Feminism is defined as a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women. In 1848, a group of women from all backgrounds met at the first Women’s Rights Convention, the Seneca Falls Convention, to discuss an abnormal concept for that day and time: granting women voting rights. The formation of the Women’s Suffrage Movement spearheaded the Feminist Movement. Without granting women the right to vote with proper legislation, the 19^th Amendment, women would never have been awarded with other opportunities such as leaving their kitchens during World War Two and hitting the factories to replace the men.

With the formation of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, women were able to lobby, advocate, and spread awareness in an organized fashion that it was time for the dynamics to change for female representation in government. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one of the leaders of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, ran for the House of Representatives in 1866. She ran on behalf of the state of New York and only received 26 out of the 12,000 votes cast. Ms. Stanton was determined to not let the mere fact women were not even allowed to vote at the time defer her passion for the cause: she still wore the pants!

Within this website, “Women Wear the Pants,” it shows how throughout history in the Feminist Movement, women actively held a voice in government even if men were persistent on taking away females’ First Amendment rights. In the beginning of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, women were just trying to obtain Suffrage Laws per state and achieved that within the years of 1893-1917 (as shown in the section ‘Buttoning’ in the states’ rights map). The first female to ever run for President was Victoria Woodhull in 1872 on the Equal Rights Party Ticket but did not win. The defeat from that year to 1884 when Belva Lockwood was the first woman granted to practice law under the Supreme Court and ran for President under the Equal Rights Party Ticket and did so again four years later.

Once the 19^th Amendment was ratified in 1920, it opened the gateway for the National American Woman Suffrage Association and a few members formed the League of Women Voters. The 19^th Amendment paved the way for the first female United States Senator and first female Governor. Female government leadership increased dramatically within even a decade after being granted voting rights.

The 19^th Amendment was the first mention of females in government or having a voice in government, so for the 19^th Amendment to increase female government officials was a natural progression to occur in history and the Feminist Movement. Now in the year 2013, we are focusing on the near-futuristic possibility of our first female President in the United States. Women like Hillary Rodham Clinton who went from a Senator to Secretary of State are catching headlines for the position of our first female President to run in 2016. Women were treated like a minority in American Politics, and with now women are given the loudest voice in history. There is currently no Matriarchy System in the United States, and the chance of having a female President will not override the system. It takes numbers to overturn a societal trend, and the 19^th Amendment has helped a minority have an equal role in society. Female leadership is an important aspect in American Government, because Women’s Rights is such an important aspect in different social and health care agendas for politicians.

‘Women Wear the Pants’ Website is an important advocacy web page established to argue an important angle in the Feminist Movement. This argument is proven by the use of collaborative data and pieces of information throughout history compiled on the website. For future preservation of the entire website, I will actively work to preserve my website by saving my data and exporting the pages to documents on my computer. The documents will be saved under individual files on my computer to keep the web pages and separate charts and maps organized. Also, I will make copies of my data to ensure they are replacable if something were to become erased on the web. For the web page exportation, they will be linked as a series of files to easily access and download to my laptop. If something happens in one part of my laptop, I will additionally have the exported files saved in another part of my hard drive as a back-up plan. Over time, I feel this method is the best for my project’s security and safety.

We live in revolutionizing times… There is no doubt the United States is making extreme jumps to become competitive globally with our countries in a market-based economy. Whether it is ensuring all children are taught STEM Programs in school and taught programming from kindergarten through a senior year in high school or the bio-engineering  professionals making headway in new technology… We are about to form a completely tech-junkie filled nation.

In a country that was one day founded on completely separate principles, to a country that had to create an Industrial Revolution to become in a Neo-Classical Market Economy judged as adequate, I do think it is an important American Revolution to maintain our drive and determination to ever-change our nation to solve some of America’s most complex problems. These problems are solved by science and technology.

In my opinion, I have no problem with the ethics and morality between scientists and bio-engineers creating solutions to medical problems in the form of creating artificial body parts. I have previously stated, my sister has Type-1 Juvenile Diabetes, and I would love nothing more for her to have an implanted, fully-functioning artificial pancreas in her body. This is THE ONLY WAY a Diabetic will have a cure anytime soon.

In these newly structured “learning environments,” I highly encourage a child to be taught to program. I think it can only benefit them in the long run, and the child might have a true talent or interest in pursuing the subject in college. With that being said, in college I do not think it should be mandatory for a student to learn coding. This should only be mandatory in K-12. I believe at 18-years-old an individual knows what it is he or she wants to dive into, or has a rough idea about their future aspirations. A Government major or English major does not need to be reprimanded for choosing this outlet to pursue their future and educational interests. There is still a need for a liberal arts career. No politician making legislation to impact our future will need to know how to code, and I cannot see the extra piece of coding knowledge helping their job positions either.

J.Crew is one of the most chic, trendy, and classic clothing brand for both men and women, in my opinion. It has a little something for everyone despite the cost of the clothes; I like to think I am investing in quality. Whether it is supplementing a wardrobe in weekend casual wear, business suiting, or wedding dresses J.Crew is a “go-to!”

I chose to compare the 1996 website to the current website. Surprisingly, J. Crew has not changed their website since 1999 as far as I could tell which through me a loop since the website looks very trendy. The flaws of the 1996 website are a lack of categories to shop for, poor graphic design, and a bad click scheme. In comparison the new website has several categories to shop around in, a nice fluidity to the clicks scheme, and a modern feel that represents the clothes.

1996 website | http://web.archive.org/web/19961219035807/http://www.jcrew.com/

2013 website | www.jcrew.com

For my final project, I am focusing on the Feminist Movement and how it impacted Women in Government Positions/Elected Officials. I felt from the historical beginnings of the Women’s Suffrage Movement to the present conditions: women trying to break the glass-ceiling and the most female elected officials in history… Women have progressed by leaps and bounds throughout a span of several centuries, and it is important to shed light on the beginning, the journey, and to the present (but not the end).

In this chart, I used text-mining tools from the source ‘Time Magazine Corpus’ and searched both terms “feminism” and “female elected officials.” From the time span of the 1920s where feminism was just catching attention to the 1990s when feminism was truly spreading itself into various areas of human nature: the workforce, government, shifting roles in the household, etc. Women have progressively gained a voice and a role in society as seen from the chart above. In the 1920s, women were just starting to break the barriers as elected officials in government and within the feminist movement. Jeannette Rankin of Montana was the first female elected official in 1916 as a U.S. Representative and was one of the votes included in the 19th Amendment to grant women the right to vote. During the 1920s, the Women’s Suffrage Movement was slowing down due to World War I. In the 1990s, the trend of feminism hits a high. Feminism is talked about on Broadway, in literature, and was also referred to as witchcraft by a border patrol. It is becoming a social trend and more commonly expressed in society.

Update Dig Past Powerpoint

Updated Powerpoint on slide three!

My final project for the semester is centered around the discussion of the Women’s Suffrage Movement and the role it played on history; specifically, I am trying to identify the voting record from historical elections and what party females were attracted to.

In hopes of providing the class with interesting and certainly important women’s archives data in a visually appealing state, I hope the class learns a few key events and game-changers from my power point.

Dig Past Women’s Rights

Dig Past Google Charts

There are two highlights in my life, I feel made me mature into the person I am today. It was the difference between being an eighteen-year-old and a nineteen-year-old or learning about the person I could become with these opportunities: traveling and competing in the Miss America Scholarship Organization.

Through my experiences with competing in the Miss America Scholarship Organization in the Teen division for three years, I learned how to refine my interview skills, become a better performer onstage, maintaining the hard work I put behind my grades, and holding my composure in the spotlight. I learned numerous skills, especially the interview, that helped me become more prepared for adulthood. Not to mention, the time management and organization skills I learned when I would make appearances as Miss “XYZ” during the year. It also helped me to gain a better sense of community and become a public servant to increase awareness of my own platform, Diabetes Awareness.

When I first traveled by myself, I flew into LaGuardia Airport from Roanoke Regional Airport to go to New York City to stay with a friend for the weekend. It was a liberating feeling at eighteen, knowing I was abandoning a small town and my family and traveling to a big city all by myself. During the weekend, I was fairly on my own as well which helped me to adapt to being an adulthood. When I interned for Tim Kaine’s campaign for U.S. Senate, I moved immediately away from Roanoke and my family for an entire summer post-graduation and right before I moved to GMU. Every penny I made from owning my own company to working even before that was what I took with me to live off of for the summer. Also, moving to GMU and turning nineteen.. while living so close to DC has taught me even more about myself… I do not even want to consider what the next two-three years here will bring.

Chart one incorporates the time spent traveling to each destination and the sizable impact it held on my life. Obviously, GMU has the largest circle since it did have the largest impact on my life. The second chart revolves around how many times I tried for the specific title per year. Miss Virginia’s Outstanding Teen was the largest, because I tried for the title each year after I would win the local title.

<img src=”//chart.googleapis.com/chart?chs=300×225&cht=v&chco=FF6342,ADDE63,63C6DE&chd=t:100,80,60,30,30,30,10&chdl=GMU|Richmond%2C+VA|NYC&chtt=Times+When+I+Lived+Separately+From+My+Parents&chts=676767,8.5″ width=”300″ height=”225″ alt=”Times When I Lived Separately From My Parents” />

Jackie Kennedy so famously stated, “I’m a woman above all else,” during her tenure as First Lady of the United States.

Thirty years later the U.S. is gearing up for the possibilities of having a next female president.

These are the days when women have a direct impact now more than ever in government, the work force, and the ability to let their voice be heard. Although we [women] still have more work to accomplish, taking progressive steps towards more opportunities for the rights of femininity are our only answer.

My project topic is the “Women’s Suffrage Movement” and the angle “Female Leadership Impacting this Movement”

I already started working on my historical digital map for the project for this week’s blog; take a look:

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=217130741190098839342.0004d8b2a6b8525031936&msa=0&ll=42.910863,-76.800098&spn=0.007858,0.018561

Hi fellow classmates,

I would appreciate it if everyone would vote for me Tuesday, April 2nd as a Re-election for Student Senator.

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As a native Virginian, Lauren Waldron has served numerous leadership positions for the past six years, acted as the voice for the people, and led the most diverse student body in her school district. Since the age of fourteen, Lauren was active in her middle school’s Student Government as Student Body President. She found her passion for leading and encouraging her peers to excel and succeed at their own personal goals and continued with her platform throughout her high school years. From freshman year until her junior year, Lauren had the advantageous role of being Class President. In her senior year, Lauren won her Student Government election as President of the Entire Student Body. Currently, Lauren is a part of the Leadership and Community Engagement Living Learning Community at George Mason where she is able to take a Leadership class and volunteer on and off campus to directly make a difference in the lives of others.
During the spring of 2012 as a senior in high school, Lauren helped her local mayor’s re-election campaign which began her political campaign work. It was her mission to help Roanoke Mayor David Bowers campaign by GOTV initiatives such as: preparing strategic regional phone calls, identifying voter information, and executing promotional tasks. Additionally, over the summer of 2012, she moved to Richmond to intern in the main Richmond headquarters for former Governor of Virginia and newly elected United States Senator Tim Kaine’s campaign. While interning, Lauren used my past political campaign experience to promote Kaine’s campaign by going door-to-door and distributing literature throughout the regions of Chesterfield and Midlothian, helped to assist the campaign staff at various events, and planned out strategies with the Regional Field Director to inform voters about Senator Kaine.
As a Senator in Student Government at George Mason University, consider it an honor and privilege serving the nation’s most diverse student body. Senator Waldron acted as a representation on behalf of the student body at the Virginia State Capitol and General Assembly to lobby for increased support and funding. As a Senator, Lauren has sat on four House Committees: University Services, University Life, University Relations, and M.A.S.O.N. Her goal for this year is to bridge the gap between the faculty and student body by enhancing a clear communication channel. Feel free to contact me via social media or my email: lwaldron@masonlive@gmu.edu for comments!