Women's Right Impacting Lives

As a white female growing up in a primarily white rural Appalachian community I was not exposed to many of the biases involved with various pieces of equality legislation. I was not alive when civil rights were a hot topic. The right to vote was granted to women 68 years before my birth. Schools were not segregated for over two decades before I began attending. To be completely honest, I grew up leading a sheltered life which guarded me from the discrimination faced by so many Americans.
Though I am just a small town girl who felt impacted very little by the decisions of the government in Washington, DC I am now an independent woman viewing my country with a new sense of its positive and negative attributes. Certainly I am not the standard victim of discrimination. However, there are certain barriers I expect to encounter as I embark in my chosen career. The Civil Rights Act is very important to my success as a woman in the workforce today. Title VII guaranteed that my sex would not be means for discrimination against me in my application for jobs. It also insured that hiring, pay, and promotions would not be contingent upon my sex. Title IX of the same act prevents discrimination against me as I seek to further my education. This law guarantees there will be equality in admissions, housing, rules, financial aid, faculty, staff recruitment, and athletics. Title IX guarantees that I receive the same opportunities as my male counterparts as I grow as an individual in college. The Civil Rights Act offers me the ability to move forward in a country which once prevented the basic equality of men and women.
The recognition of equality between men and women was not easily attained. Feminine activists worked diligently for rights in the home and the workplace. These same activists later met in Seneca Falls for a convention which is now well-known. Not long afterwards the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution granted women the right to vote. Suffragists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony devoted much of their lives to insuring that the women who would live in America in the next centuries would have the rights they had been denied. These women are role models and inspirations for the women of 21st century America who are fighting to make their mark in various arenas which were once closed to females.
Women’s rights is still an issue which is hotly debated. The Family and Medical Leave Act was not passed until 1993. This Act guarantees women the ability to take leave from their employment positions after the birth of their child without facing pay cuts or potential loss of their job. This act was an important piece of legislation, especially for women like me. As I start a career I also want to be able to start a family. The Family and Medical Leave Act allows me to start my family without suffering negative consequences in my career. This act guarantees a certain amount of leverage in the workplace even though a woman takes time off.
This legislation has impacted my life even though I gave it little consideration when it did. I was able to vote in my first political election in May without fear that I would be denied that right because I was a woman. I was admitted to the University of Kentucky as a female and was not discriminated against in receiving financial aid or housing. In the future I will be able to have a career and raise a family. I may not have been politically active in making this legislation reality but I am aware of how it impacts my life without my realizing it is doing so. Legislation like this is what makes my life so different from that of women a century ago and I am thankful that they worked so hard to insure I would be this privileged.