Less is said about women who fought for their place in society when rights were unequal. “Disappointment is the lot of Women” by Lucy Stone, a suffragist, covers an array of issues experienced by nineteenth-century women. In her speech, she outlines women’s struggle in a society that has criticized them for trying to fight for their rights in public spaces. She portrays issues in the education system, employment, wage inequality, and voting rights. In the early nineteenth century, women formed movements that allowed them to enroll in higher education societies and get equal pay for work. Women in this era were only allowed to get married and do household chores. When an avenue for education opened, it did not give them an equal opportunity with men. Women were not enrolled in the ivy institution but in separate seminaries, which barred them from pursuing professions like priests, lawyers, or doctors, instead given a subtle role.
The only jobs women could get were seamstress, housekeeper, and teacher, with a quarter of the salary compared to men. Furthermore, they had no right to own property; if they did, they got taxed as men. The issue is not taxes but the right to choose which government she pays her dues. Due to this, women had to marry for a home. Their lives were dictated from birth to death by what they ought to do, what they should say, and how they should lead their lives.
Lucy Stone was one of the pioneers of the fight for women’s rights. She founded the women’s rights convention, which rallied women and men to support equality. The national women suffrage association led the fight for women’s rights to vote. In her efforts to show the extent of women’s oppression, Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote a statement of sentimentalities known as the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments. These marked the start of women’s evolution, which led to many women supporting the course. Moreover, their approach gained support from abolitionists, with the sojourner’s speech “ain’t I a woman?” making an impact in the women’s rights convention. Women have had a long fight in history for an equal place in society. They have proved that women should have an equal right to vote and representation in federal law, right to education, and wages. Only when society accepts equality for all genders will women’s rights be upheld.