RESPECT

           

            “Respect”; that was all these women wanted. Respect was all they were asking for. Because with respect comes a lot of things such as equality. To be respected as a fellow human. That was exactly what the suffrage movement was all about. The hidden meaning behind this long agony, the demonstration, burning of documents, parades, causing of causing riots, picketing of the white house, serving time in jail and all other tactics of protesting these women carried out was all in the name of respect. The suffrage movement was the most reasonable and effective of gaining this respect, because the most powerful weapon civilians have is their voting right, which also gets them respect from the government. The purpose of the movement was not really was seem, which was voting, no…it was the power, which could bring respect for their species that these women were after. The song “Respect” by Aretha Franklin, even though was not talking about voting rights for women, had and shared the same idea with the movement, respect.

        It was originally written and recorded by Otis Redding in 1965 as a plea for respect and recognition for women (respect). The song strictly emphasis it’s 
goal and message which was respect, which can also be told from the title. The problem the song was talking about was obviously the lack of respect for 
women, “(ooh) All I'm askin' (Ooh) Is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit)” (respect). As a matter of fact, the word respect was repeated in 
most of the lines. The people being blamed for this problem were obviously the other species, which was the male or men, though it was not mentioned in the song. But the song did not actually render or
give a solution to this problem. The reason being it was a song of plea. It was a song appealing to men or asking men for respect. It was not written like many other protest songs were written, which is always in a fighting and 
complaining tone. But this song took on a totally different system. The writer tried reasoning with the enemy by satisfy the enemy by giving it what he wants in exchange for respect, which was clearly established in the second 
and third verses,  
                                    “I ain't gonna do you wrong while you're gone                                                                                                                                               
                                     Ain't gonna do you wrong (oo) 'cause I don't wanna (oo) 
                                    All I'm askin' (oo) 
                                    Is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit) 
                                    Baby (just a little bit) when you get home (just a little bit) 
                                    Yeah (just a little bit)
                                   I'm about to give you all of my money 
                                  And all I'm askin' in return, honey 
                                  Is to give me my profits 
                                  When you get home (just a, just a, just a, just a) 
                                  Yeah baby (just a, just a, just a, just a) 
                                 When you get home (just a little bit) 
                                 Yeah (just a little bit)” (respect).
The writer tried letting the men see that what they can do, a woman can also do, from having a job to making money. She even agrees to give the man all her money in the first line of the third verse, which also shows that the 
woman is willing to buy their way out of this situation. This just means or shows how desperate this woman is in gaining her own respect. The motivation used by the writer in this song was comparison 
and scarify. The song compared how women can do almost everything a man can do and how the woman was willing to give it up to man just for his respect. 
The fact of the matter is that, the song is just trying to motivation men into favoring the women. That was its goal and target, not the women. The song was about 
women’s issue, but was for men. It is a plea from a man to his fellow gentlemen. He is trying to show them how he viewed the whole thing concerning the way 
women are treated and his position towards it. And comparison and scarify by the women was his tactic of motivating any man to support his view: 
                                                       “What you want 
                                                         (Ooh)Baby, I got 
                                                         (Ooh) What you need 
                                                         (Ooh) Do you know I got it? 
                                                         (Ooh) All I'm askin' 
                                                         (Ooh) Is for a little respect when you    
                                                                 come home”  
                                                         Ooo, your kisses 
                                                         Sweeter than honey 
                                                         And guess what? 
                                                          So is my money” (respect)    
                                                                                                            

The symbols used by the writer were money and kisses.  The money represented the scarify the women are will to give and the kisses represent the comparison part of the motivation and help strength it. The song was

written with a comparison and an appealing tone.

         Later on in the future this song was reversed for Aretha Franklin’s role in her hit album “I loved a man the way I love You” in 1985, couple of years after Otis Redding died on a plane crash, in December 10, 1967.
 Unlike Otis who, in his role in the song was willing to give the respect, Aretha change the role of the character to female, demanding the respect. She also made some changes by adding the famous lines that spelt out respect:  
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T 
                                                                                                       Find out what it means to me 
                                                                                      R-E-S-P-E-C-T 
                                                                        Take care, TCB” (respect)
And also a line even posing a threat to the man if the demand was not met: 
“I get tired (just a little bit) 
Keep on tryin' (just a little bit)             
You're runnin' out of foolin' (just a little bit) 
And I ain't lyin' (just a little bit) 
(re, re, re, re) 'spect 
When you come home (re, re, re ,re) 
Or you might walk in (respect, just a little bit) 
And find out I'm gone (just a little bit) 
I got to have (just a little bit)” (respect)
        It became a landmark for all women, an anthem that can’t be forgotten, though it didn’t help in the movement, because it was 
written after the movement, but it helped in nourishing the birth of the suffrage for women.  Just as stated early on, the whole suffrage 
movement was not only for the purpose of voting, but respect; the respect which they got upon the passage of the amendment. With this power
of voting, the respect was earn, which also led to passing of the ERA, and elections of females into political offices.