Suffrage, labor rights, and the equal rights amendment are all related to fighting for equality and justice. The videos this week focused on labor rights. In the past there were no labor rights, people worked in poor conditions for very little pay and employers did nothing to ensure worker’s safety or well-being. Employers befitted from mistreating and underpaying their workers. The video about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire is a good representation of the need for labor rights. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire caused many worker deaths and served as a breaking point. The corruption and neglectfulness of employers caused these deaths; if there had been safety precautions in place, the workers could have escaped the fire or the fire could have been prevented all together. This week’s reading focused on suffrage and the equal rights amendment. Women and other oppressed groups had to fight to the right to vote and to have equal rights. Even to this day, the fight for equal rights is ongoing. Women had to fight to have a voice in political matters. Bing politically involved is important for women because they have been oppressed by the patriarchal political system. The equal rights amendment would protect women’s rights and ensure they could not be denied based on sex. Each of these subjects are, at its core, oppressed and underprivileged people fighting for their deserved rights in this hierarchical society.  

Labor rights are also issues of gender justice because women are denied jobs and/or equal respect and pay in the workplace. Women could be just as or even more qualified for a job than a man but would be denied because of their sex. Or if given the job, she would be paid less than her male coworkers. Women are often seen as less than, needed to be supported by a man, and/or not as capable as men. This hinders women’s success and chance for opportunity. Which is why labor rights and the ERA are so necessary to protect women. 

These historical issues are enacted in today’s society by having labor rights and unions that set standard working conditions and protect worker’s rights. The same goes for suffrage and the equal rights amendment. Women are gaining more say in politics and as the reading explained, we are closer to the ERA passing and being approved to be in the constitution. However, while progress has been made, there is still more to be done. The ERA has not been ratified after decades of effort and protest, there is still corrupt corporations that abuse workers, and there is still not class and gender equality. These are issues still being protested and fought against in today’s society and it is unknown what amount of suffering or activism will make the necessary changes.