. Women were open to take on jobs that were not available to them when they lived on farms. Feminist writers played large roles in raising awareness over feminist issues. Many factors came together to invite feminist feelings and movements that may not have been possible without the rising urban population.
City environments changed the average American family in several ways. Rather than working together on a farm, family members were scattered around the city. Less children were being born simply because they were not needed. In rural environments, couples had many children so that they had plenty of labor for working the fields. In the city, more children meant more money needed. This impacted women’s liberation because this gave women more time to go out and be more involved. Women were more prevalent in the work force, taking jobs like secretaries and telephone operators. With women becoming more independent, arguments sparked that women needed to drop their dependent status altogether and contribute to society, more specifically, the economy.
With the new independence that city living brought, women felt empowered to fight for their right to vote. In 1890, the National American Woman Suffrage Association was founded. They argued that in the city, they needed to voice their opinion on things like education and public health because they were becoming more and more known in the work force. The suffrage movement also took effect because women wanted to show society that they had the right to vote and that there were just as equal as men. Men often ridiculed the movement, but women pushed on and slowly got to vote in local elections in...