In a letter to her husband on March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams urged John Adams to “remember the ladies” as he and his fellow founding brothers created a new nation. Unfortunately for Mrs. Adams, her pleas were dismissed by Mr. Adams who accused her of being “saucy.” It would take the new nation 144 years to grant women the right to vote.
Even though Abigail Adams managed the family’s farm and finances while John Adams was away practicing politics, she still struggled for a public role in a patriarchal society that emphasized the domestic natures of its female citizens. Women’s rights have improved since 1776, but there are still important limits to the agency of women, both in the United States and abroad. Women remain underrepresented in the mathematics and sciences and hold relatively few elected seats of power.
The solutions to the inequality and oppression that women face are not always clear. What is apparent, however, is the need for women to become active participants in the fight for their own rights. Women’s groups led the fight for improved access to reproductive health services in Mexico against the powerful dogma of the Catholic Church. Women in Egypt stood untied with their male counterparts to oust the decades old regime of Hosni Mubarak. Several countries have adopted quotas to improve the representation of women on corporate boards.
These examples of the progress that women have made demonstrate the need for women to be advocates of their own cause. Society’s perceptions of what jobs a woman can hold, of the degree to which a woman should be involved with politics, and the extent to which a girl can get an education and change her community are all mutable. These created paradigms can only be altered if and when women and girls are willing to stand up for what is important to them, and to fight against any outside force which limits their agency. Abigail Adams warned her husband “that arbitrary power is like most other things which are very hard, very liable to be broken; and, notwithstanding all your wise laws and maxims, we have it in our power, not only to free ourselves, but to subdue our masters, and without violence, throw both your natural and legal authority at our feet.”