We’ve Only Just Begun…..Take Action!
The very word “woman” (O Engl wifman) etymologically meaning a wife, sums up a long history of dependence and subordination, from which the women of to-day have only gradually emancipated themselves in such parts of the world as come under “Western Civilization.” Though married life and its duties necessarily form a predominant element in the women’s sphere, they are not necessarily the whole of it; and the ‘women’s movement’ is essentially a struggle for the recognition of equality of opportunity with men, and for equal rights irrespective of sex, even if a woman willingly enters into a marriage.
The whole idea of women’s position in social life, and their ability to take their place, independently of any question in sex, in the work of the world, was radically changed in the English-speaking countries, and also in the more progressive countries outside their bounds, during the 19th century.
This is due primarily to the movement for women’s higher education and its results. To deal in detail with this movement in various countries would take too long, but in any case, the change is so complete that the only curious thing now is, not what spheres women may enter, but the few from which they are excluded.