women's freedom essay in english

5 Women’s Rights Essays You Can Read For Free

Women and girls are the most disenfranchised group in the world. Even in places where huge strides have been made, gaps in equality remain. Women’s rights are important within the realm of human rights. Here are five essays exploring the scope of women’s rights, which you can download or read for free online:

“A Vindication on the Rights of Woman” – Mary Wollstonecraft

Mother of Mary Shelley, who wrote the novel Frankenstein, Mary Wollstonecraft is a juggernaut of history in her own right, though for a different reason. Self-educated, Wollstonecraft dedicated her life to women’s education and feminism. Her 1792 essay A Vindication on the Rights of Woman represents one of the earliest writings on women’s equality. In the Western world, many consider its arguments the foundation of the modern women’s rights movement. In the essay, Wollstonecraft writes that men are not  more reasonable or rational than women, and that women must be educated with the same care, so they can contribute to society. If women were left out of the intellectual arena, the progress of society would stop. While most of us believe the idea that women are inherently inferior to men is very outdated, it’s still an accepted viewpoint in many places and in many minds. Wollstonecraft’s Vindication is still relevant.

“The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” – Audre Lorde

Poet and activist Audre Lorde defied the boundaries of traditional feminism and cried out against its racist tendencies. While today debates about intersectional feminism (feminism that takes into account race, sexuality, etc) are common, Audre Lorde wrote her essay on women’s rights and racism back in 1984. In “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House,” Lorde explains how ignoring differences between women – whether its race, class, or sexuality – halts any real change. By pretending the suffering of women is “all the same,” and not defined by differences, white women actually contribute to oppression. Lorde’s essay drew anger from the white feminist community. It’s a debate that feels very current and familiar.

“How to convince sceptics of the value of feminism” – Laura Bates

Laura Bates founded the Everyday Sexism Project website back in 2012. It documents examples of everyday sexism of every degree and has become very influential. In her essay from 2018, Bates takes reader comments into consideration over the essay’s three parts. This unique format allows the essay to encompass multiple views, just not Bates’, and takes into consideration a variety of experiences people have with skeptics of feminism. Why even debate skeptics? Doesn’t that fuel the trolls? In some cases, yes, but skeptics of feminism aren’t trolls, they are numerous, and make up every part of society, including leadership. Learning how to talk to people who don’t agree with you is incredibly important.

“Why Can’t A Smart Woman Love Fashion?” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one of the most influential voices in women’s rights writing. Her book, We Should All Be Feminists , is a great exploration of 21st-century feminism. In this essay from Elle, Adichie takes a seemingly “small” topic about fashion and makes a big statement about independence and a woman’s right to wear whatever she wants. There is still a lot of debate about what a feminist should look like, if wearing makeup contributes to oppression, and so on. “Why Can’t A Smart Woman Love Fashion?” is a moving, personal look at these sorts of questions.

“The male cultural elite is staggeringly blind to #MeToo. Now it’s paying for it.” – Moira Donegan

There are countless essays on the Me Too Movement, and most of them are great reads. In this one from The Guardian, Moira Donegan highlights two specific men and the publications that chose to give them a platform after accusations of sexual misconduct. It reveals just how pervasive the problem is in every arena, including among the cultural, intellectual elite, and what detractors of Me Too are saying.

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About the author, emmaline soken-huberty.

Emmaline Soken-Huberty is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She started to become interested in human rights while attending college, eventually getting a concentration in human rights and humanitarianism. LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and climate change are of special concern to her. In her spare time, she can be found reading or enjoying Oregon’s natural beauty with her husband and dog.

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History Resources

Women's Suffrage Spring 2006

Past Issues

69 | The Reception and Impact of the Declaration of Independence, 1776-1826 | Winter 2023

68 | The Role of Spain in the American Revolution | Fall 2023

67 | The Influence of the Declaration of Independence on the Civil War and Reconstruction Era | Summer 2023

66 | Hispanic Heroes in American History | Spring 2023

65 | Asian American Immigration and US Policy | Winter 2022

64 | New Light on the Declaration and Its Signers | Fall 2022

63 | The Declaration of Independence and the Long Struggle for Equality in America | Summer 2022

62 | The Honored Dead: African American Cemeteries, Graveyards, and Burial Grounds | Spring 2022

61 | The Declaration of Independence and the Origins of Self-Determination in the Modern World | Fall 2021

60 | Black Lives in the Founding Era | Summer 2021

59 | American Indians in Leadership | Winter 2021

58 | Resilience, Recovery, and Resurgence in the Wake of Disasters | Fall 2020

57 | Black Voices in American Historiography | Summer 2020

56 | The Nineteenth Amendment and Beyond | Spring 2020

55 | Examining Reconstruction | Fall 2019

54 | African American Women in Leadership | Summer 2019

53 | The Hispanic Legacy in American History | Winter 2019

52 | The History of US Immigration Laws | Fall 2018

51 | The Evolution of Voting Rights | Summer 2018

50 | Frederick Douglass at 200 | Winter 2018

49 | Excavating American History | Fall 2017

48 | Jazz, the Blues, and American Identity | Summer 2017

47 | American Women in Leadership | Winter 2017

46 | African American Soldiers | Fall 2016

45 | American History in Visual Art | Summer 2016

44 | Alexander Hamilton in the American Imagination | Winter 2016

43 | Wartime Memoirs and Letters from the American Revolution to Vietnam | Fall 2015

42 | The Role of China in US History | Spring 2015

41 | The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Legislating Equality | Winter 2015

40 | Disasters in Modern American History | Fall 2014

39 | American Poets, American History | Spring 2014

38 | The Joining of the Rails: The Transcontinental Railroad | Winter 2014

37 | Gettysburg: Insights and Perspectives | Fall 2013

36 | Great Inaugural Addresses | Summer 2013

35 | America’s First Ladies | Spring 2013

34 | The Revolutionary Age | Winter 2012

33 | Electing a President | Fall 2012

32 | The Music and History of Our Times | Summer 2012

31 | Perspectives on America’s Wars | Spring 2012

30 | American Reform Movements | Winter 2012

29 | Religion in the Colonial World | Fall 2011

28 | American Indians | Summer 2011

27 | The Cold War | Spring 2011

26 | New Interpretations of the Civil War | Winter 2010

25 | Three Worlds Meet | Fall 2010

24 | Shaping the American Economy | Summer 2010

23 | Turning Points in American Sports | Spring 2010

22 | Andrew Jackson and His World | Winter 2009

21 | The American Revolution | Fall 2009

20 | High Crimes and Misdemeanors | Summer 2009

19 | The Great Depression | Spring 2009

18 | Abraham Lincoln in His Time and Ours | Winter 2008

17 | Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Era | Fall 2008

16 | Books That Changed History | Summer 2008

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11 | American Cities | Spring 2007

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5 | Abolition | Fall 2005

4 | American National Holidays | Summer 2005

3 | Immigration | Spring 2005

2 | Primary Sources on Slavery | Winter 2004

1 | Elections | Fall 2004

Sisters of Suffrage: British and American Women Fight for the Vote

By barbara winslow.

In England, the organized suffrage movement began in 1866, when a number of prominent women’s rights reformers gathered some 1,500 signatures on a petition to Parliament requesting the right to vote. Signers included John Stuart Mill, who had successfully run for Parliament on a platform that included votes for women. From 1870 to 1905, a period often referred to as "the doldrums," suffragists did not make significant headway in mobilizing either widespread support or popular enthusiasm for extending the suffrage. But with the explosion of "militancy," beginning in 1905, hundreds of thousands of women pushed women’s suffrage to center stage, challenged conventional notions of women’s role, and confronted the government in never-before-dreamed-of acts of mass militancy and civil disobedience. English women won limited suffrage in 1918, and then in 1928, the majority of English women won the right to vote.

There are many commonalities and links between these histories of suffrage. English and American suffragists had a long history of relationships and organizational connections with each other. The idea of a women’s rights convention was first formulated by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott while they attended the World Anti-Slavery Conference in London in 1840. Stanton and other US women’s rights reformers remained in contact with their English sisters. In the twentieth century the links continued. Emmeline, Christabel, and Sylvia Pankhurst, leaders of the militant wing of the English suffragette movement, made a number of visits to the United States. American women, including Harriot Stanton Blatch, Alice Paul, and Lucy Burns, worked with the Pankhursts and the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), and introduced the WSPU’s ideas of militancy and pageantry to the US women’s suffrage movement.

Along with the longstanding political and social relationships between the British and US movements, there were similarities both in the circumstances that these movements faced and in their styles and approaches. One similarity was that in both countries suffrage was based on gender. In the period before the American Revolution, propertied women in a few colonies could vote, but when the US Constitution was ratified, states specifically gave men the vote. (New Jersey briefly granted property-owning women the vote but rescinded it soon afterwards.) In England the reform bills of 1832 and 1867 respectively excluded women.

In both countries, to be sure, suffrage was based on class, race, nation, and religion as well as on gender. Another similarity is that suffragists in both countries were outside the political establishment. They had to campaign alone, without support from national leaders—presidents and prime ministers—or from the major political parties—the Democrats and Republicans in the US and the Liberal, Conservative, and Labour Parties in Britain. Suffragists in both countries (and overwhelmingly in the United States) were white and middle class, and their arguments for women’s suffrage reflected their class position. In the first phase of the two campaigns, the arguments for suffrage focused on equality; in the latter part of the nineteenth century and first two decades of the twentieth century, women’s unique contribution to nation- and empire-building was put forward as an argument for suffrage. Both suffrage movements sought the vote for privileged women, ignoring at best, opposing at worst, suffrage for working-class and colonized women—and in the United States, for African American women. Another common thread was the impact of World War I on women and the struggle for suffrage. Many historians have noted that women’s war work convinced a number of men (who were voters) that women’s enthusiastic participation in the war effort had earned them the right to vote.

Thus, the US and British woman’s suffrage movements clearly shared many features. But there were also several important differences. First, in England, unlike the United States, suffrage was by 1866 based on property as well as gender. The Liberal and Conservative Parties were not interested in expanding suffrage at all; the radical and labor movements, which did argue for expanding adult suffrage, ignored women. To these groups, "adult suffrage" was the code word for "adult male suffrage." However, the political argument for women’s suffrage, Votes for Women, meant voting rights on the same basis as men. Thus, given the exclusion of non-propertied working-class men from the electorate, Votes for Women in England meant votes for propertied women.

In the US, where race was more divisive than class, the franchise had been extended to almost all white male citizens by 1836. The struggle to extend the franchise to African Americans was a central demand of African American abolitionists. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments guaranteed the franchise to African American men, but specifically excluded women. After 1870, issues of race and racism shaped the US women’s suffrage movement. While African American women supported and organized for suffrage, they were denied admission into the major suffrage organizations and meetings; meanwhile, suffragists used arguments of white racial supremacy as a rationale for giving women the vote.

Second, England had a parliamentary government, and therefore, the strategy and tactics of the suffragists were based on convincing the party in power to introduce and pass legislation. The militant wing of the suffrage movement, led by the WSPU, vowed to campaign against all parliamentary candidates of the political party in power if women’s suffrage legislation was not enacted. In the US, a representative republic, there were no national elections that would simultaneously determine the ruling party of both the executive and the legislature—and thus suffragists did not have the same kind of centralized power base to which they could appeal. In addition, each state was responsible for determining its own suffrage status. So suffragists had to adopt two strategies: One was to ignore the federal government and campaign on a state-by-state basis. This appealed in part to conservative and southern women, who could maintain racially exclusionary suffrage laws in their particular states. The other approach was to campaign for an amendment to the Constitution—a federal approach. This entailed convincing Congress as well as campaigning on a state-by-state basis. In the end, it took a federal amendment to enact women’s suffrage in the United States.

A final difference was the degree of militancy in the two movements. The history of the twentieth-century English suffrage movement is dominated by the militant leadership of the WSPU. Hundreds of thousands of women took to the streets, demonstrated, heckled politicians, chained themselves to Parliament, blew up buildings, smashed windows, went to jail, and endured the torture of forced feeding; in short they disrupted Edwardian England in a way not seen in the country since the days of the Chartist agitation. The mass militancy of women no doubt was a major factor in forcing the Liberal government to grant women’s suffrage in 1918.

There was no equivalent to this level of militancy in the United States. This is not to say that there weren’t mass demonstrations, picketing, and pageantry. Alice Paul’s Congressional Union continued the struggle for suffrage during World War I, with members demonstrating and chaining themselves to the White House, and suffering arrest, prison, and forced feedings. However, this militancy and disruption were not on the same scale as English militancy.

For all the commonalities and differences, in both countries, the hope for social peace was an overriding factor in winning women’s suffrage. Both countries had experienced growing social unrest before World War I, and it was thought that enfranchising women just might placate a significant section of the population, and bring it into the workings of the state. Finally, in both the US and Britain, the struggle for women’s suffrage was, in the words of leading suffrage historian Ellen Dubois, "a concrete reform and a symbol of women’s freedom, widely appreciated as such by supporters and opponents alike."

Barbara Winslow   is a historian who teaches in the School of Education and for the Women’s Studies Program at Brooklyn College, The City University of New York. Her publications include  Sylvia Pankhurst: Sexual Politics and Political Activism  (1996) and  Clio in the Classroom: Teaching US Women’s History in the Schools  (2009), co-authored and co-edited with Carol Berkin and Margaret Crocco. She is the founder and director of the Shirley Chisholm Project of Brooklyn Women’s Activism, 1945 to the Present (chisholmproject.com) and is currently completing a biography of Shirley Chisholm as well as writing about the Seattle Washington Women’s Liberation Movement.

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‘Sexism and misogyny’ heightened; women’s freedoms supressed

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Gender-based violence, hate speech and disinformation are being used extensively online and offline, to chill or kill women’s freedom of expression, an independent UN human rights expert told the General Assembly on Monday.

Presenting her  report  on gender justice and free expression, Special Rapporteur on protecting freedom of opinion and expression , Irene Khan, said that “women’s voices are suppressed, controlled or punished explicitly by laws, policies and discriminatory practices, and implicitly by social attitudes, cultural norms and patriarchal values”.

Gender equality in freedom of expression remains a distant goal, as gender-based violence, hate speech & disinformation are used to silence women online & offline, warns UN expert @Irenekhan. She calls on States to remove the gender digital divide: https://t.co/uerj5YBqdk#UNGA76 pic.twitter.com/J3roQAKh0H UN Special Procedures UN_SPExperts

Gendered censorship

As States continue to fail to respect and protect women’s equal rights, gendered censorship has become so pervasive, that women’s equality concerning freedom of expression remains a distant goal, according to the UN expert.

“Sexism and misogyny, which are dominant factors in gendered censorship, have been heightened by the rise of populist, authoritarian and fundamentalist forces around the world”, she said.

In some countries, young women and gender non-conforming people are being policed by fundamentalists and, under the guise of protecting ‘public morals’, censored and criminalized by Governments.

“Such action is paternalistic at best, misogynistic at worst”, underscored Ms. Khan.

No trade-offs

The Special Rapporteur said women journalists, politicians, human rights defenders and feminist activists were being targeted with vicious, coordinated online attacks and intimidation, aimed at driving them off social media platforms and out of public life.

Noting that this undermines human rights, media diversity and inclusive democracy, she called on States and social media companies to – within the framework of international human rights law – urgently and decisively make digital spaces safe for all women and non-binary people.

“There can be no trade-off between women’s right to be free from violence and the right to freedom of opinion and expression”, argued Ms. Khan.

“States must not use efforts to address online gender-based violence, hate speech and disinformation as a pretext to restrict freedom of expression beyond what is permitted under international law”.

There can be no trade-off between women’s right to be free from violence and the right to freedom of opinion and expression -- UN expert

She urged governments to close the gender digital divide, gender data gaps, and other barriers to women’s right to information, including on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

“ There is not just one divide but multiple divides that must be overcome ” spelled out the Special Rapporteur.

Women ‘front and centre’

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an additional imperative for stepped-up action.

“If women are to recover lost ground, if countries are to revive their economies and if governments are to regain public trust, then women’s equal right to freedom of opinion and expression must be front and centre on national and international agendas”, said Ms. Khan.

She added that gender justice requires “not only an end to unlawful interference with women’s freedom of opinion and expression” but also an enabling environment in which women can “exercise their agency and participate safely, fully and equally in the political, social cultural and economic life”.

Ms. Khan, who was appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council on 17 July 2020, is the first woman to hold the position since the establishment of the mandate in 1993.

She and all Special Rapporteurs are tasked with examining and reporting back on a specific human rights theme, or a country situation.

The positions are honorary, and the experts are neither UN staff, nor paid for their work.

• UN independent expert
• gender-based violence
• violence against women

Women Empowerment in Modern Society Essay

Introduction, reasons for choosing women empowerment, supporting evidence.

For many centuries, the society has discriminated against women because men’s supremacy overwhelms women in every aspect of life. Cultures and traditions that men have made and maintained across centuries have hindered women from participating equally with men in the modern world. It took centuries of struggles for women to achieve the contemporary status because men did not pave way for them to achieve their rights easily.

Cultures and traditions perceive women as weaker beings when compared to men, and thus they do not deserve to have equal privileges and rights with men.

According to Fuller (1845), as women struggle to gain their denied rights, a man reasons, “Now you must be trying to break family union, to take my wife away from the cradle and the kitchen-hearth to vote at polls, and preach from a pulpit” (p. 125).

Women movements that occurred in the 19 th and 20 th centuries made significant steps that led to women empowerment the modern world. In view of the process that led to women empowerment, it is evident that people have the ability to shape their culture and traditions through social, religious, political, and economic changes in their environment.

The topic of women empowerment is a dominant theme in the study article entitled “Women in the Nineteenth Century” by Margaret Fuller Ossoli. The author fought for the emancipation of women from cultures and traditions, which restricted them from performing certain roles in society.

Moreover, some cultures and traditions denied women their rights by making them appear less human since they were not equal with their male counterparts. Fuller (1845) contends that supremacy of a man in the society has given him powers to trample upon women because “he has so framed the laws of divorce, as to what cases, going upon false supposition of the supremacy of the man, and giving all power into his hands” (p. 127).

Hence, supremacy of men in the society shaped cultures and traditions that discriminate and undermine women. By viewing the modern world, it is evident that women have made significant strides in their struggles to overcome men’s supremacy in the society. The achievements that women have made are attributed to their struggles; hence, their influence has shaped the modern society by overcoming male dominance.

Therefore, the topic integrates with the research question: how does our environment shape us and how do we shape our environment? This research paper uses three academic disciplines viz. socio-economic, religious and political disciplines to answer the research question

Social Changes

Social factors in the ancient society shaped the way people perceived gender. As men and women grew up, they adopted social norms that differentiated them as different entities in the society, which have different roles. The social norms dictate that the responsibility of women is to take care of their children while men go out to fend for their families.

Hence, the responsibilities of women revolved around their homes and could not perform activities beyond their homes. In the aspect of power, women did not have the ability to make decisions because chauvinism overpowered them. Under such society, women were submissive for they could not overcome societal social demands.

Friedmann (2008) asserts that social structures of society compelled women to accept societal dictates under the dominance of men. Thus, social norms, under the influence of men, shaped society to perceive women as lesser beings in comparison to men, thus with unique responsibilities.

However, as the society advanced into the modern world, emancipation movements started to empower women. When women realized that they had the capacity to shape social norms and advance their quest for freedom and social rights, activists created various movements. In this view, leading feminists have been agitating for women empowerment while demanding drastic readjustments of social structures in the society so that women can exercise their freedom and gain their rights as men.

Friedmann (2008) observes, women liberation “requires radical reassessment of established social norms and a progressive restructuring of society based on choice, autonomy, and ‘de-genderization” (p. 1). Through their movements, women have managed to transform social norms and restructure society.

Native American women have managed to empower themselves nationally, tribally, and academically through their movements (Mihesuah, 2003). In the modern world, women have achieved their freedom for they can now exercise all responsibilities without necessarily consulting their men counterparts. Additionally, in families, husbands and wives have equal responsibilities in taking care of their children and providing for them.

Economic Changes

Women have endured poverty for centuries because society could not provide them with the opportunity to participate in meaningful economic activities, which would enhance their economic wellbeing. While women remained at home taking care of children, men went out to perform various economic activities to provide for the family.

In this view, women were unable to empower themselves economically because they could not access job opportunities as men did. Additionally, since men made and interpreted laws without involving women, they ensured that they favored themselves despite the fact that they oppressed women.

The laws gave husbands economic powers to own family property and dispose it, as they wanted without consulting their wives. The laws also allowed widowers to own larger share of family property than they allowed widows when death occurred in a family (Fuller, 1845). Hence, women in the past centuries did not have access to economic activities or property that could empower them economically as men.

As women realized that their weakness emanated from economic disempowerment, they started advocating for their rights to access job opportunities and wealth. Education is one of the factors that have helped women in modern society to access job opportunities as their male counterparts. Employers in modern society no longer consider gender as part of job qualification because educational qualification is the major criterion.

Furthermore, current laws protect all people equally, thus enhancing women’s access to jobs and property. Chaudhry and Nosheen (2009) state, “Women empowerment seeks change in the sexual division of labor, equal access to food, health care, education credit and employment, ownership of assets, and now access to media” (p. 217). Hence, modern women have transformed economic aspects in the society, thus ensuring economic empowerment..

Religious Changes

Religious beliefs and teachings also contributed to disempowerment of women in past centuries because they supported men’s supremacy in society. Feminists perceive that traditional religion is the main hindrance to social restructuring in the course of their movements.

Friedmann (2008) posits, “Seemingly preoccupied with order, structure, and boundaries, traditional religious systems view social divisions and hierarchies as predetermined realities” (p. 2). In the aspects of gendered roles, traditional religions believed that these roles were rigid, natural, and divine.

Moreover, religions asserted that men had absolute power to rule society, and thus women had to submit to their demands. Any attempts to restructure gendered roles in the society were against divine principles. Hence, religious beliefs and teachings that men and women subscribed to influenced roles and positions of women in society.

Through religion, feminists pushed their agenda of liberating modern women from bondage of religious beliefs that demeaned women. Several feminism movements decried about traditional religious beliefs that degraded women and denied them opportunity to attain their dreams.

In the Seneca Fall Convention, women declared “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among them these are life, liberty, and the pursuit for happiness” (Fuller, 1845, p. 126). The convention set the pace, which led to transformation of traditional religious beliefs to recognize women as having equal capacity as men with inalienable rights of freedom to perform their responsibilities without undue restriction.

Political Changes

In the past centuries, women did not have a stake in the political arena because they did not have the capacity to vie for leadership positions. Their responsibilities just revolved around homes where they could only take care of their children and husbands. Moreover, women did not have right to vote.

Before recognition of women by the 19 th Amendment to the US constitution, women did not have right to participate in politics by voting (Fuller, 1845). The supremacy of men in politics prevented women from venturing into the political arena and making their contribution. Hence, the political society had accepted that women had no responsibility in politics because they did not have the capacity to compete equally with men through their leadership or vote.

Dramatic changes in the political arena in the modern society have empowered women to venture into politics. Women movements during the 19 th century fought for their rights and the 19 th Amendment to the US constitution set the precedent, which led to recognition of voting powers of women.

Voting rights enabled both black and white women to participate equally in politics (Collins, 2000). As women participated in voting, they got the privilege of transforming political leadership and entrenching their interests in politics. In the modern society, many women have entered the political arena and become successful leaders contrary to earlier beliefs that they lack the capacity to become leaders.

Women leaders in political circles have made a significant contribution in transforming perception towards women. Women empowerment is attributed to courageous women who managed to venture into political fields and made a difference in political leadership.

Chaudhry and Nosheen (2009) state that women empowerment in politics has led to positive changes in literacy levels, societal participation, wellbeing status, and position of women. Therefore, politics enhanced the power through which women used to transform the world.

Women empowerment, which is evident in the modern world, is attributed to series of struggles that women have made over the centuries. Women activists have been advocating for recognition of women in the aspect of life such as social, religious, political, and economic arenas, which men had dominated.

Owing to supremacy of men, women remained passive as society shaped them to accept oppressive and discriminative social norms. However, as feminism movements emerged, women started shaping their destiny by influencing social norms to recognize the role of women in all aspects of life. Hence, the significant findings is that, as society shapes the way of life, people also have the capacity to shape their society and define their destiny as women have done.

Chaudhry, I., & Nosheen, F. (2009). The determinants of women empowerment in

Southern Punjab (Pakistan): An empirical analysis. European Journal of Social Sciences, 10 (2), 216-229.

Collins, P. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York, NY: Routledge.

Friedmann, J. (2008). Liberating Domesticity: Women and the home in Orthodox Judaism and Latin American Pentecostalism. Journal of Religion & Society, 10, 1-16.

Fuller, M. (1845). Woman in the Nineteenth Century. In H. Zinn & A. Arnove (Eds.), Voices of a People’s History of the United States (pp. 124-132). New York, NY: Seven Stories Press.

Mihesuah, D. (2003 ). Indigenous American women: Decolonization, empowerment, activism . London, UK: University of Nebraska Press.

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IvyPanda. (2019, April 13). Women Empowerment in Modern Society. https://ivypanda.com/essays/women-empowerment/

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1. IvyPanda . "Women Empowerment in Modern Society." April 13, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/women-empowerment/.

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Women and Liberty, 1600-1800: Philosophical Essays

Jacqueline Broad and Karen Detlefsen (eds.), Women and Liberty, 1600-1800: Philosophical Essays , Oxford University Press, 2018, 272pp., $65.00 (hbk), ISBN 9780198810261.

Reviewed by Nancy Kendrick, Wheaton College, Massachusetts

This excellent collection of essays on early modern women and liberty provides richly detailed analyses of freedom from both political and metaphysical perspectives. With one exception (Martina Reuter’s essay on François Poulain de la Barre), the essays treat the works of women writers.

Before turning to the individual essays, two points are in order about the collection taken as a whole. First, the editors are to be congratulated for including biographical details of the subjects of the volume in an appendix, rather than having these details included in the individual essays. Recovery work in the history of philosophy has been going on for several decades now, and the decision not to include biographical data about these philosophers at the start of the essays signals the expectation that it is the responsibility of the reader to know — or to find out — who these women are. 1 Second, though the collection will surely prove useful for those scholars wishing to read selectively, a cover-to-cover read of the text forcefully conveys the full(er) details of a complex philosophical history of the ideas of liberty, autonomy, and volition and creates a well-deserved admiration for the early modern writers included in this volume who played a significant role in forging that history.

Karen Detlefsen opens Part I of the text — Ethical and Political Liberty — by considering the relation of feminism to liberty in the works of Mary Astell and Margaret Cavendish. Detlefsen argues that Astell and Cavendish can be considered feminists despite advancing some positions about women’s social roles that contemporary feminists would reject. She does this by identifying in Astell’s and Cavendish’s works three forms of liberty essential (yet largely denied) to the intellectual and moral development of 17 th -century women: the freedom to cultivate one’s reason, the freedom to create an authentic self, and the freedom to create female-friendly communities. Detlefsen also argues briefly that literary works, such as plays and novels, can be important sources of philosophical insight and argument.

Next, Reuter examines three treatises by Poulain de la Barre, all of which address the liberty of women indirectly by focusing on its opposite: the subjugation of women. Reuter shows that Poulain relies on the Cartesian argument for the unity of the sciences to champion women’s unacknowledged intellectual capacities. The subjugation of women is so widespread and so ordinary, Poulain claims, that it is practically invisible. Reuter emphasizes Poulain’s insistence that women overcome the internalized cultural prejudices they have learned to accept about their own (and other women’s) supposed intellectual inferiority by developing their self-knowledge. This involves the Cartesian approach of examining opinions oneself rather than uncritically adopting the opinions of others.

In “Gabrielle Suchon’s ‘Neutralist’: The Status of Women and the Invention of Autonomy,” Lisa Shapiro provides an analysis of Suchon’s insistence that women need an alternative to the “professions” of either marriage or religious vocation in order to develop as full human beings. This alternative is the Neutral or celibate life. Suchon’s Neutral, Shapiro explains, is someone who chooses to create a life without commitments, that is, outside of the institutional or law-like codes of a profession. By refusing to enter a profession, one is free, not bound by externally imposed rules of conduct. But the Neutralist is not a libertine. Though she does institute her own code of conduct, it is not for the sake of pleasure and entertainment that she does so. Rather, the goal is virtue. As Shapiro explains, “the voluntary commitments the Neutralist undertakes . . . are guided by the natural commitments all human beings share, and through which we can understand divine law.” (57)

Jacqueline Broad’s “Marriage, Slavery, and the Merger of Wills: Responses to Sprint, 1700-01” reminds the reader of the enormous assemblage of explicitly misogynistic literature written during and before the early modern period, and of the responses women writers advanced in defense of “their sex.” Broad considers the works of three thinkers — Eugenia, Astell, and Mary Chudleigh — all of whom penned replies to the preacher John Sprint’s 1699 pamphlet, The Bride-Woman’s Counsellor , in which Sprint argues for a wife’s complete obedience to her husband. Broad claims that the responses by Eugenia, Astell, and Chudleigh are indicative of the movement away from the idea of “morality as obedience” and toward the idea of “morality as self-governance.” (68) She explains that each of these writers points to the psychological and logical impossibility of an “interiorized submission” (72) — of internally honoring a husband who does not merit such honor — and that each insists that God does not demand that women do that which is impossible. Liberty, Broad explains, consists in making right use of one’s reason, and using the God-given power to judge for oneself.

Karen Green’s chapter considers the distinction between liberty and license as it is drawn by Catherine Macaulay and some of her contemporaries (Octavie Belot, Louise Keralio-Robert, Catherine II of Russia, and Elise Reimarus). Green shows that Macaulay accepts the Lockean views that genuine liberty involves subjection to law and that it is properly understood as freedom from domination. These political commitments coupled with an endorsement of Locke’s rejection of innate ideas lead Macaulay to insist that “only government by certain forms of democratic institution will promote non-arbitrary law.” (88)

Lena Halldenius picks up on the theme of Lockean republicanism in “Mary Wollstonecraft and Freedom as Independence.” Halldenius explains that to be unfree on Wollstonecraft’s view is to be subordinated to arbitrary power, or to the capricious will of another. This means that a person can be correctly described as unfree “even if she is factually able to do all or most of what she wants to do.” (97) Such a person is still vulnerable to the arbitrary power of another, who may, whenever he likes, exercise his will in ways that will prohibit her from doing what she wants. Without resources to counter or avert such coercion, if it should occur, such a person is, on Wollstonecraft’s view, unfree. Halldenius explains that Wollstonecraft’s understanding of freedom as “being entitled” to act (101) serves to ground her arguments for women’s political rights.

Eric Schliesser’s chapter carves out a place for Sophie De Grouchy in the history of Liberalism by examining the distinction she makes between positive and negative rights and by showing that it is a version of the distinction famously drawn by Isaiah Berlin between negative and positive liberties. Schliesser points out that De Grouchy offers liberty (understood in the republican sense of freedom from domination) as an example of a negative right, and that she proposes that the laws of a state can work in unison with moral education to produce responsible, yet free, citizens.

Sarah Hutton wraps up Part I with “Liberty of Mind: Women Philosophers and the Freedom to Philosophize.” Hutton points out that for early modern women thinkers, the freedom to philosophize was not a matter of intellectual pluralism, as it was for male thinkers. Rather it was about the possibility of philosophizing at all. Given women’s exclusion from formal societies and institutions and from the informal social networks necessary to cultivate their intellectual capacities, Hutton claims that women thinkers created opportunities for intellectual life by taking advantage of the circumstances where their involvement was socially acceptable: religion, politeness, and domesticity. The case for the freedom to think is, she suggests, articulated in relation to those roles. She then makes clear the role “rational conversation” plays in the works of Madeleine de Scudéry, Damaris Cudworth Masham, and Astell in their attempts to help create appropriate conditions for the development of female philosophical life.

Hutton draws out explicitly what many of the essays in Part I implicitly address: the importance of education as a philosophical topic, especially as it connects to the idea of freedom as rational self-governance. The volume’s editors note that one consequence of this collection’s focus on women and liberty is that it uncovers just how prevalent discussions of education were in the works of early modern thinkers — both female and male. An example that illustrates this claim (though not mentioned in the text) is George Berkeley’s 1725 proposal to found a college in Bermuda that would educate Native Americans and colonists together in the liberal arts and sciences. This project occupied Berkeley for nearly ten years and was, in fact, partly influenced by Astell’s arguments for women’s education in Serious Proposal to the Ladies , yet it has received very little scholarly attention. 2 The essays in Part I illuminate just how understudied the philosophy of education has been in the early modern period, despite its importance to many early modern thinkers.

Part II turns to metaphysical and religious notions of freedom and to questions related to free will and to agency. Deborah Boyle begins this section by arguing that Cavendish is an incompatibilist with respect to free will, and she explains the indeterministic, libertarian position that Cavendish advances about human freedom. Boyle endorses the view first introduced by Detlefsen that Cavendish’s theory of occasional causation requires that the parts of matter are self-determining (possess free will) and perceptive (sense what is happening in the bodies around them), and that this plays an important role in her conception of human freedom. Human beings are subject to the norms of nature, Cavendish holds, but they are not necessitated or determined to act in accordance with them. All of nature (including human action) is self-determining.

In “Anne Conway on Liberty,” Marcy Lascano considers issues of theodicy and the problem of evil in Conway’s philosophy. Addressing the question why God would create any creatures at all if they must be made capable of evil, Lascano explains several aspects of Conway’s view: God creates from the necessity of his own nature, and what God creates must have a nature different from his. God is perfect and immutable; therefore, what he creates must be imperfect and mutable. This mutability is based on a creature’s ability to choose either good or evil. Abusing the power to change, to move toward greater goodness, is what brings about evil. Lascano also explains the reason for Conway’s non-standard (for a Christian) views about punishment: Conway denies eternal damnation, arguing that it is inconsistent with perfect justice to penalize a finite transgression with an eternal punishment. Connecting this back to Conway’s ontology, Lascano explains that since mutability is essential to the creatures’ nature, to punish creatures for what they essentially are would be unjust. Creatures are punished only for their finite acts of willing incorrectly.

Alice Sowaal considers the relation of internal liberty to external constraint in the volume’s second essay devoted to Astell’s philosophy. Sowaal addresses the concerns expressed by some commentators that Astell’s emphasis on cultivating one’s internal liberty instead of protesting the external constraints leading to female oppression is at odds with her feminist aims because such an emphasis both promotes passivity and places a heavy burden on (largely) unschooled women to liberate themselves. Sowaal argues that Astell’s emphasis on internal liberty serves to “render moot” (180) the external constraints, so that Astell’s solution to female oppression turns out to be “viable, active, and fair.” (180). Sowaal explains that internal liberty arises for Astell primarily by making God the sole and proper object of one’s love, which allows for the cultivation of the God-derived passions of joy, generosity, and love, and for the renunciation of the bodily-derived passions of anger, fear, and resentment. This provides a woman with a “God-derived power of human strength,” (190) which makes it impossible even for a tyrannical husband to “take [her] humanity and turn [her] into [a] brute.” Instead a woman’s “humanity . . . , integrity . . . , and rationality remain out of reach.” (192)

Ruth Hagengruber’s chapter explores Emilie Du Châtelet’s approach to philosophical problems of liberty by paying particular attention to the systematic nature of her thought especially as this bears on the connection of physics to moral philosophy. Within physics, Du Châtelet considers liberty in terms of free will, which is a causal capacity to initiate movement. Du Châtelet came to endorse living forces, a concept that linked well with her moral and political commitments, in which she viewed humans as active entities, reflecting both their own forces and those acting upon them. As Hagengruber explains, “the fact of ‘powerless’ women, according to [Du Châtelet], is a sign that forces are in disequilibrium in an unbalanced society.” (204)

Emily Thomas rounds out the volume with an essay on Catharine Cockburn’s view of divine freedom. Thomas explains that though Cockburn is an intellectualist with respect to God’s creative acts, “there is a sense in which God is more free on Cockburn’s position than on rival intellectualist systems.” (206-7). Thomas explains that Cockburn rejects the conception of a best possible world and advances instead a plurality of created possible worlds. Whether Cockburn is advancing a form of “modal realism” or simply making a claim about the likelihood of inhabitable planets in other star systems remains somewhat unclear. The important point is that Cockburn understands moral fitnesses to be contingent. As Thomas explains, natural laws (from which moral fitnesses would follow) do not hold in every possible world; thus they are logically contingent. Different possible worlds have different systems of natural laws, but once God has fixed on a possible world, moral fitnesses necessarily follow. Thus, the moral fitnesses are logically contingent, but nomicly necessary. This is what affords God a greater range of choice with respect to his creative acts.

The ideas of liberty, autonomy, and freedom — so important to understanding the early modern period — explode on the pages of this collection. The essays place each thinker into a familiar philosophical context, but they do so in a way that does not reduce them to intellectual satellites of their better-known and better-studied male contemporaries. There are creative ontologies, compelling political arguments, and intriguing philosophical distinctions advanced by the philosophers included in this volume. Every scholar/teacher of the early modern period should attend to the variety of positions these thinkers bring to the philosophical table.

1 The problematic nature of repeatedly including biographical details of women writers in philosophical essays is pointed out by Jessica Gordon-Roth in our jointly-authored paper “The Visible and the Invisible: Feminist Recovery in the History of Philosophy,” presented at Recovering Women’s Past , University of Edinburgh, September 2016.

2 See Nancy Kendrick, “Berkeley’s Bermuda Project and The Ladies Library ,” in Berkeley Revisited: Social, Moral and Political Philosophy, edited by Sébastien Charles (Oxford: Oxford Studies in the Enlightenment, 2015), pp. 243-257; and Nancy Kendrick, “Berkeley’s Bermuda Project in Context,” in The Bloomsbury Companion to Berkeley , edited by Bertil Belfrage and Richard Brook (London: Bloomsbury, 2017), pp. 21-48.

Essay on Feminism

500 words essay on feminism.

Feminism is a social and political movement that advocates for the rights of women on the grounds of equality of sexes. It does not deny the biological differences between the sexes but demands equality in opportunities. It covers everything from social and political to economic arenas. In fact, feminist campaigns have been a crucial part of history in women empowerment. The feminist campaigns of the twentieth century made the right to vote, public property, work and education possible. Thus, an essay on feminism will discuss its importance and impact.

Importance of Feminism

Feminism is not just important for women but for every sex, gender, caste, creed and more. It empowers the people and society as a whole. A very common misconception is that only women can be feminists.

It is absolutely wrong but feminism does not just benefit women. It strives for equality of the sexes, not the superiority of women. Feminism takes the gender roles which have been around for many years and tries to deconstruct them.

This allows people to live freely and empower lives without getting tied down by traditional restrictions. In other words, it benefits women as well as men. For instance, while it advocates that women must be free to earn it also advocates that why should men be the sole breadwinner of the family? It tries to give freedom to all.

Most importantly, it is essential for young people to get involved in the feminist movement. This way, we can achieve faster results. It is no less than a dream to live in a world full of equality.

Thus, we must all look at our own cultures and communities for making this dream a reality. We have not yet reached the result but we are on the journey, so we must continue on this mission to achieve successful results.

Impact of Feminism

Feminism has had a life-changing impact on everyone, especially women. If we look at history, we see that it is what gave women the right to vote. It was no small feat but was achieved successfully by women.

Further, if we look at modern feminism, we see how feminism involves in life-altering campaigns. For instance, campaigns that support the abortion of unwanted pregnancy and reproductive rights allow women to have freedom of choice.

Moreover, feminism constantly questions patriarchy and strives to renounce gender roles. It allows men to be whoever they wish to be without getting judged. It is not taboo for men to cry anymore because they must be allowed to express themselves freely.

Similarly, it also helps the LGBTQ community greatly as it advocates for their right too. Feminism gives a place for everyone and it is best to practice intersectional feminism to understand everyone’s struggle.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of the Essay on Feminism

The key message of feminism must be to highlight the choice in bringing personal meaning to feminism. It is to recognize other’s right for doing the same thing. The sad part is that despite feminism being a strong movement, there are still parts of the world where inequality and exploitation of women take places. Thus, we must all try to practice intersectional feminism.

FAQ of Essay on Feminism

Question 1: What are feminist beliefs?

Answer 1: Feminist beliefs are the desire for equality between the sexes. It is the belief that men and women must have equal rights and opportunities. Thus, it covers everything from social and political to economic equality.

Question 2: What started feminism?

Answer 2: The first wave of feminism occurred in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It emerged out of an environment of urban industrialism and liberal, socialist politics. This wave aimed to open up new doors for women with a focus on suffrage.

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Motherhood and Freedom in Women's Writing After 1970

Fifty years after a high point of feminist theories of reproductive work, motherhood remains fraught. Considering contemporary Anglophone writing about care alongside literature from the 1970s and 1980s, Motherhood and Freedom in Women’s Writing After 1970 claims that past feminist theories of reproductive work have yet to be fully reckoned with. I argue that Anglophone literature of motherhood elaborates an embodied, non-sovereign freedom which emerges socially and is based on interdependence rather than self-possession. This literature defamiliarizes care through formal innovation, encouraging and enacting a form of attention that generates a new, feminist reality. Chapter 1 considers care work, artistic work, illness, and embodiment in the writings of Bernadette Mayer and Anne Boyer, asking how literary form highlights or obscures the world-making properties of care. Chapter 2 discusses how 1970s and 1980s black feminist texts think about care outside the family after the Civil Rights movement, arguing that Meridian by Alice Walker (1976) and The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara (1980) articulate a notion of self-elaboration that is non-sovereign, anti-austerity, and intersubjective. In chapter 3, I consider how texts by Rachel Cusk and Sheila Heti generate a feminist imaginary oriented around openness and possibility rather than choice. Chapter 4 argues that Octavia Butler’s novel, Wild Seed (1980), and Maggie Nelson’s memoir, The Argonauts ( 2015), offer visions of embodied transformation that lead to new concepts of pleasure in motherhood. Motherhood and Freedom in Women’s Writing After 1970 argues that literature of motherhood reimagines reality with care at its center.

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Essay on Women Empowerment in English

• Updated on  
• May 3, 2024

Women empowerment is one of the most debated social topics. It means recognising the importance of gender equality, and women’s participation in decision-making and offering them equal opportunities in education, employment, others. Women empowerment talks about making women strong so that they can lead a healthy and prosperous life and contribute to the development of society. Today we will be discussing some sample essay on women empowerment, which will cover details like how can eliminate discrimination against women, challenge traditional gender roles, and promote equal opportunities for women in various aspects of life.

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Quick Read: Speech About Dreams

Long Essay on Women’s Empowerment

“A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Women empowerment refers to the practice of making women independent so that they can make their own decisions and take decisions without any familial or societal restrictions. In simple terms, it entitles women to take charge of their personal development. The patriarchal society has always deprived women of their rights.

The main motive of women’s empowerment is to help them stand equally with men. It is a foundational step to ensure the prosperous growth of a family as well as the country. By empowering women, the world would witness gender equality and help women from every stratum of society stand on their own and steer their lives as per their wishes.

Check out our 200+ Essay Topics for Students in English !

Women empowerment is the process of giving women the ability to live a happy and respected life in society. Women are empowered when they have unrestricted access to chances in a range of domains, such as education, profession, and lifestyle, among others. It involves things like education, awareness, literacy, and training to help them improve their position. It also involves decision-making authority. A woman feels powerful when she makes a significant decision. Empowering women is the most important factor in a country’s overall growth. If a household has just one earning member, while another family has both men and women earning, who will have a better standard of living? The solution is straightforward: a household in which both men and women work. As a result, a country where men and women work together grows more quickly.

‘Feminism does not aim to make women powerful. Women are already powerful. It is about influencing the way the rest of the world views your strength.” Women have always had fewer opportunities and possibilities to develop their talents and knowledge since ancient times. Although the world is made up of both men and women. But men were regarded as the family’s most powerful members. They were the family’s decision-makers and were in charge of making a living. Women, on the other hand, were believed to be responsible person for all home chores and child-rearing, and they were not engaged in making any important family decisions. The roles were assigned depending on gender. If we look at the whole picture, research shows that women’s subjects are either centred on their reproductive role and their body, or their economic position as workers. However, none of them is aimed at empowering women. Women’s Empowerment is a progressive technique of putting power in the hands of women for them to have a happy and respectable existence in society. Women are empowered when they have access to opportunities in several sectors, such as the right to an education, gender equality, a professional (equal wage) lifestyle, and others. However, there are no constraints or limitations. It involves training, awareness, and increasing their position via education, literacy, and decision-making authority. For the total growth of each country, women’s empowerment is the most essential sector. Previously, the men were the sole breadwinners in the household. Assume the household has one earning person; on the other side, suppose the family has both male and women earning members. Who will have a better way of life? The answer is simple: a household in which both the man and the woman work. As a result, when gender equality is prioritized, a country’s growth rate accelerates. Standing up for equality, women have empowered and spoken up for other women.’

Essay on Women Empowerment in 200 Words

‘Women’s empowerment encompasses more than just ensuring that women get their basic rights. In its truest form, women’s empowerment comprises the aspects of independence, equality as well as freedom of expression. Through this, the real strive lies in ensuring that we bring gender equality.

When given the right support, women have shone brilliantly in every field. Even in India, we have seen women handle diverse roles, be it a Prime Minister, Astronaut , Entrepreneur, Banker and much more. Further, women are also considered the backbone of a family. From domestic chores to nurturing children, they handle multiple responsibilities. This is why they are great at multitasking and often many working women efficiently juggle between professional and personal responsibilities. While the urban cities have working women, the rural areas have still restrained them to household chores. How can we aspire to prosper as a nation where every girl does not get access to education or make their own choices? India is a country where we worship goddesses while we don’t bother thinking about gender equality. 

Hence, for all our mothers, sisters and daughters we must aim at creating an environment of integrity. We must boost their confidence to make them capable enough to make their decisions in every phase of life and this is how we can strive towards bringing women empowerment.’

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Popular women can play an important role when it comes to empowering other women. These influential women are aware of the difficulties faced by women in our society and can see their problems from their perspectives, as they have experienced similar situations. Nadia Murad Basee, a German human rights activist once said, “I want to be the last girl in the world with a story like mine.” Some other popular and influential women in the world are:

• Gloria Marie Steinem
• Malala Yousafzai
• Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• Jane Seymour Fonda
• Betty Friedan
• Halima Aden

Quick Read: Speech About Life

Almost all countries, regardless of how progressive, have a history of mistreating women. To put it another way, women from all over the world have been defiant to achieve their current standing. While Western nations continue to make progress, third-world countries such as India continue to lag in terms of women’s empowerment. Women’s empowerment is more important than ever in India. India is one of the countries where women are not safe. This is due to a variety of factors.

Not only that, but horrific crimes against women such as rape, acid attacks, the dowry system, honour killings, domestic violence, and other forms of violence against women continue to occur throughout India. Women should account for 50% of the entire population. However, due to female foeticide practises, which are still prevailing in the rural and underprivileged sections of Indian societies, the girl-child population is rapidly declining, affecting the country’s sex ratio. Furthermore, the education and freedom scenario is extremely regressive in this situation.

Women are not permitted to continue their education and are married off at a young age. In certain areas, men continue to dominate women, as though it is the woman’s responsibility to labour for him indefinitely. They don’t let them go out or have any form of freedom and personal life. As a result, we can see how women’s empowerment is a pressing issue. We must equip these women with the tools they need to stand up for themselves and never be victims of injustice.

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There is a wide range of approaches and methods to empower women. Individuals and the government must work together to achieve this. Girls’ education should be made obligatory so that they do not become illiterate and unable to support themselves.

Women, regardless of gender, must be given equal chances in all fields. Women empowerment may also be achieved through government-sponsored programmes as well as on an individual level.

On a personal level, we should begin to appreciate women and provide them with chances equal to males. We should promote and encourage them to pursue jobs, further education, and entrepreneurial endeavours, among other things.

To empower women, the government has implemented programmes such as the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana, Mahila Shakti Kendra, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana , and others. Apart from these programmes, we can all help women by eradicating societal problems such as the dowry system and child marriage. These simple actions will improve women’s status in society and help them feel more powerful.

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“To all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful, and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.” Hillary Clinton

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“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” Madeleine Albright

Before we begin with the essay samples on Women’s Empowerment, take a look at the following tips you must keep in mind while drafting an essay: 

• Analyse the different topics carefully and pick according to your knowledge and familiarisation with the topic.  
• Plan your time wisely and bifurcate it for outlining, writing and revision. 
• Highlight/underline your key sentences for each paragraph.
• Emphasise your introduction and conclusion while also keeping the main body of the content as concise as possible. 
• Thoroughly revise it after completion.

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“Feminism isn’t about making women stronger. Women are already strong, it’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.” G.D. Anderson

Women are taught to mould themselves based on others’ preferences and men are taught to lead because, at the end of the day, women have to manage household chores whereas men are the heroes saving their families and providing them financial support. This is the stereotype that has existed for centuries in India and one of the reasons women are denied basic human rights in society. A woman is denied the right to raise her opinions even in her household matters, political or financial viewpoints are far behind.  Women are born leaders and if given the opportunity can excel in every field. We live in a male-dominated society where a male has every right to do whatever he desires however thought in women’s minds is sacred. For centuries, women were not allowed to eat before men or sit in front of other men. Gender equality and women empowerment is a major concern globally. Gender equality starts with providing the same and equal resources of education to both genders. Education of girl child should also be a priority and not just an option. An educated woman will be able to build a better life for herself and the ones surrounding her. Gender equality and women’s empowerment are essential for the growth of women in society. Women empowerment ensures that every female gets an opportunity to get an education, seek professional training, and spread awareness. However, gender quality will ensure that access to resources is provided equally to both genders and ensure equal participation. Even at the professional level women face gender inequality because a male candidate is promoted way before a female candidate. The mindset should be changed and only deserving candidates should be promoted. Gender quality is a key step towards sustainable development and ensures basic human rights for everyone.

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“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.” Melinda Gates

‘Education is the biggest tool in women’s empowerment and also a factor that helps in the overall development of the country. Education can bring a change in women’s life. As the first prime minister of India once said “If you educate a man you educate an individual, however, if you educate a woman you educate a whole family.

Women empowered means mother India empowered” An educated woman will promote the education of other females around her, mentor them and also be a better guide to her children. Education helps women gain self-confidence, esteem, ability to provide financial support. Education will also help to reduce the infant mortality rate because an educated woman is aware of health care, laws, and her rights.

Educating a woman will benefit her and also the development of society. With proper education, women can achieve more socially, and economically and build their careers. Women are still being denied their right to education in rural parts of India. Education will also reduce child marriage which is still practised in some parts of India also help in controlling overpopulation.

The government has launched various schemes over the years to create awareness around women’s education such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan , Operation Black-Board , Beti Padhaoo Beti Bachao , and many more. Education helps women to identify the good and bad and change their outlook, way of thinking, and way of handling things. Education helps women to become independent. Indian women have the lowest literacy rate as compared to other countries.

Education is a fundamental right of all and no one should be denied the right to education. Education helps to meet the necessities of life, and confidence to raise a voice against domestic violence or sexual harassment. Be a part of a change and empower a woman with the help of education.’

Here is an Essay on Education System

“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.” Michelle Obama

Women have been facing issues since the day they were born. Fighting for their rights, society’s stereotypes, and their freedom. Women’s Empowerment means encouraging women through education, at a professional level, accepting their opinions, and providing them with the right they desire. Women should not stay behind someone’s shadow and not be able to express themselves. The main motive of women’s empowerment is to give women a chance to outshine others and get equal rights in society. The first step of women’s empowerment is literacy. A well-educated woman is confident, outspoken, and able to make decisions. Especially in a country like India, If women get a chance to study they can be a prime minister like Indira Gandhi, IPS like Kiran Bedi , or become a famous CEO like Indira Nooyi .

The need for women’s empowerment has existed for a long time but only in the last few years, it has become popular. Women’s empowerment is not just a fight for equal rights. Women empowerment is the upliftment of women from a society constantly pulling them down. In a country like India where female goddesses are worshipped at the same time a woman faces sexual harassment, is denied the right to education, her voice is suppressed and becomes the next case of domestic violence. Indian society will only be able to evolve when they stop putting constant pressure on women and allow them to share their thoughts with others. A woman in India is restricted to household chores and taking care of family members. Women’s Empowerment is the need of the hour in India because awareness among women is important for them to understand their rights. If they are aware of their basic rights only then women will be able to fight for it. The first step towards women’s empowerment starts with supporting their opinions. Don’t mock them or bury their opinions. Boost their confidence and build their self-esteem. Encourage them to pursue their dreams, provide resources for help and be their mentor. Women have the ability not only to shape their lives but also to shape the world. Equal opportunities and the right to make their own decisions are the basics to start with women’s empowerment.

Women’s empowerment is desperately required in today’s cultures. It is critical for women’s self-esteem as well as for society. Women have the right to participate equally in education, society, the economy, and politics. Women may participate in society because they have the freedom to select their religion, language, employment, and other activities.

Women’s Empowerment is the process of providing women with all of the rights and amenities available in society so that they can live freely and without fear or limitation. Women should be granted the same rights as men in society, with no gender discrimination.

Female or women empowerment, according to Keshab Chandra Mandal, may be classified into five categories: social, educational, economic, political, and psychological.

The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) are a collection of Principles that provide businesses with direction on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace, and community.

Improved female education leads to higher levels of economic growth because women spend 90%of their earnings back on their families, whereas males only invest 30-40% of their earnings. This is only one example of how women’s empowerment has a beneficial impact. Like this, there are several other benefits and positive sides of women’s empowerment

Gender Discrimination, Sexual Abuse and Harassment, Education, Child Marriage, etc.

Great social reformers in the past like  Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, Acharya Vinobha Bhave and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar  etc abolished ghastly practices like sati and child marriage and worked relentlessly in the past for the upliftment of women in India.

Equal pay, financial independence etc are some examples of women empowerment.

In the Indian constitution, many provisions include women empowerment such as Article 15 which enables the state to make special provisions for women.

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Women Freedom Fighters: The Unsung Heroines

Last updated on October 4, 2022 by ClearIAS Team

Are you curious to find out more about the significant but unsung women freedom fighters who influenced the Indian National Movement? To learn more, keep reading.

A topic for the UPSC Mains 2021 Essay exam was “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”

The topic’s main draw was women’s achievements and other forms of empowerment.

Therefore, contributions from women freedom fighters are important from a UPSC standpoint.

Table of Contents

1. Pritilata Waddedar (1911-1932)

Pritilata Waddedar, who was born on May 5, 1911, in Chittagong (modern-day Bangladesh), was one of the first women to take up arms and engage in revolutionary activities.

She joined Deepali Sangh, a revolutionary organization that provided women with combat training when she was young.

She was eager to join Surya Sen’s Indian Revolutionary Army, but she was met with opposition because it was dominated by men.

But, along with Kalpana Dut t, she underwent rigorous training to become a member of this group.

After the Chittagong Armoury Raid , in which most of the IRA’s leaders were apprehended, Pritilata, who was only 21 years old at the time, was given command of a group of 7-10 young men who laid siege to the Pahartali European Club (a social club for Europeans).

This club was primarily targeted because of its racial and discriminatory practices. It had a sign that said, “Dogs and Indians not allowed.”

On the night of 23 September 1932, dressed like a man, she boldly led the attack. In the ensuing fierce gun battle, she got shot in the leg, which prevented her from escaping.

Instead of surrendering, she chose to swallow a pill of cyanide and thus became a martyr.

2. Basanti Devi (1880-1974)

Devi became involved in the freedom struggle after her husband, Chittaranjan Das, was arrested for participating in the Non-cooperation movement.

She took part in movements such as the Khilafat and civil disobedience.

She was also a founding member of the Nari Karma Mandira , an educational centre for women.

After the death of her husband, she ran the weekly publication of Bangalar Katha. 

She headed the Bengal Provincial Congress as its President and received the Padma Vibhushan in 1973.

3. Aruna Asaf Ali (1909-1996)

Aruna Asaf Ali was an Indian educator, political activist, and publisher.

She was an active participant in the Indian independence movement and is best known for hoisting the Indian National flag at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay during the Quit India Movement in 1942, giving the movement one of its most enduring images.

Aruna was dubbed the  Heroine of the 1942 movement  for her bravery in the face of danger and was called the Grand Old Lady of the Independence movement  in her later years.

She also edited Inquilab , a monthly magazine of the Congress Party, along with  Ram Manohar Lohia.

In a 1944 issue, she exhorted the youth to action by asking them to forget futile discussions about violence and non-violence and join the revolution.

Leaders such as Jayaprakash Narayan and Aruna Asaf Ali were described as “the Political children of Gandhi but recent students of Karl Marx”. She is one of women freedom fighters who have shaped our struggle for Independence.

4. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay (1903-1988)

She is the first lady in India to stand in elections from Madras Constituency although she lost in the elections she pioneered the path for women in India.

She was best known for her involvement in the campaign for Indian independence and for being the impetus for the revival of Indian handicrafts, handlooms, and theatre in independent India.

In recognition of her work promoting handicrafts, UNESCO presented her with an award in 1977. She was also given Shantiniketan’s highest honor, the Desikottama.

5. Matangini Hazra (1870-1942)

Matangini Hazra was an Indian revolutionary who took part in the movement for Indian independence up until the British Indian police shot her to death in front of the Tamluk Police Station (of the former Midnapore District) on September 29, 1942.

She was affectionately known as  Gandhi Buri ,  Bengali  for  old lady Gandhi .

After Indian Independence, the first statue of a woman was erected in Kolkata, and it was Hazra’s in 1977.

At the location of her murder in Tamluk, a statue now stands. In Kolkata, Hazra Road is also named in her honor.

6. Bina Das(1911-1986)

West Bengal-born Bina Das was an Indian nationalist and revolutionary. She was born to parents who were active in the Brahmo Samaj and the battle for freedom and who worked as social workers and educators.

Das belonged to the Chhatri Sangha, a semi-revolutionary group of women’s organizations in Kolkata. She made an attempt to kill Bengal Governor Stanley Jackson on February 6, 1932, in the University of Calcutta’s Convocation Hall.

Kamala Das Gupta, another freedom fighter, provided the revolver. She attempted to shoot five times but was unsuccessful, and she was given a nine-year prison term.

After her early release in 1939, Das joined the Congress party. In 1942, she participated in the Quit India movement and was imprisoned again from 1942 to 1945.

She will certainly be remembered as one of the notable women freedom fighters in our country.

7. Suniti Chaudhary (1917 – 1988)

Suniti Choudhury was an Indian nationalist who, along with  Santi Ghose , assassinated a British district magistrate when she was 16 years old and is known for her participation in an armed revolutionary struggle.

She is often dubbed as the youngest female revolutionary of the Indian Freedom Struggle

Under the guise of presenting a petition to organize a swimming competition among their classmates, Chowdhury and Santi Ghose, both 16 at the time, entered the office of Charles Geoffrey Buckland Stevens, a British bureaucrat and the district magistrate of Comilla, on December 14, 1931.

While Stevens was looking at the petition, Ghose and Chowdhury took out automatic pistols from under their shawls and shot and killed him.

She will undoubtedly be recognized as one of our country’s notable women freedom fighters.

8. Jhalkari Bai ( 1830- 1858)

Jhalkaribai was a female soldier who was crucial in the 1857 Indian Rebellion.

She was an active participant in the women’s army of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi.

She eventually rose to become a key adviser to the reigning monarch, Rani of Jhansi.

She assumed the queen’s identity during the height of the Siege of Jhansi and fought on the front lines for the queen, enabling her to safely leave the fort.

9. Savithribhai Phule (1831-1897)

Savitribai Jyotirao Phule was a Maharashtrian poet, educator, and social reformer. She and her husband Jyothioba Phule in Maharashtra significantly contributed to the advancement of women’s rights in India.

She is credited with founding the feminist movement in India. In Pune, near Bhide Wada, Savitribai and her husband established one of the first modern Indian girls’ schools in 1848 .

She campaigned to remove caste and gender prejudice and unfair treatment of individuals.

10. Beegum Hazrat Mahal

During the 1857 uprising, Begum Hazrat Mahal was one of the few women to oppose the British.

She was born Muhammadi Khanum. In Awadh’s Faizabad, she was born.

She married Nawab Wajid Ali Shah in a mut’ah ceremony later in life.

The last Nawab of Awadh, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, was exiled to Calcutta after Awadh was conquered by the British East India Company in 1856. Along with her son Birjis Qadir, Hazrat Mahal made the decision to remain in Lucknow.

Awadh was annexed after a rebellion started in Meerut and the revolt’s flag was flown in Lucknow, which quickly spread to other Awadhi towns.

Only in Lucknow did the English continue to engage the rebels within the Residency building until they were able to reclaim their lost power.

11. Rani Gaidinliu (1915-1973)

A Naga spiritual and political leader who led an uprising against British control in India was Gaidinliu Pamei, also known as Rani Gaidinliu.

She joined the Heraka religious movement, led by her cousin Haipou Jadonang, when she was 13 years old.

Later, the campaign evolved into an attempt to expel the British from Manipur and the nearby Naga regions.

Gaidinliu, who was detained in 1932 at the age of 16, received a life sentence from the British authorities.

When they first met in 1937, J awaharlal Nehru pledged to work for her release. She was given the title “Rani” (“Queen”) by Nehru , and she rose to fame as Rani Gaidinliu among the local community.

She will unquestionably be counted among the most notable women freedom fighters in the history of our country.

12. Durga Bhabi (1907-1999)

A revolutionary who joined the armed resistance against colonial rule was Durgawati Devi, also known as Durga Bhabhi.

As a Naujawan Bharat Sabha member, she assisted Bhagat Singh in fleeing Lahore after the 1928 murder of British police officer John P. Saunders.

Rajguru pretended to be Durgawati and Bhagat Singh’s servant throughout the subsequent train ride.

Later, she undertook an unsuccessful effort to kill Lord Hailey, the former governor of Punjab, in retaliation for the hanging of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev.

13. Kittur Chennama (1778-1829)

Rani Chennamma, the queen of Kittur, was one of the first rulers to organize an armed uprising against British rule. In the modern-day state of Karnataka, Kittur was a princely state.

After the death of her little son in 1824, she retaliated against the attempt to take control of her domain. Raja Mallasarja, her spouse, passed away in 1816.

She is regarded as one of the few leaders of the day who comprehended the British government’s colonial plans.

In her initial uprising, Rani Chennamma overthrew the British, but the East India Company’s second attack resulted in her capture and imprisonment.

14. Sarla Devi Chaudhurani (1872-1945)

In 1910, Sarala Devi Chaudhurani, an educator and political leader from India, created Bharat Stree Mahamandal in Allahabad.

It was the country of India’s first national organization for women. Promoting female education was one of the organization’s main objectives.

15. Mirabehn (1892-1982)

In the 1920s, Madeleine Slade —also known as Mirabehn or Meera Behn—left her home in England to live and work with Mahatma Gandhi.

She was a British supporter of the Indian Independence Movement.

She spent her entire life advancing Gandhi’s ideals and human progress.

The height of the Gandhian era in the liberation struggle was when Mirabehn was living in India. At the Round Table Conference in London in 1931, she traveled with Gandhi and others.

Mirabehn’s autobiography is titled The Spiritual Pilgrimage.

She also published Bapu’s Letters to Mira and New and Old Gleanings.

Click here to know more about the Indian Freedom Struggle.

Article written by: Jis John Sebastian

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• Women Empowerment Essay

Be the Heroine of Your Life, Not the Victim.- Nora Ephron

The word ‘Women Empowerment’ itself implies that women are not powerful enough - they need to be empowered. This painful truth has been in existence for a long long time. It is in recent years that noticeable work started beginning to lift women out of the abyss of insignificance and powerlessness. The patriarchal society suppressed women’s freedom across the world. Women were not allowed to vote or even put forward any opinion. Women were confined to their homes. As time progressed, they realised that their life meant much more than just serving in the household. As more and more women started crossing the man-made barriers, the world began to witness the rise of women. Unlike men, women never try to stifle the voice of their opposite gender. They hold the hands of all the downtrodden people - men and women both - and they pull them out of misfortune as they try to improve their lives.

The History of Women Empowerment 

The history of women empowerment does not start from an exact date, It is a cumulative process. However, there are certain movements, protests, revolutions that furthered the cause of women empowerment much more speedily.

In the ancient days and even in the recent past, women, in hundreds of countries, were not allowed to vote. As time passed, more and more women came together and made their voices heard. Gaining voting rights significantly lifted the position of women in society. Many suffrage movements campaigned daily in support of women's voting rights. In the US, individuals like Elizabeth Stanton and organisations like National American Woman Suffrage Association, National Woman’s Party played a key role in securing the voting rights for women. In the UK, the Women's Social and Political Union aggressively campaigned for women’s suffrage. It is a shame for society at large when we consider that many countries granted women the right to vote after a very long time. Kuwait, Qatar, Zaire, Bahrain, Andorra, Central African Republic etc granted women the right to vote after the second half of the 20th century.

No woman can be empowered if she is not financially independent. Gone are the days when women had to depend on their fathers or husbands to get things that they wanted. From the 20th century onwards women got more opportunities to join the workforce. However, at the same time, many women in England were forced to work both in the workplace and in the household to support the family. After the Second World War women, on their own, chose to join the workforce. Today more and more jobs are opening up for women. Women are proving to be worthy of the designations assigned to them.

In the household, too, women have gained significant decision-making powers. The decision to have a baby or not is now decided by both men and women. The use of contraceptive pills empowered women further. Women can now enjoy unhindered work life and education.

Women empowerment cannot be successful if the women in the lower rung of the society are not empowered. After the onset of the 21st century, women belonging to the grassroots level have found many vocational works, labours that were only reserved for men. Today there are many female masons, bus drivers, petrol pump attendants, farmers etc. And all these women are doing their job extremely well.

Women Empowerment in India

Women empowerment in India cannot be compared with that in other countries. Women were highly respected in the Vedic ages. The focus on women’s education was never absent. The word ‘sahadharmini’ was known from the Vedic days. Sahadharmini means - equal partner. It is thus very clear that women in India in ancient days enjoyed respect, education and reverence.

As time passed the Indian culture was contaminated with the conservative Middle Eastern and British culture. As a result, the power and respect that women enjoyed were lost.

Gradually after independence, women started regaining the lost power. Today women are everywhere. The country saw its female Prime Minister and President, the country has many eminent female sportspeople like Saina Nehwal or P.T Usha, the country has been blessed with talented women scientists like A. Chatterjee or B Vijayalakshmi. Women are joining the combat forces in India without any hesitation. 

However, many women in India are still finding it hard to come out of the clutches of patriarchy - particularly in the rural sector. The empowered women must urge these women to raise voices, protest and seek help from the authorities.

Inequality and the Way Forward

Today, more than ever, women are enjoying freedom. They can decide on their own. However, there is a long way to go. Women must protest against the use of religion to suppress them. Not all military positions are open to females. There is a wage gap in the film industry, in sports and normal jobs. The women need to use their hard-earned power to banish all the injustices that they have been facing for time immemorial.

The term women empowerment refers to gender equality. It especially favours women rights. 

Women empowerment all refer to the empowerment of women to take all decisions from their choice. So that she can take all of the decisions for her social and economic development. Empowerment of women will surely encourage all of the women to stand for their education and the life of their own choice. The women empowerment mission encourages women to be self-reliant. So that she can have positive self-esteem and generate potential in herself to compete with the world and to make the position of her choice. This is only possible if equal opportunities in society will also be available for women. Empowering women would mean encouraging them for their socio-economic development. From ancient times women have suffered a lot in society. They were not given the equal right to education and to be self-reliant. They were only restricted to household works. They were kept away from education and development. Women constitute half of the population however her contribution to the economy of India is very low. This depicts that there are not equal opportunities available for women in society and the responsibilities which are given to them do not have any contribution to the GDP of the country.

To develop India as a superpower the development of women is equally important and it should be a priority to give her a chance to develop herself. To achieve it we should focus mainly on the education of girls. Moreover, they also get equal pay to the men for equal work.  To empower the women our goals also should be to remove child marriage and the dowry system from the whole nation. The Indian government is also working to make India more suitable for women so they can also get equal opportunities and can grow themselves. In this regard, the supreme court of India also made it mandatory to provide admission to the National defence academy for women. The Indian government also declared that Military schools also will be available for women from now onwards.  A common approach to handle this problem can be a remarkable solution for it.

FAQs on Women Empowerment Essay

1. How can we empower Women?

Boost their self-esteem: Encourage them to achieve something that they want. 

Do not spread negativity: from hundreds of years ago, women empowerment has been a challenge in society due to the negative perception of the public about women empowerment.

Support her independence: It is seen that in society women want to become self-dependent while society does not give its permission to them

 Your support may change the scenario.

2. What is Women Empowerment and what are its methods?

Women empowerment is an ideology on behalf of which we are talking about empowering women.

It can include various methods. We can achieve this goal by:

Economic Empowerment: Economic empowerment involves the empowerment of women using enough resources.

Social Empowerment: Social empowerment involves the empowerment of women providing certain freedom in society.

Political empowerment: Political empowerment involves the empowerment of women by providing them with certain reservations in politics. It will help to speak to them for themselves.

3. What are barriers to Women Empowerment? 

1) cultural norms: As many women consider women empowerment essential. Meanwhile, some of them have also considered discrimination as a cultural norm. Sometimes men also feel hesitant to speak against their culture for her.

2) Dowry:   Dowry is also one of the biggest barriers in the society of women empowerment. Dowry custom had made women a weight on the family. It is also one of the main factors of violence against women.

3) Sexual Harassment: Harassment is a big obstacle in achieving the goal of women empowerment. As it affects the women mentally and physically.

4. Why is Women Empowerment necessary in India?

In India, women constitute 48.5% of the total population of India According to the 2011 census. However, its contribution to the national GDP is very low.  The percentage of women labour in rural areas has decreased from 26% to 25%. The literacy rate of women in 2011 became 65% which was 57% in 2001. Indian govt. Is also working for it continuously. The distribution of bicycles for girls and reservations to them in various fields is making them more self-dependent.

Recently, India has also accepted girls in the defence forces.

5. Name some of the Government schemes for women empowerment in India?

The women empowerment Schemes in India are :

Beti Bachao , Beti Padhao

One-stop centre scheme

Women Helpline scheme

Working women hostel

Swadhar Greh

Nari Shakti Puraskar

Mahila Shakti kendras( MSKk)

Mahila Police Volunteers

Watch our Memorial Day tribute to the military who sacrificed all to serve their country

Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer. It's a time to gather with friends and family for a grill out, a picnic, or maybe a trip to the beach to soak up the sun. But while it may well feel like a day of celebration, what sometimes gets forgotten is that it was conceived as a day of commemoration for the brave military members who died serving their country.  

A University of Phoenix survey found that less than half of Americans polled knew the exact purpose of Memorial Day, while around a third were unsure of the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

To clarify, Veterans Day, which takes place in November, is a tribute to all those who served honorably in the military in wartime or peacetime, whether living or dead.

The confusion is compounded by Armed Forces Day, a military celebration held in May for those currently serving. However, while the reasons differ, the sentiment of each day is the same: all three are important opportunities to show gratitude.

So, when you chow down on that hot dog, barrel down that slip 'n slide, or whatever you do for fun this Memorial Day, spare a moment to acknowledge the people in uniform whose sacrifice made a difference.

On this Memorial Day, watch the video for a surprise reunion of battle buddies bonded by the loss of their leade r

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