Opinion Assignment 2

If I were to create the perfect candidate to be the head of today’s women’s rights movement she would look something a little like this.  This woman would have grown up in a middle class to upper class environment, have been well educated and graduated college.  Also not have to crucial ideas on religion but have some knowledge on the matter.  She would have had brothers and sister so that she would know how to handle and talk to each sex.  Not to mention that she would be of a non- white decent, maybe entailing a Mexican or Spanish decent.  This way she would not be your average woman she would know what it was like to really fight for who you were and what you resembled.  As for her age, she would be 30-35 so that woman of all ages could relate to her and she would also be wise enough with enough years under her belt to have lived to know what was necessary to protest about.  She would be married with children that way her husband could back her up and show that is was not a burden to feel the same way as his wife’s wants and needs, and her children could see what a strong independently wonderful mother they had and that it is okay to fight for what was right. 

I think that in many ways things would have been different had Claudette Colvin been the face of social rights for woman.  Colvin was a young girl at the tender age of 15; she had found herself pregnant and not married.  You could say her life was not following the best of order.  Claudette Colvin was however the first girl to not give her seat away on a bus.  Many people have heard of Rosa Parks, this may be because of Rosa Parks’s background or manly just because it was seen more important at her time.  Nine months earlier though, Claudette Colvin’s refusal of her seat did happen, and had this been the start of the Woman’s rights movement things I believe would have gone tremendously different.  Because of her young age and status of being poor she would have put a completely different face on the first person to stand up to racial laws.  Rosa Parks was quite a bit older and had come from and educated background and had been married with many children for years.  The cover in which Rosa Park’s painted for the newly protested rights for woman became so controversially spoken about because of her status.  Had Colvin been the eye of the civil movement it is uncertain that people would have been on the defense about protesting and helping with the new development.  This issue would have been need much more development and people on board had it been this young girl to become the new face in which to follow.  Maybe things would have been different today had it been her instead of Rosa Park’s but we can only wonder about the difference now days.  Would there be racism at all? Would woman be seen as equals to men?  It can’t be answered.  But it will be interesting to see with time what is to come and  what other people shape the face of the future, with new movements and issues.

Claudette Colvin

Rosa Parks