Today, August 26th, is Women\u2019s Equality Day.\u00a0 For many not actively engaged in women\u2019s issues, it\u2019s merely another in a long list of little known \u2018days\u2019.\u00a0 But this election year\u2019s escalating anti woman rhetoric is crazy making. I feel like Alice falling down the rabbit hole into the land of the absurd. When \u2018rape\u2019 and \u2018legitimate\u2019 can be used in the same breath and women and men of reason are called upon to counter medieval constructs of female biology, I need the lessons of Women\u2019s Equality Day. Maybe others do, too.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s Equality Day originated in 1971. New York Congresswoman\u00a0 Bella Abzug proposed August 26th be so designated in honor of the 1920 ratification of the Woman\u2019s Suffrage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. \u00a0 The designation reflected the renewed energy of the \u2018second wave\u2019 of the feminist movement. It was an attempt to reclaim lost history.<\/p>\n
By the 1960\u2018s, the struggles preceding the final ratification the 19th amendment had been largely forgotten. If school books mentioned women\u2019s rights at all, a single sentence:\u00a0 \u2018Women were given the vote in 1920\u2018 usually sufficed. The 70 year battle for women\u2019s suffrage was not considered a significant part of our national history.<\/p>\n
Beginning at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 and continuing until 1920 when the Tennessee legislature became the 36th state required for a two thirds majority, women battled for a Constitutional\u00a0 amendment guaranteeing the right to vote. They organized, lobbied, protested and picketed. Their efforts were mocked and ridiculed. Protesters were arrested, jailed and force fed though tubes shoved down their throats. Leaders did not always agree on tactics. But women persisted. Far from being \u2018given\u2019 the right to vote, women fought hard to win it.<\/p>\n
Some of the rights women worked for and achieved over the years have remained controversial. There are many battles still to be fought and refought. The right to vote and to run for office is not one of these. It stands unquestioned.<\/p>\n
But a key result the women and men who fought for suffrage expected, equal representation of women in elected office, remains elusive. \u00a0 Ninety two years after women won the right to vote, women are barely 17% of the US Congress. This percentage\u00a0 leaves us tied for 78th place with Turkmenistan in global rankings of national elected representatives.<\/p>\n
At the state level it\u2019s not much better. Women hold 23.4% of statewide executive offices and 23.8% of the seats in state legislatures this year.<\/p>\n
Although I find it hard to believe given our current national discussions, I realize that some may still ask, \u201cwhy does it matter?\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, neither women nor men march in lock step, or agree on every issue. Certainly many men support women friendly legislation; and there are women who vote for anti woman initiatives. But studies repeatedly show that women, no matter what political party they represent, tend to sponsor and vote for legislation and programs that support women and families in larger percentages than do their male colleagues.<\/p>\n
Women do not \u201cmis-speak\u201d about rape and its consequences. Women will not fall in line with\u00a0 statements or policies that imply that women are governed by our bodies, rather than our minds.<\/p>\n
Todd Akin and his fellow travelers may be the last gasp of a crumbling patriarchy; I for one certainly hope so. Or they may be better described as part of a larger set of global fundamentalist efforts–of various origins–attempting to control women and their bodies. Maybe it\u2019s some of both. But \u2018last gaspers\u2018\u00a0 and\u00a0 fundamentalists can be equally dangerous and destructive.\u00a0 We cannot turn away in disgust. We cannot fool ourselves that lies and pseudo science will fade away.<\/p>\n
Our strongest weapon in the battles ahead may be the one our foremothers won for us.\u00a0 The 20th century began with women winning the right to vote.\u00a0 The 21st century is the time to fulfill the promise inherent in that victory. More women need to run for office. And\u00a0 RIGHT NOW we ALL need to canvass, phone bank, donate and vote for candidates who will fight for women\u2019s equality.\u00a0 It won\u2019t happen any other way.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today, August 26th, is Women\u2019s Equality Day.\u00a0 For many not actively engaged in women\u2019s issues, it\u2019s merely another in a long list of little known \u2018days\u2019.\u00a0 But this election year\u2019s escalating anti woman rhetoric is crazy making. I feel like Alice falling down the rabbit hole into the land of the absurd. When \u2018rape\u2019 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1924,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-second-look"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1924"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5430\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}