Feminism and the Women’s Rights Movement

Girls get to learn the same things as boys and get to choose the same careers. Girls can even make their own decisions about their bodies! Anything else would be unimaginable to us. Girls having the same opportunities as boys isn't something that happened by itself.

Accessibility icon Feminism and the Women’s Rights Movement

Women stand up

There were big changes in Europe from the end of the 18th century and the start of the 19th century. Ideas about freedom spread and technology developed fast. It changes many aspects of Europeans’ lives. People got more freedom, but not women.

The woman was viewed as the man’s property. But this was about to change when women saw the development in other areas. They wanted to be a part of the development that was happening.

This is how the women’s movement started. This is still going on worldwide. The movement fought and still fights for feminism. In this article, we will focus on five key areas in Norway.

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Kvinnedag tog i Washington DC i 2018
Kvinnedag tog i Washington DC i 2018

Schooling

Girls did not get the same education as boys. Secondary schools were split into boys’ and girls’ schools. Ragna Nielsen was the first school that allowed boys and girls to go to school together. It was strange at the time that a woman would be running a school with both boys and girls. Cecilie Thoresen was the first female university student in Norway. She started at the University of Oslo in 1882. Today, there are more girls than boys studying at colleges and universities.

 

 

 

 

Portrait of Ragna Nielsen. ⮕

Portrett av Ragna Nielsen
Papirbakgrunn 8
Papirbakgrunn 8

Marriage 

A woman had to marry a man that her family had chosen for her, she was not allowed to choose for herself. When they were married, the man made all the decisions for her. For example, the man would decide on the children, her money and if she was to take on any work outside of the home. This was an old tradition that was hard to break. At the end of the 19th century, women finally got the right to control their own income.

Camilla Collett published the novel ‘The Amtmann’s daughters’ in 1854. The story is about Sofie, who is living in an unhappy marriage. The novel fought for the rights of women to have a love-life and accept their feelings. People got angry with the novel and it was a warning of the freedom that was to come for women.

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Portrett av Camilla Collett i 1893
Portrett av Camilla Collett i 1893

Work

Many unmarried women worked as dressmakers or maids at the beginning of the 19th century. When factories were started, many women began to work there and also in offices and as nurses. Their salary was lower than a man’s salary.

In the matchstick factories in Oslo, the working conditions were awful. Many women worked here for very low salaries. The work was also dangerous. The material that was in the matches was poisonous. Teeth and skin rotted away, and the women didn’t have soap and water to wash themselves. They went on strike and got a lot of support because of the working conditions. This was a start for better working conditions for women and men.

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Kvinner jobber på fabrikk
Kvinner jobber på fabrikk

Body

Women were only supposed to have sex to have children. Girls and women were supposed to be innocent and not have sex with several partners. They should also dress in long dresses. Women could be labelled “loose” if rules were broken and could be banished from society. Men could do what they wanted, also have sex with prostitutes. Prostitution, which is the sale of sexual services, has continued to keep women treated wrongly.

“Both pornography and prostitution are the sale of the female body, and express a view of women that both maintains and strengthens the oppression of women”, Unni Rustad said in an interview for the Kvinnefront magazine in 1980. Women’s movement fights for the right to decide over your own body. Today, it is a crime to buy sex but not to sell sex in Norway. Believing that you are good enough and accepting all females as they are is also included in this fight.

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Kvinnekroppen i neonlys
Kvinnekroppen i neonlys

The Right to Vote

At the beginning of the 19th century, only men over 25 who came from the higher class had the right to vote. At the end of the century, all men over 25 were given the right to vote, except the poorest.

Women still had no right to vote. As men’s rights grew to include almost everyone, women started to protest. Women wanted to be able to vote on the same basis as men. By this time, women already had more rights in society, such as being able to study, work and run a shop. Women demanded the right to be a bigger part of society.

Women got the right to vote in 1913. This was thanks to a group of people that didn’t take no for an answer. Norway became one of the first countries in the world to allow women to vote.

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Stortingsvalg, muligens Drammen, Buskerud, 1909. Ved dette valget kunne kvinner fra borgerskapet og middelklassen avgi stemme for første gang
Stortingsvalg, muligens Drammen, Buskerud, 1909. Ved dette valget kunne kvinner fra borgerskapet og middelklassen avgi stemme for første gang

Feminism today

Girls and women in Norway today have a lot of freedom and can make decisions about their own life. We have come a really long way in 200 years. Norway is one of the best countries to live in when it comes to equality.Well done! And thank you, feminists!

The feminist movement is still going on, and is perhaps bigger now than ever.

Feminism is gaining more and more supporters. An example of this is the #metoo movement, which showed that girls and women are still experiencing sexual and other sorts of abuse. More people think that feminism is important to everyone everywhere.

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Kvinnedagen markering
Kvinnedagen markering

Sources:

  • Buregren, Sassa og Lindell, Elin: Feminisme pågår
    Omnipax. Oslo 2017.     

Media Rights:

    1. Mobilus In Mobili (CC BY-SA 2.0)
    2. Getty Images / Asta Nørregaard (CC BY-SA 3.0 NO)
    3. Getty Images / Johan Gørbitz (CC BY-SA 3.0)
    4. Getty Images
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    6. Anders Beer Wilse / Norsk Folkemuseum
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