In 1920, women gained right to vote, and more
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Yesterday marked an important American milestone: The 90th anniversary of the signing into law of the 19th Amendment, which prohibits the government from denying an American the right to vote because of gender.
I'm happy to say that many women in my generation take that amendment for granted; it's just another right we have as Americans. It's such a regular part of life that if someone told an American woman she couldn't vote, she'd probably look at that person like he has lobsters crawling out of his ears.
I'm particularly proud of the 19th Amendment, not only because it concerns me as a woman, but because it was passed during a time when women couldn't own property, hold a job if they were married or gain custody of their children during a divorce.
And here we are, property owners, secretaries of state, speakers of the House, voters, soldiers and whatever else might fancy our pretty little minds. Part of me wishes I could time-travel back 90 or 100 years to see what it was like before those rights were commonplace, assuming I could time-travel back to 2010.
But let's face it, if left in 1913 America, I'd be picketing the White House with the likes of Alice Paul and Lucy Stone.
Can you believe there was a time in America when a woman couldn't get a checking account without the signature of her father, husband or other suitable male relative? That was a time when a woman was to be protected, guarded from the big, bad world outside, but what happened when the big, bad world lived in her own home? Ideally, women were to be cared for by a loving father or husband, who would also prepare for her future. But as we all know, life doesn't always give us a fair shake. A father might die penniless. A husband might be abusive or abandon her altogether. Rules put in place to "protect" a woman were the very ones that often painted her into a corner of poverty and helplessness.
And despite these protective rules, women still worked just as hard as the men. Women have been serving in the U.S. military since the American Revolution, but it wasn't until 1976 that they became eligible for veterans benefits and equal pay. Women were expected to help work the family farm, even though there was a time when their names would never grace the deed of the very property they tilled and plowed.
Or as Sojourner Truth said in 1851 in her famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech:
"I have ploughed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman?"
In fact, it was the woman's role in stateside jobs during WWI that inspired President Woodrow Wilson to say in 1918, "We have made partners of the women in this war. Shall we admit them only to a partnership of suffering and sacrifice and toil and not to a partnership of right?" Within two years, women had the right to vote.
Not that the lack of an amendment stopped some women.
In 1872, Susan B. Anthony, who claimed the 14th Amendment protected her right to vote as a natural born citizen of the United States, was arrested and convicted of voting. She wasn't sent to jail, but she was ordered to pay a fine, which, by the way, she never paid.
I think I would have liked Miss Susan B. Anthony.
Getting the vote in 1920 was a big step in ensuring a woman's ability to care for herself and her family and her right to participate in the governing of this country.
Some believe women's liberation tore apart the traditional family structure, but I ask you, if the family structure is already strong, how can it be destroyed by adding another responsible adult with the ability and right to guide and provide for said family? And men, I ask you, would you rather your wife be with you because she relies on you for the food in her stomach and the roof over her head or because she loves you, cares for you and enjoys sharing a life with you?
You don't have to step down to make room for another to step up.
Yes, it's a great time to be a woman in the United States. Anything you set your mind to doing is yours for the taking, and that's a special gift, one that wasn't available a century ago. In honor of it, get out there and take advantage of every right you have as a citizen of this great country.
(Nicolov, an assistant editor at The News-Item, writes "Don't Get Me Started" for each Friday edition. Contact her at julie_n@newsitem.com)
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