Gender Inequality Compared to Justification of Slavery?

One of the first things that came to mind when addressing this topic was that of the view that slaves and women have both been viewed as property at some point or another in the past. During the years where slavery was legal, the Slave Codes stated "that slaves were property, not people, and were to be treated in such a fashion" (Slavery, 2008). Some of the Slave Codes even went as far to say that slaves were prohibited from making contracts, buy and sell items, own a firearm, or testifying in court against a white person (Slavery, 2008). In fact, some of the laws went as far to say that any property or money that a slave earned belonged to the master unless the master gave them permission to keep or transfer it (Cox, 2000).

Women's rights are still a major issue, and not just in countries where religion is law, like Muslim countries. Some people think that we have reached the maximum equality and women's rights are no longer even an issue (Shah, 2007). However, the Islamic culture is one where women are viewed as property with no rights of their own (Mayell, 2002). Because of this view, thousands of women are killed each year in India for family honor if they have done something that they perceive as harming the family honor and reputation (Mayell, 2002). In the United States, the Women's Rights Project works towards gender equality and focuses on employment, violence against women, criminal justice, and education (Women's Rights Project, 2008). Society, and our world in general, has changed drastically over the past 160 years since the Women's Rights Movement began. Millions of women came together to "plan, organize, lecture, write, march, petition, lobby, parade, and break new ground" in order to make life easier for women around the world (Living the Legacy, 2002).

Essentially, I feel we can compare the thoughts of slavery and their lack of rights to the struggle that women have had to go through for the past few hundred years. Even today I feel that women still struggle to have the same rights as men in some areas. It is sad to think that the abolition of slavery almost seemed to happen quicker than the process of women's rights, only in the context that women still struggle today to have equal treatment. We justified slavery because they were thought of as property, something to own and abuse and treat how we wanted. Women rights have definitely come a long way since the days where they were, too, treated like property and had few to zero rights.

(2002). Living the Legacy:. Retrieved March 18, 2008, from Legacy 98 Web site: http://www.legacy98.org/

(2008). About the Women's Rights Project . Retrieved March 18, 2008, from American Civil Liberties Union Web site: http://www.aclu.org/womensrights/index.html

(2008). Slavery. Retrieved March 18, 2008, from Slavery Web site:

http://www.uni.edu/schneidj/webquests/adayinthelife/slaves.html

Cox, Dwayne (2000, January 31). The Alabama Supreme Court on Slaves. Retrieved March 18, 2008, from Auburn University Libraries Web site: http://www.lib.auburn.edu/archive/aghy/slaves.htm

Shah, Anup (2007, February 15). Women's Rights. Retrieved March 18, 2008, from Global Issues Web site: http://www.globalissues.org/HumanRights/WomensRights.asp#WomenWorkMoreThanMenButArePaidLess