Declaration of Sentiments Reflection

During the Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention, my group was playing the role of the middle and upper class reform workers. Our paper that we received were women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and the Grimke sisters speaking about the problems they faced during their time. The problems that this group of women were facing played a big role in how the other women during that time, especially the slaves were treated. For example, during that time, women were not allowed to attend universities, so they didn’t have the same right to an education, as men did. This affected the slave women, because if they were to someday be released, they wouldn’t be able to attend universities simply because they were women. This is why, I agreed with our decision to demand that women be accepted by all or at least some universities. By saying that women weren’t allowed to go to universities just like men implied that women were supposed to stay at home and cook and clean for the men. In today’s society, women are still seen as the ones who have to stay home and take care of their children, while the men are ones that do the “hard labor.” Another problem that was big during that time was that women weren’t allowed to sign anything, even if they’re husbands, who were the ones in charge, let them. This affected the enslaved women as well because their masters were in charge, so they weren’t allowed to sign anything, and even if something was signed, it almost always was destroyed, so that there wouldn’t be any actual evidence in favor of the enslaved women. The resolution was to demand that women be allowed to sign any contract, with or without permission of their husband. This affects today’s society because nowadays, almost everything in a man’s name. For example, when you receive mail, it says, Mr. and Mrs. with the last name of the male. I personally don’t think the wives should receive the last name of their spouse and only be seen as that. For example, a man typically has everything written in his name, almost as if a women is forbidden to sign anything. In conclusion, in today’s society, women still have a long way to achieve equal treatment.