PenDragon - the official magazine of Lyford Cay International School PenDragon Vol 3, Spring 2017 | Page 12

The New Deal gave new opportunity in this regard.
to improve the status of women during the Great
Depression and beyond. Roosevelt believed that
women had “tremendous power in the destiny
of the world,” and should make use of this power
through political activism. According to Ware,
Roosevelt used her role to become “women’s
real ally in the White House.” Roosevelt often
invited women such as Frances Perkins and Molly
Dewson to dinner with the President or with other
politicians in order to give them opportunities
to plead their cases. These meetings gave these
other women the access to power they needed to
advance themselves and their concerns.
The Advancement of Women Under the New Deal
The feminist movement had floundered since the
unifying goal of women’s suffrage was achieved in
1920. The New Deal, however, provided a window of
opportunity for women with political aspirations.
President Roosevelt, with the persuasion of his
wife Eleanor and her close friend Molly Dewson,
appointed Frances Perkins as Secretary of Labour
in 1933. With their influence, there were over
100 female appointments to lesser bureaucratic
positions during the Roosevelt administration.
Molly Dewson
For a decade, there
was almost no national
campaign
whose
women’s division was
not headed by Molly
Dewson. Frances Seeber
notes that she used her
position and influence, as
well as the ethos of the
New Deal, to create “a
new deal for women in
politics.”
Women clearly gained political ground during
the New Deal Era, but many of those women, and
the women who helped them gain that ground,
identified themselves as “social reformers rather
than feminists,” according to women’s historian
Susan Ware. Many women resisted the feminist
label; any alliance with the feminist movement
could make it impossible to be seen as serious
politicians due to the unpopular view of such
reformist groups.
The competence and perseverance of these
women earnt them personal respect as well as
respect for their gender. However, their focus as
politicians remained on issues such as the success
of New Deal programmes. This focus often
made them seem less concerned about women’s
issues. Their focus on humanitarian efforts took
precedence over their interest in women’s issues.
WHEN IS FEMINISM
N T FEMINISM?
Women and Politics in the US Under the New Deal
Library of Congress
By Frances Hawkins, Grade 12 student
This paper provides a
condensed summary of
the research conducted
by Grade 12 student
Frances Hawkins for her
Extended
Essay.
The
Extended Essay is one
of the key components
of
the
Intern a ti ona l
Baccalaureate
Diploma
Programme. Frances will be
attending the University of
Oxford this fall to pursue a
degree in anthropology.
The idea of feminism has been controversial
since the term itself was first used in the late 19th
century. Competing factions of feminists exist:
some believe in equal rights and equal opportunity
for all; others that, since men and women are
inherently different, “equal but different” rights
and opportunities are appropriate.
Feminist activism has long been disturbing to
many. During the height of the Great Depression,
groups of hostile housewives staged a stream of
protests across the country. These protests could
become militant and often involved cases of
vandalism. The radical behaviour of suffragettes
in Britain in the 1920’s was s