EmersonKent.com - History for the Relaxed Historian
HISTORY FOR THE RELAXED HISTORIAN


 

PEOPLE IN HISTORY          WARS, BATTLES AND REVOLUTIONS          MAP ARCHIVE          FAMOUS SPEECHES

 
 

GOVERNMENTS IN HISTORY          HISTORIC DOCUMENTS          HISTORIC PLACES AND LOCATIONS          ALL-TIME RECORDS IN HISTORY

 
 

SOURCE TEXT          SOURCE DOCUMENTS          HISTORY DICTIONARY          TIMELINES          ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORDS

 
 

HOME   -   FAMOUS SPEECHES IN HISTORY   -   EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN

 
   


UNBOUGHT AND UNBOSSED - SHIRLEY CHISHOLM ON THE ROLL
UNBOUGHT AND UNBOSSED - SHIRLEY CHISHOLM
 

Equal Rights for Women

 


Go here for more about
Shirley Chisholm.

Go here for more about
Shirley Chisholm's Equal Rights for Women speech.


 

It follows the full text transcript of Shirley Chisholm's Equal Rights for Women speech, delivered at Washington D.C. - May 21, 1969.


 

Shirley Chisholm - Speech Mr. Speaker,

When a young woman graduates from college and starts looking for a job, she is likely to have a frustrating and even demeaning experience ahead of her. If she walks into an office for an interview, the first question she will be asked is, "Do you type?''

There is a calculated system of prejudice that lies unspoken behind that question. Why is it acceptable for women to be secretaries, librarians, and teachers, but totally unacceptable for them to be managers, administrators, doctors, lawyers, and Members of Congress.

The unspoken assumption is that women are different. They do not have executive ability orderly minds, stability, leadership skills, and they are too emotional.

It has been observed before, that society for a long time, discriminated against another minority, the blacks, on the same basis - that they were different and inferior. The happy little homemaker and the contented "old darkey" on the plantation were both produced by prejudice.

As a black person, I am no stranger to race prejudice. But the truth is that in the political world I have been far oftener discriminated against because I am a woman than because I am black.

Prejudice against blacks is becoming unacceptable although it will take years to eliminate it. But it is doomed because, slowly, white America is beginning to admit that it exists. Prejudice against women is still acceptable. There is very little understanding yet of the immorality involved in double pay scales and the classification of most of the better jobs as "for men only."

More than half of the population of the United States is female. But women occupy only 2 percent of the managerial positions. They have not even reached the level of tokenism yet No women sit on the AFL-CIO council or Supreme Court There have been only two women who have held Cabinet rank, and at present there are none. Only two women now hold ambassadorial rank in the diplomatic corps. In Congress, we are down to one Senator and 10 Representatives.

Considering that there are about 3 1/2 million more women in the United States than men, this situation is outrageous.

It is true that part of the problem has been that women have not been aggressive in demanding their rights. This was also true of the black population for many years. They submitted to oppression and even cooperated with it. Women have done the same thing. But now there is an awareness of this situation particularly among the younger segment of the population.

As in the field of equal rights for blacks, Spanish-Americans, the Indians, and other groups, laws will not change such deep-seated problems overnight But they can be used to provide protection for those who are most abused, and to begin the process of evolutionary change by compelling the insensitive majority to reexamine it's unconscious attitudes.

It is for this reason that I wish to introduce today a proposal that has been before every Congress for the last 40 years and that sooner or later must become part of the basic law of the land - the Equal Rights Amendment.

Let me note and try to refute two of the commonest arguments that are offered against this amendment. One is that women are already protected under the law and do not need legislation. Existing laws are not adequate to secure equal rights for women. Sufficient proof of this is the concentration of women in lower paying, menial, unrewarding jobs, and their incredible scarcity in the upper level jobs. If women are already equal, why is it such an event whenever one happens to be elected to Congress?

It is obvious that discrimination exists. Women do not have the opportunities that men do. And women that do not conform to the system, who try to break with the accepted patterns, are stigmatized as odd and unfeminine. The fact is that a woman who aspires to be chairman of the board, or a Member of the House, does so for exactly the same reasons as any man. Basically, these are that she thinks she can do the job and she wants to try.

A second argument often heard against the Equal Rights Amendment is that is would eliminate legislation that many States and the Federal Government have enacted giving special protection to women and that it would throw the marriage and divorce laws into chaos.

As for the marriage laws, they are due for a sweeping reform, and an excellent beginning would be to wipe the existing ones off the books. Regarding special protection for working women, I cannot understand why it should be needed. Women need no protection that men do not need. What we need are laws to protect working people, to guarantee them fair pay, safe working conditions, protection against sickness and layoffs, and provision for dignified, comfortable retirement.

Men and women need these things equally. That one sex needs protection more than the other is a male supremacist myth as ridiculous and unworthy of respect as the white supremacist myths that society is trying to cure itself of at this time.
 

 


 

More History


 



Browse the Speech Archive
All speeches are organized by topic, by speaker, in chronological order, and by group.

Speeches by Topic A-Z

Speeches by Topic: A

Speeches by Topic: B - D

Speeches by Topic: E - G

Speeches by Topic: H - I

Speeches by Topic: J - O

Speeches by Topic: P - S

Speeches by Topic: Ta - The J

Speeches by Topic: The K - Tz

Speeches by Topic: U - Z


Speeches by Speaker A-Z

Speeches by Speaker: A - C

Speeches by Speaker: D - G

Speeches by Speaker: H - L

Speeches by Speaker: M - R

Speeches by Speaker: S - Z


Speeches in Chronological Order

Speeches by Date: Ancient Times-1800

Speeches by Date: 1801-1850

Speeches by Date: 1851-1900

Speeches by Date: 1901-1920

Speeches by Date: 1921-1940

Speeches by Date: 1941-1950

Speeches by Date: 1951-1960

Speeches by Date: 1961-1965

Speeches by Date: 1966-1970

Speeches by Date: 1971-1980

Speeches by Date: 1981-1990

Speeches by Date: 1991-Today


Speeches by Group

Speeches Given by Women

Speeches Given by African-Americans

Speeches Given by U.S. Presidents

 


Frequently Viewed Speeches

Socrates: Apology - 399 BC
Socrates: Apology
399 BC

Abraham Lincoln: Gettysburg Address - 1863
Abraham Lincoln: Gettysburg Address
1863

Winston Churchill: Their Finest Hour - 1940
Winston Churchill: Their Finest Hour
1940

Martin Luther King Jr.: I Have a Dream - 1963
Martin Luther King Jr.: I Have a Dream
1963


 

 


 

 

French Revolution - Its Causes, Its Victims, Its Effects

     
 


People in History

Historic People - Main

People in History A - C

People in History D - F

People in History G - I

People in History J - M

People in History N - Q

People in History R - Z

Royal Families

Tribes & Peoples

Explorers, Scientists & Inventors

Musicians, Painters & Artists

Poets, Writers & Philosophers

First Ladies

Native Americans & The Wild West

Troublemakers

Historians

Archaeologists

 


Wars, Battles & Revolutions

Wars & Revolutions A

Wars & Revolutions B - E

Wars & Revolutions F - G

Wars & Revolutions H - J

Wars & Revolutions K - O

Wars & Revolutions P - R

Wars & Revolutions S - Z

Wars & Revolutions Chronological

Battles A - C

Battles D - L

Battles M - P

Battles Q - Z

Battles Ancient Times - 1499

Battles 1500 - 1799

Battles 1800 - Today

 


Miscellaneous

History Dictionary A - F

History Dictionary G - Z

Source Text - By Title

Source Text - By Author

Historic Documents A - Z

Historic Documents Chronological

History News

Research

Downloads


Bored?

Kids & History

Browse

About Us

Write Me

 


Sitemaps

Sitemap 01   Sitemap 02   Sitemap 03    Sitemap 04   Sitemap 05   Sitemap 06  
Sitemap 07   Sitemap 08   Sitemap 09    Sitemap 10   Sitemap 11   Sitemap 12
Sitemap 13   Sitemap 14   Sitemap 15    Sitemap 16   Sitemap 17   Sitemap 18
Sitemap 19   Sitemap 20   Sitemap 21    Sitemap 22   Sitemap 23


Site Search

 

 

 


HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL

 

© 2016 Emerson Kent