Connecting the Place of Woman and Education in the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals to the Political Thought of Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)

In the American Nineteenth Century, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, through the women’s rights movement, raised the issues of women’s access to quality education and gender equality in a male-dominated society where women’s lives were controlled by deep-seated beliefs, customs and laws. Stanton’s concerns were pointed out in 2000 in the Millennium Development Goals Summit and in 2015 in the Sustainable Development Goals Summit. The purpose of this article is to show that Stanton and the leaders of these two summits share the view that the world will not reach a harmonious, a more equitable and sustainable development if the challenges of women’s access to quality education and gender equality are not met.


Introduction
In 2000, leaders of 189 countries of the world came together at the United Na- vestigates the way in which, Stanton's political thought and these goals can contribute to creating a more equitable, sustainable and peaceful world.

Women's Access to Education: A Key to Future Autonomy
Women's access to quality education is both at the heart of Elizabeth Cady "if the girl was allowed all the freedom of the boy in romping, climbing, swimming, playing whoop and ball... Physically, as well as intellectually, it is use that produces growth and development" [1]. Stanton believes that the equal education of the sexes is a pre-condition of the improvement of society as a whole, since properly educated women in turn raise their children to be virtuous citizens.
In her famous 1892 speech "The Solitude of Self" Stanton  Stanton's views on the historical causes of the subjugation of women and its educational remedies parallel the arguments of the MDGs and SDGs. Stanton contends, "Our laws and constitutions, our creeds and codes, and the customs of social life are all of masculine" [3]. Stanton argues that male control over customs and education what Wollstonecraft calls "the male aristocracy" produces a false education that indoctrinates male superiority and stunts the physical, moral, and intellectual abilities of women. Stanton joins Wollstonecraft in concluding that the equal education of the sexes would dismantle the supposedly natural differences in intelligence and physical strength that men use to assert their superiority. "When there is a demand for healthy, happy, vigorous, self-reliant women," Stanton states "they will make their appearance.... Woman, as she is today, is men's handiwork". She furthermore argues that "Man's intellectual superiority cannot be a question until woman has had a fair trial," echoing Wollstonecraft's suggestion, "Where is then the sexual difference, when the education has been the same" [4]? Goals aim to build on these achievements to ensure that there is an end to discrimination against women and girls everywhere.
In 1868, Stanton urged fathers to allow their daughters to have access to the world of education. She argues that by educating their daughters fathers would grant them the surest of all fortunes and the full development of their immortal powers 1 . In that eloquent extract, Stanton's ideas clearly parallel those of Murray, as she demands that women should have access to all levels of education so that they can create a secure future for themselves. She takes her argument a step further encouraging women to demand entrance to some of the best male-dominated educational institutes in America. She states that there is nothing to prevent them from gaining access: "It is important for the girls now knocking at the doors of these venerable institutions to know that they have a right inside. There is no law, human or divine, nothing in their charters that forbids" [5]. Stanton's demands for female education began to reflect her maturing belief that it is acceptable for women to assert their autonomy as they battle for equality.
Higher Education was not considered an attribute for wives and mothers.
Therefore, the institutes of higher learning remained closed to women. Through proper exercise and observance of the laws of health [6].
Access to education is one of the key topics of the women's rights movement since its conception. Stanton recognizes that women would never possess an alternative to their status as housekeepers until they have access to further education and the ability to become fully independent. Mary Livermore's speech "What shall we do with our daughters" continues to be a real concern for the twenty first century leaders, exposing women around the world to Stanton's belief that women should possess the tools to allow them to select their future ca- tion for women she demands that women should have the right to attend colleges that already existed so that women may possess not only the freedom to learn what they choose, but also have the ability to support themselves 3 . Stanton's writings and speeches reflect her belief that higher education is the key to future autonomy for women and the construction of an independent woman that she has fully developed in her later work the Solitude of Self. She argues that education for women is a necessary step if women have to be awarded the right to vote. In order for women to fully participate in society they need to be equipped with an education and the right to vote to create a progressive society. Stanton has recognized that such measures would lead women to become autonomous and to control their own roles in society. Stanton determined that women who were educated and enfranchised would have broader options than just the roles of wife or mother "to serve a higher purpose in life than she has heretofore known" [7]. Stanton carefully crafts the position of girls to reflect her view on how they should be permitted to develop and the "equal place" they would hold with men in the world of work, the colleges, in the state, in the church, and in the home. She continues by remarking that a woman's sphere is "no longer bound by the prejudices of a dead past, but her capacity to go wherever she can stand. A. girl is to be an independent, self-supporting being" [8].
Stanton's focus on the independence of women is made visible and through her influence, her daughters were shaped according to her ideology. One of the most lasting legacies that Blatch inherited from her mother was the desire and the ability to achieve self-sovereignty. Stanton was denied the opportunity to pursue higher education that her brother was allowed. She determined that her daughters would not be so restricted in their choices. Stanton ensured that Blatch was equipped with the education and ideological background that she felt was necessary for women to break out of their traditionally restrictive spheres.
Stanton's actions were part of her continuing battle for the women's rights movement. She also propelled Blatch and the generation that she represented into place as her heirs in the continuing conflict for women's equality. These successes also highlight the view that "true feminism is an abnegation of male protection and a determination to be resourceful and self-reliant" [9]. In this perspective, the leaders of the MDGs and SDGS agree that without political representation, the notion of self-reliance and empowerment for women will not be fully achieved. In 1995, Europe dominated the top 10 spots in world rankings of women in parliament. As of January 2015, 4 of the top 10 countries are in sub-Saharan Africa, while the Americas and Europe each have 3 countries in the top 10. The biggest gains in women's representation during the last 20 years have been made in Rwanda, with an increase of 60 percentage points; Andorra, 46 percentage points; and Bolivia, 42 percentage points. The number of male-only parliaments has also dropped, from 10 to 5.

Political Representation and Women's Empowerment
The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments, patterned after the American Declaration of Independence, asserted that "all men and women are created equal" and captured the nation's attention by linking woman's rights directly to the founding ideals of the United States. It set through the resolutions an agenda including demands for women's equality in politics, law, work, education, religion, family life, and moral authority and outlined methods including hiring lecturers, circulating tracts, signing petitions, enlisting help from churches and newspapers, and holding conventions that dominated the woman's movement for generations. Historians who studied rural women found that, like many signers of Seneca Falls such as the members of the M'Clintock family, rural women and men often worked in gender-specific groups, but they were also bound together in male-female networks. As Nancy Grey Osterud found in her 1991 study of New York farm women, for example, "the strategies that rural women adopted, like the problems they confronted, were the inverse of those followed by urban middle-class women". Defined in relation to men rather than as distinct from them, rural women tried to transform the bonds of kinship and labor into sources of sharing and strength, renegotiating the terms of gender relations and modifying them in a more symmetrical and egalitarian direction. She concluded, "Instead of elaborating a distinct women's culture, rural women nurtured respect and reciprocity between women and men in their families and kin groups [10].
Gilman's focus on the economic independence of women took Stanton's search for self-sovereignty in a new direction as she argues that women's labour in the home is not only restrictive but the lack of payment is indicative of its importance. Gilman's theories reveal an expansion of Stanton's original ideas. Gilman supports Stanton's earlier viewpoint that women should have access to the political decision-making instances to assert their independence. However, Gilman recognizes that by embracing new careers women would inevitably now have the problem of balancing their traditional roles of wife and mother with their professional duties which would only be solved by regarding duties of wives and mothers as a business that can be completed by others 4 . Gilman's position had advanced as she believed that women had to totally redesign their traditional roles to achieve the level of self-sovereignty that Stanton advocated. In an effort to restructure the traditional "family environment" and to "enhance the freedom of women to expand their... place in society," Gilman moves beyond Stanton's desire for access to equal opportunities for women by providing another standard by which independence could be judged and obtained, the aspect of economic freedom 5 .
While many American women's rights advocates distanced themselves from Wollstonecraft's argument for women's economic and political independence from men, Stanton seizes the opportunity to side with her controversial predecessor. Stanton and Wollstonecraft share the view that the independence of women can not end with equal education. It rather must extend to self-sufficient employment outside the home and full political citizenship.
While much progress has been made towards women's and girls' equality in education, employment and political representation over the last two decades, many gaps remain, particularly in areas that were not addressed in the MDGs. To achieve universal realization of gender equality and empowerment of women, it is critical to address the key areas of gender inequality, including gender-based discrimination in law and in practice; violence against women and girls; women's and men's unequal opportunities in the labour market; the unequal division of unpaid care and domestic work; women's limited control over assets and property; and women's unequal participation in private and public decision-making. Gender perspectives should be integrated fully into all goals of the post-2015 development agenda. When Catherine Beecher, the educational reformer, rebuked the Grimké sisters for speaking in public and forsaking "woman's sphere," the home, Angelina replied by using Locke's ideas of natural rights as the best of available theories to support her arguments. She replied as follow.
Now I believe it is woman's right to have a voice in all the laws and regulations by which she is to be governed. Whether in the Church or State: and that the present arrangements of society, on these points, are a violation of human rights, a rank usurpation of power, a violent seizure and confiscation of what is sacredly and inalienably hers… If Ecclesiastical and Civil governments are ordained of God, then I contend that woman has just as much right to sit in solemn counsel in conventions, conferences, associations and general assemblies, as man-just as much right to sit upon the throne of England or in the Presidential chair of the United States.
Angelina Grimké's words did not differ from what Pocock defined as "civil humanism" by which he meant "a style of thought… in which it is contended that the development of an individual towards self-fulfillment is possible only when the individual acts as a citizen, that is, as a conscious and autonomous participant in the autonomous decision-taking community, the polis or republic".
Women continue to face discrimination in access to work, economic assets and participation in private and public decision-making. Women are also more Among the 1 billion people who were still living in extreme poverty worldwide in 2011, it is unknown how many were women and girls. In part this is because measures of poverty rely on income or consumption data collected at the household level, rather than at the individual level. This makes it difficult to differentiate poverty rates within households, and hence to understand gender differences in the incidence, severity and impact of poverty. A recent study used a wealth asset index as a proxy for household poverty to compare the percentage of women and men aged 20 -59 who live in the lowest wealth quintile of all households. Using this measure, the study found that women are more likely to live in poverty in 41 out of 75 countries with data. Further analysis indicates that in countries where women are overrepresented in the lowest wealth quintile of households, the households are more likely to be headed by women or to have no male adults. This suggests a greater risk of poverty among separated women, widows and single mothers, including self-reported heads of household without a male partner.
Stanton was certain that the vote would prove to be a key tool that would allow women to overcome the imbalance in society. This conviction is the key to her ideology of achieving equal rights for women throughout society not just on the political stage. Stanton believed that enfranchised women would be able to attack traditional institutions that she perceived were keeping women in their subordinate position in society. She recognizes that without a political voice no group could encourage sweeping change and that this lack of political influence would continue to confine women to the private sphere where their husbands and fathers would continue to misrepresent them. For Stanton the vote was just the beginning of the changes that women needed to make. It was part of her strategy for the women's rights movement to achieve its goals. Stanton wanted women to be aware of the limitations of their lives in order to embrace both her ideas and the movement that she established.

Conclusion
Linking the place of woman and education in the Millennium Development Stanton's political thought shows that women will not have access to self-sovereignty when they are deprived of a quality education. For Stanton and the leaders of the MDGs and the SDGs, social and cultural norms and the gendered division of roles women are imposed must be challenged. Empowerment of women is required. This means a greater role for women in decision-making at all levels, including the household, local communities, and national parliaments. Women's empowerment is not only a priority goal in itself but an intrinsic human right, already recognized as such in pledges and commitments by governments. It is recognized also because it has instrumental value and is a condition for society to benefit from the increased contribution of women to food security. Society urgently needs the full potential of women's contribution, but it can only materialize with wider recognition and acknowledgment by women and men alike of its benefits to all society, and the vital importance of reshaping social structures.