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Womens Empowerment

Katrina Sisco

James Madison University

Abstract
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Womens rights is defined as rights that promote a position of legal and social equality for men

and women. Womens fight for equality has been a vital topic in the United States for decades,

ultimately starting in the World War. Before this time, the traditional woman was known to stay

at home and take care of the house and kids while the man worked and supported the family

financially.In the mid 1900s, when World War II broke out, women defied norms and began to

step into the workforce to contribute to war efforts in any way. They did everything from

operating the radios to fixing airplanes, many say America would have not won the war without

the assistance of women. Since this time, there has been a non-stop fight for female equality with

all aspects of their lives: political, financial, social, educational, etc. There are multiple

standpoints on the present-day issues this controversy is faced with and plans regarding the

future, as well. As it becomes more and more prominent to our generation, it is crucial that

people become aware and gain an understanding of how this is affecting our entire world.

Womens Empowerment
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In February of 2016, infobase published an article covering all aspects of the evolution of

women. Women's Rights: Is further work required to ensure women's rights? Discusses womens

history, present-day issues, and future predictions for this country. This piece explores both

perspectives, opposing and supporting, of womens positions in society today. Informing readers

on the progression of this matter, the author begins by introducing their former stands in society

and how they got where they are today. This article was written for adults who need a clean,

clear viewpoint on this matter. The author is informative and wrote this piece with the goal of

educating the people on a topic they may not know much about.

Valerie Hudson explores womens rights as an overall issue and clarifies that world peace

begins and ends with female equality. In What Sex Means for World Peace, Hudson argues that

the worlds chaos that is seen today is not derived from from wealth or democracy, but how well

women are treated. She explains that the world has become insecure and unstable because of the

separation of man and woman. If the gender gap increases within a country, so does the amount

of violence and conflict. This article has a firm tone that persuades readers, mostly adults, to gain

interest in the topic and become aware of the significance to everyone, not just women. Hudson

persuades readers to contribute to the cause, backing her argument up by including important

figures and listing several facts and statistics.

PR Newswire published a piece, Advocates Unite to Announce Women's Empowerment

Month, Four Weeks Dedicated to Helping Women Achieve Their Dreams, to introduce the public

to a new plan that empowers women and progresses their growth. The author announces the start

of the first ever womens empowerment month, beginning in April of 2017. This will be a four

week period dedicated to supporting women in all aspects of their lives and increasing

awareness on the relevance of womens equality. This womens empowerment month is

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sponsored by several leading corporations and anyone can get involved and show their support

for this issue. This piece is both informing and persuasive, intended for female advocates and

everyday people who are interested in contributing to the change.

Along with the benefits equality offers for society, female-equality advocates also

demonstrate why this unfairness people see today is harmful for women. Both sources, Women's

Rights: Is further work required to ensure women's rights? And What Sex Means for World

Peace, inform readers on the violence women have experienced in the past and even today as

minorities. Using facts and statistics, readers gain a real perspective on what its like to be treated

as less. Hudson describes an experiment she and a few colleagues executed with a scale of 0

being the best and 4 being the worst in terms of how secure women are physically (Hudson,2012,

para. 4). With this information given, Hudson then states: On our scale measuring the physical

security of women, no country in the world received a 0. Not one. The world average is 3.04,

attesting to the widespread and persistent violence perpetrated against women worldwide, even

among the most developed and freest countries (Hudson, 2012, para.4). Supplying an equally

significant statistic, the author of Women's Rights: Is further work required to ensure women's

rights? Reports that: 1.3 million women in the United States are victims of domestic violence

each year (PRNewswire, 2016, para.2). This data serves a purpose to both of the authors

arguments because it introduces the severity of the controversy at hand.

Several advocates attempt to convince the public to support women and their fight for

equality through movements, writing, etc. Valerie Hudsons What Sex Means for World Peace

and PR Newswire's Advocates Unite to Announce Women's Empowerment Month, Four Weeks

Dedicated to Helping Women Achieve Their Dreams write with a persuasive voice to not only

show readers the purpose for womens equality, but also what to do to ensure success. Hudson
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argues that world peace has, and will continue to be, jeopardized if women do not begin to be

treated properly. To see a better society as a whole, Hudson (2012) claims: The countries of the

world must try a different path, one that we have every empirical reason to believe will lead to

greater well-being, prosperity, and security for the entire international system (para.14). Like

Hudson, the author of Advocates Unite to Announce Women's Empowerment Month, Four Weeks

Dedicated to Helping Women Achieve Their Dreams proposes a way to reach a safer world by

also supporting women and getting even more involved. The author advises readers to help the

community by stating: By providing resources, engaging with a community of contributors, and

collaborating on events, you can be a part of this effort to support all women through our non-

partisan, inclusive portal where we will collect and share information to help women engage

with the movement (PRNewswire, 2017, para.1). Both persuasive voices achieve the mutual

goal of spreading awareness and increasing support from the public.

Womens rights movements have been extremely effective for womens equality and

continue to be one of the best ways to gain support and awareness. PR Newswires Advocates

Unite to Announce Women's Empowerment Month, Four Weeks Dedicated to Helping Women

Achieve Their Dreams and the author of Women's Rights: Is further work required to ensure

women's rights? Discuss monumental events that have paved way for womens success.

Movements and historical achievements are a main focal point in both sources in order to display

the relevance of this matter in our society. Women's Rights: Is further work required to ensure

women's rights? Introduces this controversy with background information, listing what has

already been done in favor of women. The author mentions one of the very first movements and

how it began the trend of uniting and voicing opinions together for a cause; after World War II,
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the Womens Liberation Movement aimed to dismantle traditional attitudes toward sexuality,

family, and reproductive rights, while also raising awareness of sexual harassment and sexual

violence (Infobase, 2016, para.13). PR Newswire discusses a new movement, introducing an

entire month dedicated to supporting women in all aspects of their lives. The goal is similar to

the movement mentioned in infobases piece, just executed differently.

Although these three sources have the same goals for writing, each piece has a different

approach and a unique voice. Women's Rights: Is further work required to ensure women's

rights? Takes a more informative standpoint on the matter, educating readers on everything about

women and their strive for equality, whereas PR Newswires piece just focuses on one specific

part of this controversy and Valerie Hudson focuses on the issues women have faced in the past.

The piece published by infobase has no bias at all and strictly focuses on womens evolution in

the workforce and in politics. Contrarily, the other sources discuss social progression for women

and favor womens equality. Lastly, Women's Rights: Is further work required to ensure women's

rights? Is the only source that offers the opposing perspective in their piece. Their goal is to

educate readers on the topic completely without any opinions implied; the author analyzes

opposing viewpoints, explaining their beliefs that women have already made great strides to

surpass men and do not need any further assistance (Infobase, 2016, para.2). The different

approaches given focus on particular elements of womens empowerment that strengthen each of

their specific arguments.

Women's Rights: Is further work required to ensure women's rights? Is a strong,

informative piece that has many benefits. The author covers all aspects of womens evolution,

discussing the history, modern-day and future material of this topic. Facts and statistics are

provided so readers can gain a stronger understanding on the matter. One weakness of this source
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is the lack of predictions for the future. Although the author anticipates this controversy to

continue, he does not offer ideas or plans for the women of the future.

Valerie Hudsons piece is persuasive with a powerful argument; however, she only

discusses the past issues women have faced. The idea that the world will be much more peaceful

if women were treated as equals is compelling and definitely convinced readers that this issue

affects all of society. But Hudson neglects to offer suggestions on how people can obtain world

peace. The author argues that people need to be treated equally in order to live in peace, but

leaves the readers wondering how they can do this. Overall, her argument is strong and appeals

to the world as a community; this source is beneficial to gaining support for womens equality.

The author of Advocates Unite to Announce Women's Empowerment Month, Four Weeks

Dedicated to Helping Women Achieve Their Dreams writes a valuable piece introducing a new

way to support womens empowerment. Readers can get any information they need to know on

this concept and how it will enhance womens successes. Even though this source is very helpful

for anyone who wants to get involved, it lacks background information. The author fails to

describe how this empowerment month developed, who contributed, and why it was established.

Altogether, the author does an exceptional job at showing readers how they can contribute to this

movement and come together to help empower women.

To conclude, after analyzing this topic and viewing multiple sources, I gained a clear

perspective on womens empowerment. These sources fully answered my initial research

question of Are the womens rights movements growing or losing power? My question was

answered yes, women uniting and marching together has gained awareness and support from the

public, ultimately giving women more power. Out of all of the sources analyzed, I learned that

the word support means the most to this controversy. Support from the public, businesses,
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important figures, etc., is vital to the progression of womens success. I define support as giving

assistance and attention to something or someone that is in need or would benefit from it.

Women have received an abundance of support and it is used as motivation and encouragement

as they continue their fight for full equality. I am one who fully support women and if I were to

get even more involved, I would research more about the political and educational aspects of

womens lives, instead of just social conditions.

References

Hudson, M, Valorie (2012, April 24). What Sex Means For World Peace.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/04/24/what-sex-means-for-world-peace/ (Links to an external
site.)

Infobase (2016, February 22) Women's Rights: Is further work required to ensure women's
rights? http://icof.infobaselearning.com/articles/rights-and-liberties/womens-rights.aspx?
sr=1&tab=1&hd=6344
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(2017, Mar 15). Advocates Unite to Announce Women's Empowerment Month, Four Weeks
Dedicated to Helping Women Achieve Their Dreams. Retrieved from
http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/16323E08E28FABE8?p=AWNB