Women's Right To Vote

[Uabassoon]

I saw this and thought it would be good to post here especially since the majority here are women. If you haven't registered to vote yet, maybe this will encourage you to vote.

"84 years ago today, August 26, 1920, women were given the right to vote. The women were innocent and defenseless. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of "obstructing sidewalk traffic." They beat Lucy Burn, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cell mate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the "Night of Terror" on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.
When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because--why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?

Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie "Iron Jawed Angels." It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder. It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy. The doctor admonished the men: "Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity."

Please pass this on to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women."

[lynnestankard]

Well said Laura.

Women here in England went through the same punishing regime in prisons - then were force fed - a lot of the time these sessions actually caused internal injuries.
They were hosed down with cold water then left in freezing cold cells.
They were treated abominably.

These were our recent ancestors and should never be forgotten - women MUST vote - even if you just spoil a voting paper - but take the time to vote - women died so you could - so vote , we owe them the honour of using our vote.

Both my girls were brought up very aware of the suffragettes and all they did for womenkind. They both vote.
Unfortunately Diane can not vote in America - even though she lives and works and pays her taxes - she is not allowed to vote because she has not taken American citizenship. That is a whole other story though.

Just remember and go out and vote - and any young ones that are voting for the first time - Congratulations, you should feel very proud.

Lynne

[the gryphon]

The estimate is that only 30% of women who are eligible to vote actually vote. It's a shame.

[Corinna]

Not to say its right the way we take this so lightly. But if you look at overall voting women as a group are a strong power.
When we have a so called good voter turn out it's 30% of regerstered voters . and they figure less than half the population is regerstered to vote. No wonder we are losing our super power status in the globel community.
Thanks for the wake up call to get our sisters out there to vote.

[leslie]

I hope this encourages more women to register and to vote. I was brought up by a single mother who was highly involved in politics and women's rights. Initially, it had the reverse effect on me. I wanted nothing to do with politics. I did however stay close to women's rights (being female) and kept an eye on politics throughout the years. Now, I am a bit more informed and though politics is not my thing, it is invaluable, I think, that everyone register to vote, read the bills that are out there (in Boston they explain the bills at the voting booths), and at least vote on those. In time, one may learn more about one's local leaders and world leaders and go from there. Baby steps are ok. The important thing is to register.

[the gryphon]

I agree. The important thing is to register, and get out and vote. We've been complacent far too long. If you'd like to take it the next step, volunteer on election day. Drive a senior citizen to the polls, drive a woman with no car to the polls. It all helps.