About
XX Proud is a statement that reminds women that the word ‘woman’ is not a dirty word. In recent times women have been made to feel like second class citizens and guilty of their XX chromosomes.
Women today are losing their rights, the rights that both the Suffragettes Movement in the early 1900s and the Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1960s fought so hard for the rights of biological women.
Progressively it seems the rights of women has been receded; this was evidenced in 2013 when Julia Guillard the then Australian Prime Minister removed the definition of “What is a woman?” from the Sex Discrimination Act.
XX Proud celebrates and acknowledges the rights of all women and their right to be proud of who they are. So, join the crowd be XX and proud!
The History of Women’s Rights
Perhaps women today are the Suffragettes of the 21st century.
The Suffragette Movement in the early 1900s was a collective of biological women campaigning for the right to vote. The Movement was led in the UK by many resilient women such as Emmeline Pankhurst and Emily Davison who famously died for the cause throwing herself in front of King George V horse at the Epsom Derby.
Australia started their own Suffragette Movement in the late 1800s which successfully resulted in 1895 with South Australia being the first place in the world to allow women to vote and stand for election. This was soon followed in 1902 when the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia installed the same rights for women.
In the late 1960s the fight for women continued, known as the liberation movement synonymous with the burning of the bra the Women’s Liberation Movement focused on redeeming themselves from second class citizens towards achieving equality. The success of their collective voice and protests resulted in making it illegal for women to be paid less than men for doing the same job, elimination of sexual discrimination against women, the creation of paid maternity leave rather than being fired from their job and access to services such as childcare.
The women of the USA fought their own battle for recognition. The Equal Rights Amendment was introduced to Congress in 1923 but did not pass due to opposition to the idea of complete gender equality. The Equal Rights Amendment proposed that women are protected against sex discrimination and given legal equality in divorce, property and employment. The Bill gained momentum in the early 1970s and was passed by both the House and the Senate in 1972 resulting in a joint resolution being signed by President Jimmy Carter.
