According to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the power that men have over women had to do with every aspect of a woman’s life. No matter if a woman was married or not, she was controlled by a man. “He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civility dead” (Stanton 165). If a woman was married, nothing that she said or did was a reflection of her, but it was a reflection of what there husband wanted. The money that she made was given to their husband to spend any way he pleased. The way she stands up for these rights, of course make sense, but the way she puts it shows a massive amount of strength and bravery. If all of the things she is saying were true in her time, then standing up and making a statement like the one she did, proved what she was saying was right. If women never wanted to get out of the shadow of a man, then life would not be as it is today. Without people coming forth and going against struggles, change cannot occur and will not occur. Stanton uses the word he to show the power being forced down upon women. “He has endeavored in every way he could, to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lesson her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life (Stanton 166). Stanton realizes that men have taken the control over women and made them feel as if nothing, in order for the women to not rebel and live as a slave to men. The way she puts this shows to these women that life is not just a mundane existence, but that women can get everything a man has. For the change that Stanton wanted to occur, all women needed to step forth and begin standing up for their rights as citizens.


Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 164-168.