“The law cannot do it for us. We must do it for ourselves. Women in this country must become revolutionaries. We must refuse to accept the old, the traditional roles and stereotypes…. We must replace the old, negative thoughts about our femininity with positive thoughts and positive action…”

Shirley Chisholm was a black Congresswoman during the 1970s, when she decided gender inequality could no longer be tolerated. It was no longer acceptable for women to be treated merely as housewives, trophies or human beings without the ability to decide what she can do. If men were able to do whatever they desired, then why shouldn’t women do the same? Due to the unequal treatment, many women fought for laws to be written in order to equalize the playing field for both genders. But, Chisholm believed that actions speak louder than words and that in order to change how women are treated, women must defy the stereotype that society has created for them and create a new view for women.

To further the push for female equality, English suffragette Christabel Pankhurst said:

“Remember the dignity
of your womanhood.
Do not appeal,
do not beg,
do not grovel.
Take courage
join hands,
stand beside us.
Fight with us. …”

Before women could fight for equal treatment, Pankhurst believed that they should start by fighting for their bodies. Men would view young women as “sex plaything”, pregnant women as “helpless”, and middle aged and old women as discardable items that were no longer beautiful. In order to change this view, Pankhurst believed that women should stand up for themselves and have confidence in themselves no matter what situation they face. By doing so, they will be able to break free from the “biological prison” that had been created by men and society in order to keep women as caged helpless creatures that were reliant on men.

Zinn includes these individuals because like the others, they demonstrate that it was time for the inequality that women had to face to be abolished. Zinn includes these women because they come from different ethnic backgrounds and yet they both fought for the same belief; the belief that although women were biologically different from men, their thoughts and actions were just as powerful as those from a man. If they were just as capable as a man, then they should be treated the same and so they demanded change.