Final answer:
Women have historically used a variety of strategies to demand reforms, including peaceful protests, legal challenges, and letter writing campaigns. High-profile efforts, such as the White House picketing by Suffragists and the hunger strikes of imprisoned activists like Alice Paul, brought significant attention and support to the women's rights movement, eventually leading to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.
Step-by-step explanation:
Women's Reforms and Strategies Used
Historically, women have employed various methods to advocate for reforms. Specific examples include peaceful protests, such as the 1968 demonstration by the New York Radical Women at the Miss America Pageant and the picketing of the White House by Suffragists in 1917. Women also launched legal challenges to claim their rights; for instance, during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, women reformers successfully influenced changes in married women's property laws and employment laws. In addition to these efforts, letter writing campaigns and public speeches were common tactics of women's rights advocates to communicate their demands and educate the public.
Another example of activism was that of the National Woman's Party, led by Alice Paul, which took a more radical approach by organizing public protests and picketing outside the White House. Activists who were imprisoned went on hunger strikes to draw further attention to their plight. Alice Paul herself became notable for partaking in a hunger strike during her imprisonment. The culmination of these efforts, among others, led to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, granting women the right to vote.
Throughout history, women have also understood the importance of engaging in the political process, including seeking the right to vote and holding public office, as means to effect societal change and further their reform agendas.