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History has not Forgotten its Role in Destroying the Image of Women!
"the human history is full of wounds and rapes of woman by man because of the direct and absolute tyranny he exercised on her. to prove this let us subject the facts to frankness:
- he never allowed her to exercise the right to vote.
- he forced her to submit to a law she did not have the right to vote on its drafting.
- he prevented her from most rights given to most men, both local and foreign, who are ignorant and trodden.
- he deprived her from its first right as a citizen in the election and therefore left her without a representative at the halls of legislation which treated it unjustly in all respects.
- he made her as if dead as far as law was concerned if she is married.
- he took all her property and even her income.
- he rendered her a being that is morally irresponsible. she could commit crimes with impunity under the pretext that her husband was present at the incident. in marriage contracts she is forced to promise obedience to her husband who would remain her master for all purposes. the law gave him the power to strip her of its freedom and to discipline her.
- he formulated the laws of divorce and the reasons that he considered appropriate for divorce. in case of separation he granted himself the custody of the children, regardless of the happiness of woman. in all cases, the law adopts the principle that men are of a higher status than women and therefore it places all the powers in his hand.
- after being stripped of all her rights as a married woman, he imposed taxes on her as a single woman who has property to support the government that knows her only if she possesses what can generate benefit for it.
- he monopolized almost all profitable jobs and allowed her to occupy the positions of meager compensations. he also closed all the roads that would grant her wealth and privilege because he considered these jobs honorable to him. therefore, you cannot find a woman that teaches theology, medicine, or law.
- he denied her full access to education and closed the doors of all colleges before her.
- he did not allow her to occupy but secondary positions in both the church and the state. he claimed the authority to keep her away from the priestly service - and with some exceptions – and any public participation in the affairs of the church.
- he created a false public sentiment through providing a moral code for women that is different from that of law of man and in this he placed all the sins that make society so averse to woman while it forgives man for the same and considers them quite significant.
- he even usurped the rights of the lord himself by claiming the right to assess her functions while this is related to her conscience and lord.
- he tried all ways to destroy her confidence in her capabilities and reduce her self-esteem to make her live her life willingly humiliated and dependent.
these injustices experienced by american women were mentioned by elizabeth cady stanton in women's rights convention 1848, seventy years after the american revolution that had prioritized human rights and democracy but they were not respected during this period and therefore stanton and her colleagues write this document.