Today, many social reforms and interventions are created to make a change to a community’s ideal, and to overcome diversity. Over the years, more attention is being brought to subjects such as sexism, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex orientation, etc. It is important to make positive changes within these categories because without change, more tension will continue to arise. Throughout the last hundred years or so, women have involved themselves in interventions to overcome sexism and fight for equality. These interventions were successful, therefore reducing tension within society. Because of this success, it is encouraged to continue the fight to reduce the overall amount of tension that we witness each day.
Women took an important stand throughout the Progressive era because they wanted their voices to be heard. Women had to be their own advocates because society ignored their pride. During the period between the late 1800s and the early 1900s, women were not given the opportunity to voice their opinions because they were easily overlooked. By having social reform, women came together and fought for equality. Topics that they fought for were equal pay, equal opportunity, better work conditions, and much more. This was a major turn for the evolution of women because they were never recognized for fighting against injustice. During the progressive era there were multiple issues involving women such as poor working conditions, unequal pay, and job opportunity. As this was a reoccurring problem for many years, social reforms and interventions addressed the problem and demanded change. As a result, women gained a sense of empowerment because they took a stand when it was once socially wrong.
Women taking a stand and overcoming negative diversity is an important part of history because today’s society would be drastically different if it didn’t occur. Learning about the sacrifices that women made is inspiring because it influences people to speak their truth instead of being influenced by societal norms. If women did not take a stand when they did, we would unfortunately repeat history. One of the biggest impacts from the social reform was the nineteenth amendment. The nineteenth amendment states that no one shall be denied voting, regardless of gender. This was a step towards equality because women were granted the right to vote, meaning they now have a voice within the political system. “When group members have a meaningful group identity, have created a psychologically safe group climate, and feel that they can express their thoughts and opinions without being judged or rejected for those thoughts and opinions, then the chances that diversity will bring about positive results are the greatest” (Gruman 542). Adding the nineteenth amendment reduced an extensive amount of negative diversity which was a goal for women for a long period of time. Women opened a door full of opportunities and never stopped their fight for equality since.
Being involved in interventions has been proven to make major changes within society, so more interventions should be developed to achieve justice and equality. The social reform proved that women carry the same intelligence as anyone else and that working together can lead to positive changes. By having these reforms, many groups and organizations were created such as Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, which still exists. Learning about the social reform and the progressive era made me realize how far society has come by involving ourselves in interventions.
Reference: Applied Social Psychology : Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems, edited by Jamie A. Gruman, et al., SAGE Publications, 2016. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/pensu/detail.action?docID=5945490.
Tags: Diversity, intervention, Nineteenth Amendment, social reform, Women