Non-partisan: WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE

[mijan]

Most, but not all, of the people on my friends list are women.  And even if you're not so lucky, this is a good reminder of the sacrifices made in the name of suffrage.  Our right to vote must not be taken lightly.  REGISTER!  VOTE!  Don't take your freedom for granted, because if you do, freedom will inevitably taken from you.

I received this in an e-mail, and decided that it needed to be shared.  This is history, folks.  We need to remember how far we've come, and how vital it is not to lose what we've gained.

HOW QUICKLY WE FORGET, IF WE EVER KNEW.....

WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE.

This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago.

Remember, it was not until 1920

that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed 
nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking 
for the vote. 

(Lucy Burns)
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 Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above 
her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping 
for air. 

(Dora Lewis) 
They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her 
head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, 
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. 

(Alice Paul) 
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. 
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf 
  
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.

All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the
actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. 
Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. 
Sometimes it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, 
saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk 
about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought 
kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 
'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use, 
my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just 
younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The 
right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'

HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history, 
social studies and government teachers would include the movie in 
their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere 
else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing,
but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think 
a little shock therapy is in order.

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, if you are so inclined, 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. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.

History is being made.

 

 

 

Comments

[abovethestars.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine people not voting - no matter gender, race, etc. Thanks for posting this.

Safe travels tomorrow! *hugs*

[aerynalexander.livejournal.com]

Advance voting starts in Georgia September 22nd. Anyone who cannot find the time somewhere during those 45 days to go vote, they deserve to be flogged, if not for laziness, then for idiocy.

[cornmouse.livejournal.com]

Ummm....can you site your sources? I've spent some time researching women's suffrage and I don't recall things being quite this...um...bad.

Ugh @ self's spelling

[mijan.livejournal.com]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/ballot/womenvote.asp

I checked it out myself. I remember hearing stories such as this, but I hadn't been sure. Remember, a lot of history books are somewhat sanitized.

[cornmouse.livejournal.com]

I don't trust snopes firstly. To me, that is not a reputable source. Second, this isn't about sanitization, it's about historiography and the fact that this sounds biased and sensationalized. A lot of the materials I used in the process of my research were primary sources, not these "mysterious" secondary sources Snopes used. The first place a historian should go is the source itself. As I don't have access to the books they recommended, I can't make a proper judgement. I am simply questioning what I read (as everyone should).

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I've generally found Snopes to be accurate, although any source can make a mistake.

I'm also not a historian. I often don't know where to look for unequivocally reputable sources. I know how to do rock-solid research on a science topic, but not history. I do know how to look for first-hand sources, but that's in an actual library, not on the internet. You can fake so much on the internet, and like you, I don't currently have access to the books they've suggested.

However, I've heard stories like this from actual history buffs and professors. If it's false, I'd like to know. My mother is actually a very knowledgeable historian herself, and I'll see her this afternoon. Although she's not a certifiable source, I trust her. If she says she knows, she does. If she says she isn't sure, she typically knows where to look. Very skilled researcher, accepted into MENSA, graduated in the top 10 from Boston University... yeah, she's a smart cookie. I'll see if she recommends any sources or has any books.

If my grandmother was still alive, I'd ask her. She was around during the suffrage movement, and was also a very bright woman.

[cool-tre-cool.livejournal.com]

I can't see the pictures, but the idea is there. I'm voting even from all the way over here in Italy. Hooray for absentee!

*shivers*

[serena-05.livejournal.com]

I want to cry every time I think about what women did for us, and how I take it for granted. I am proud to say that I'm now 20, registered, and plan to vote! And the way things are going, I'm not voting with my vagina. The way America is going now, no one has any right to complain if they don't use what little power they have, and vote!

[rockchick-101.livejournal.com]

yeah go women! i'm from new zealand. thats where women 1st got the vote. VOTE!!!! make it worth it! and remeber guys, whoever wins in america affects everywhere!