Yes, we need to have the Congress pass HR 17----removes the deadline to ratify the ERA. If Congress removes the ratification deadline, the Amendment will be added to the Constitution because it now has all the State ratification votes for it that are needed.
If there is one woman whom women should owe allegiance to, then Elizabeth Cady Stanton should be the one, and perhaps as their 'God'
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the most influential women and a social activist who who rose to fight against the subjugation and subordination of women. Organised the Seneca Falls Convention, the firebrand crusader of women's rights crested a document dubbed "The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions" with which the 68 women and 32 women who were in attendance signed it. However, 200 people did not sign it.
As controversial as she was, one of the contents of the document stated that "The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her."
In 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Women, highly regarded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In it, she expressed her indignant regard of her society's subjugation of women and her quest for equality: "...laws respecting woman,...make an absurd unit of a man and his wife. ...only considering him as responsible, she is reduced to a mere cypher. ... I really think that women ought to have representatives, instead of being arbitrarily governed without having any direct share allowed them in the deliberations of government." The courage of these women is even more admirable for the utter lack of legal recourse available to them тАФ and the increased marital, societal and financial vulnerability they exposed themselves to.
Though she was in the 19th century, her ideas were modern and foresaw enormous legislative changes that the world at large, especially here in Africa, have adopted. In Africa, some countries have developed the 2/3 gender rule to fill elective positions that are highly regarded as patriarchal.
Thank you, Edwin. I am тАШway behind with African history except for a bit of early Egypt. (And, of course, тАЬThe African Queen.тАЭ) I will try to read and learn from you.
Despite her statements seeming controversial, her resolve to demand respect for women and inclusion in legislative decision-making was a bold move that I personally applaud.
I became a "Women's Libber" when I was six years old. We wee living in Texas in 1946, a community property state that gave all and total control over community property to the husband. My mom complained to me about how unfair this was. I believed her. I think that I was her sounding board. While women have made great gains and great contributions, there's still a whole lot of work to be done. MAGA is little more than the South having risen again. I don't know if there will ever be a day when misogyny and racism no longer exist.
I don't think most people including women have any idea of how long they were basically chattel with no legal rights. We find this in Pride and Prejudice....five daughters who couldn't inherit and of Downton Abbey, once again all daughters. One of the Vita Sackville West's great laments was that she couldn't inherit her ancestral pile, Knole, because she was a woman. History is replete with women barely existing except for the ties to some male and being a burden because they needed a dowry. My own mother-in-law was the first person to have a Meier and Frank (now Macy's) credit card in her own name. And as woman, I have put up with 80 years of mansplaining and having my opinion ignored or being talked over. Now we have a Supreme Court where five men and the handmaiden are determined to set us back (and not only women) to a white patriarchal theocratic society.
Yes, definitely, there are those among us who want to stop the progress that females and minorities are making in this country. This is why I often mention Timothy Egan's book, "A Fever in the Heartland," about the rise of the KKK in the 1920's. MAGA is really KKK. Regarding misogyny, google "The Anger Games, Who voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election, and Why?" It's a study by two Univ. of Kansas professors and one of the reasons Trump got their votes is his (and their) misogyny.
I have read A Fever in the Heartland and have recommended it often. I am Hoosier born and raised and I was outraged and disgusted. I only knew that Indiana had the highest number of KKK members in the 1920s. My ex-classmate in Elkhart who is highly resistant to knowledge and education tried to tell me that Italians were welcome in Elkhart. Well, neither she nor I were around in the 1920s, and I gave her the information about the great fall in Italian immigration after the 1924 immigration act. I heard a lot of prejudice of all kinds from my family, but I hope none of them were KKK members. I tend to think not, but it wouldn't surprise me if they knew people who were. As a woman, I am well aware of misogyny. For me it is made worse because I am well-educated, well-read, and reasonably intelligent. I have a neighbor who recently said he regards himself as a feminist (he was saying he should have listened to his wife) and he is the mansplainer I most encounter in person. He understands intellectually (as did my father), but not emotionally. Plenty of them online as well.
I agree about MAGA being KKK and I also call MAGA Nazis because they are subscribing in reality to the extermination of all people who are not White Christians, with males at the helm and women filling the role of helpmates and breeders.
Thanks for the Timothy Egan recommendation! I've learned so much history from him, I'll read this one, even though this topic is increasingly depressing to me. Misogyny and white supremacism are rampant and basically immoral and unethical, and so deeply ingrained that they are possibly not visible to those who practice them.
I share your experiences & age of recent hx. being asked during a job interview of what kind of birth control do I use. Credit card denial. Along with the mansplaining & opinions ignored or considered less than those of a male
Wow....I can't imagine being asked about birth control in a job interview. The nearest I came to that sort of thing is when I was coaching girls basketball and there was a really bad disparity between preparing the court for the boys and nothing for the girls. In fact, I had to throw out boys shooting baskets. In this instance, I was complaining to our AD who had me in a bear hug and told me to put in a tampon. I did mention that he had said that shortly afterwards and he acted like did I actually say that. Well, yes, a.hat, you did. I also explained that women could become angry anytime over inequality and that it had nothing to do with periods. He was awful to his first wife and one of his daughters committed suicide. He has ended up with a very nice woman who is better than he deserves. My husband has a friend who i do like and he is a wonderful punster. But he hangs on my husband's every word and then looks at his phone while I am talking. Pffft. I had to tell another friend of ours when we were talking about writing letters that I had taught expository writing because he thought only my husband can write. The truth is that I can write, but it does nothing for me and I would rather spend my precious time (I am 80) reading. I also had a ex-student, female, complaining about the original women's march. She played basketball for me. I explained to her, without mentioning details, that she had no idea what I had to put up with to coach girls. And that she had no idea about the history of the treatment of women.
When I was divorced in early 70s - I had NO credit - of all things, had to ask my ex husband to co-sign a loan so I could buy a tractor to mow the lawn. I have to say - after that I did not look back!!! Man-splaining? Oh yes - far too much.
I remember here in Illinois when my aunt divorced her husband and even though she had been working throughout their marriage too, and had contributed to their credit, she lost her credit totally by being divorced. Luckily she was keeping the house. Since he lived in another state he could not live in it anyway. I was just shocked as a child to realize that she was a second class citizen. Her husband, who was from Panama, was very sexist anyway. I remember her being upstairs giving my little cousin a bath and he called for her to come downstairs and fix him a drink. I remember thinking how he was willing to let the baby drown just to have her get him a drink when he was right next to the kitchen and could have easily gotten it himself. I know there are still homes like that where it is expected that the women serve the man, and it is just unfortunate that we evolved these roles, just as we evolved with so much racism.
Wow. It is difficult to imagine how her ex could have had that frame of mind. To state the obvious, the human brain is not inherently rational in thought. It's a good thing that animals in the wild don't have human brains because they'd never survive. We have a great capacity for self deception.
These stories, each very personal and formative, are acquiring a weightтАФa historical weight and authorityтАФas they accrue in these responses and exchanges. Much as I thought I understood, these personal stories, in their brevity and plain presentation are powerful engines for empathetic response. Perhaps a book, a collection of these stories, would help to draw support for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. Examples that stimulate empathy may draw more supportersтАФactive, voting, supportersтАФthan may well-reasoned argument.
"The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), first proposed in 1923, is an amendment to the United States Constitution that guarantees equality of rights under the law for all persons regardless of sex.
"As of January 27, 2020, the ERA has satisfied the requirements of Article V of the Constitution for ratification (passage by two-thirds of each house of Congress and approval by three-fourths of the states)."
"Leading constitutional scholars agree that the ERA is now part of the Constitution. Because of issues raised about its unique ratification process (explained on the Frequently Asked Questions page), the Archivist of the United States has not yet taken the final ministerial step of publishing the ERA in the Federal Register with certification of its ratification as the 28th Amendment."
The Equal Rights Amendment has met all of the requirements for ratification according to Article V of the Constitution. We need an order to publish by POTUS to the National Archivist. ThatтАЩs it!
Thank you for the invitation. At 89, a bot slow and short of funds, about to start writing postcards to get out the vote in America as I hope to help save the democracy, I may have to continue to read you here only.
As grateful and in awe as I am about Cady Stanton's achievements for womenтАФand I amтАФ it's important also to say that she and Susan B. Anthony, and many suffragists of the time, did not include Black women in their push for women's rights, and argued that white women should have been enfranchised before Black men. There were white suffragists who did not draw those race distinctions, and Black suffragists who were fighting just as diligent and against greater odds.
So true, we rise these women as heroes for the cause. But, actually the underlining history tells the real history of the womenтАЩs movement. Unfortunately no one is perfect.
And today Black women are a potent force in this country, too many to mention, but at the forefront right now - Stacey Abrams. She is amazing. Well, I do have to mention Barbara Jordan (RIP). As a society, we keep learning how easy it is for us to underestimate each other. At least, I keep learning and learning and learning how wrong I've been even though I've been around bright, strong females my entire life. I think that confirmation bias slips into the picture at times.
You and I are definitely in sync on this. To this I would add Barbara Lee, the only Congressional member to vote against authorizing the invasion of Iraq. Still, with all due respect to the other ladies, Stacey Abrams is in a league of her own. She's brilliant beyond words.
I apologize for a misstatement above. I meant to say implicit bias, not confirmation bias. I grew up in Jim Crow Texas in the 1940's and '50's. It would be no exaggeration to say that females and minorities were treated disparangingly and this impression of unworthiness can creep into one's thinking ever so insidiously. Two really good books on the post Civil War era and how we have looked at it and been affected by it are Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s book (Stony the Road) about Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow along with James Loewen's book, "Lies My Teacher Told Me." They do inform us.
True. Despite her worthy efforts, he lost a moral ground with regard to advocating for universal human rights for all regardless of their race or gender. Elizabeth Cady Stanton once stated that having black men as voters before white women beats "logic." She further went and said that black women are worse off when they are under black men than when they were under white masters. "We educated, virtuous white women are more worthy of the vote.' Elizabeth Cady Stanton further said 'What will we and our daughters suffer if these degraded black men are allowed to have the rights that would make them even worse than our Saxon fathers?.
It seems to me those who were fighting for the rights of certain groups had their own Weaknesses and did not incorporate the larger human picture of universal human rights.
advance is "uneven" right Alexandra? She was an ardent abolitionist on the other hand. You'll find this across the board when you explore past and present attitudes and values. Morality is "jellybean"... but look, i started reading Wikipedia on her (again) and it's chock full of interesting detail. I'm putting aside for now, but it almost feels like "novelette". A full biography would make a wonderful read.
Frank, I'm doing a deep dive into California history that very much includes Cady Stanton. She was a great leader - but that makes it even more important not to overlook her failings. Other suffragists of the time split with her and Anthony and formed a second women's suffrage organization in great part because of this issue.
Yes indeed, read abt that. Today we would call this her "failings" in today's mores, but she was hardly alone in her views. Her denial of full equal voting rights for blacks also reflects a widespread belief, boltered by contemporary science, that blacks were biologically inferior to whites. It shows how technological superiority advanced and bolstered supposedly objective science thanks to imperial conquests and colonizations. All non-whites into that category too. Her husband never went along with voting rights for women, Wiki gave a nice thumbnail on their relationship. Women were widely regarded as over emotional and lacking in intellect. She faced that prejudice in a London conference where it was virtually a "men only" event, with women being relegated to a segregated watching room only. Moral change is usually a struggle.
Which is why progress is difficult to come by. Certain people on the left do not understand that and they certainly were very foolish and arrogant during the 2016 election. So if they are complaining about the direction the the Supreme Court has taken us, they bear some of the blame.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and California?! I'm curious to know what one has to do with the other. I always associate Cady Stanton with upstate NY, because she grew up in Johnstown, Fulton County, and of course spent time in Seneca Falls.
For those of you who are requesting for a thread on different historical issues that matter to you, I welcome your move and I am greatly indebted to this community. In the coming days, I will reveal hard-to-find historical relations between Africa and America. I welcome you to subscribe to my newsletter (with indeph information and more engagements) for free.
Edwin, I invite you to please stop pushing your newsletter on us. We can all see that you have one, and that your writing is worthy. It is in bad taste to use Dr. Richardson's newsletter to advertise. Thank you for your contribution, and your understanding.
How do we see each other...here may be a guide to holding each and everyone of us. It is a great start to possibly seeing Christ in everyone. There may be only one person that's truly living, The Christ.
"In Christ, we always begin with perfect God and perfect Man, the absolute reality of being. Man is the image of perfect Mind; this, is the only real man and includes true identity of each of us. The real man is: spiritual, pure, sinless, satisfied, complete, expressing undeaviating Principle and is characterized absolute integrity and adherence to stiritual law."
John DeWitt, Christian Science Board of Lectureship
"The real man is: spiritual, pure, sinless, satisfied, complete, expressing undeaviating Principle and is characterized absolute integrity and adherence to stiritual law."
тАЬIn Christ, we always begin with perfect God and perfect ManтАЭ
And therein lies the problem. You cannot break open your thinking based on a book written by men, for men, making god in their own image. The Creative Force made humanity, flaws and all. Our ability to survive our flaws and rise to the harmonious, sustainable existence we need on this unique Blue Marble, is continually being tested. Holding on to patriarchal myths will NEVER get us to harmony or sustainability.
Edwin and all, I found this statement years ago and now talk with my best friend every time I meet someone. He is there but we must chose to see. So, I ask one more time, how do we see each other? I look through that statement and see all it offers....we can give each other dignity by holding everyone up to that statement. Again the statement is this... In Christ, we always begin with perfect God and perfect Man, the absolute reality of being. Man is the image of perfect Mind; this, is the only real man and includes true identity of each of us. The real man is: spiritual, pure, sinless, satisfied, complete, expressing undeaviating Principle and is characterized absolute integrity and adherence to stiritual law
As a young girl, she detested the fact that as a married woman, she won't be entitled to personal property ownership, and she found this as personal insult. "She seethed when one of the judge's law students, Henry Bayard, upon being shown Elizabeth's new Christmas gifts, teased, "if in due time you should be my wife, those ornaments would be mine."" This revealed the extent with which patriarchy and subjugation of women as inferior had become so pervasive in the 19th century and reflected in legal and organizational structures.
I am learning so much today. What an infuriating, vivid anecdote. тАЬShe seethed ... тАЬ I am now seeking out all I can read about Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Any suggestions for best biographies about her are appreciated.
Have you discovered Matilda Joslyn Gage yet? She's the co-author of the _History of Woman Suffrage_ (along with Stanton and Susan B. Anthony) that too many people have never heard of. There's a reason for that: she was intersectional long before her time, and that didn't go over well with most of the white single-issue suffragists. She was also highly critical of organized religion. Check out her _Woman, Church & State_ when you have a chance.
Check out the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (https://matildajoslyngage.org/) when you have a chance. Lots of resources there! Little-known fact: she was L. Frank "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" Baum's mother-in-law.
Edwin Seneca Falls (1848) was a hallmark occasion, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, and some other men that underscores the rights of women for equality.
I have read that the Suffragettes in Seneca Falls were influenced by the relative high position that women held in the Haudenausaunee Nation, known as the Iroquois by non Natives. While the mainstream women's suffrage movement was based on White Supremacy, there were other women involved in the suffrage movement.
While the mainstream women's suffrage movement did not include Black women, Black women started their own organizations, and Frederick Douglas, a former slave and his family supported the women's suffrage movement too.
So, keeping that in mind I could not say that about Elizabeth Cady Stanton, because that is not the history that I see.
What really angers me is that women are being encouraged in many groups to have second class status. I am referring to the roles conservative branches of religions play in keeping women subservient. Evangelical White Christians are basically trying to hold onto a lifestyle for women that was supposed to have disappeared over 100 years ago, where women are in essence having no say over their lives as they did back in the days before suffrage. Women lost their property to their husbands at marriage. I can see why women of means would not want to marry. It was a losing proposition other than for having children because children born under marriage are sanctioned as legitimate, and otherwise they are not.
I have a list of all women who attended the convention, but I will only write a few. Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martha C. Wright, Jane Hunt, and Mary McClintock were women who organised for the Seneca Falls Convention on July 14, 1848. With a short notice of 3 days on July 18, 1848, they were pessimistic that a few people will attend, but to their surprise, 300 were in attendance. Lucratia Mott was the one who started the convention presentation and followed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton who read the Declaration of Sentiments. Their Declaration of Sentiments stated that "all men and women are created equal" and not "all men are created equal."
What can we say of these men who attended the First Women Rights Convention at the Seneca Falls? Richard P. Hunt, Samuel D. Till man, Justin Williams, Elisha Foote, Frederick Douglas, Henry Seymour, David Spalding, William Parker, Elisha Doty, John Williams, William Dell, James Mott, William Burroughs, Sharon Philips, Jacob Matthews,...the list is endless. I can say they were ahead of their time, when society degraded when constitutionally.
I sincerely hope to see the ERA Amendment ratified in my lifetimeтАж.been wanting far too long for it to be so. My grandmother, born in So CA in 1898 didnтАЩt get the right to vote until she was in her early 20тАЩsтАФshe was always forward-thinking, and thoтАЩ we never really talked politics, her day-to-day life & actions spoke of inclusion and equal rights/justice. She passed in 1979 nearly reaching her 100th year. I miss her still.
I think we will see it. All it takes at this time is a Democratic majority in the House, 52 democrats in the Senate (with 50 willing to suspend the filibuster, since Manchin and Sinema refuse) - and it happens.
The Dems need to run with that promise in 2024. It is so close. I think it will happen.
And then all the restrictions that the GOP are imposing on womenтАЩs autonomy of our bodies is completely obliterated.
We will be dancing in the streets-what a party that will be! ЁЯТГЁЯП╗ЁЯХ║ЁЯП╗ЁЯе│
The ERA would be terrific. Restoring womenтАЩs bodily autonomy nationally will also require repair to voting rights and repair of the courts. At the very least, balancing the Extreme Court and adding an enforceable ethics code. Preferably restricting that court to its constitutionally assigned cases of original jurisdiction, and transferring all other cases to a new Federal Review Court with all the guardrails : term limits, strict enforceable ethics requirements and procedural requirements including proper use of any shadow docket, etc,etc.
What an excellent vision: тАЬ... restricting that court to its constitutionally assigned cases of original jurisdiction, and transferring all other cases to a new Federal Review Court with all the guardrails ...тАЭ How wonderfully sane.
Joan, IтАЩm afraid weтАЩll not see this in our lifetime, unless, we manage to give the Democrats a тАШsupermajorityтАЩ in both the House and Senate, plus a forward thinking President.
Even so, if we add this idea to the conversation, it will make the proposed Judiciary Act of 2023 changes look moderate by comparison, which will help it pass within our expected lifetimes. Plus, my expected lifetime may not be that much longer, but I care about the world in which my daughter and her children will live.
Oops, transposed numbersтАж.she left for whatever comes next in 1997, not 1979тАж.that much earlier would have robbed us all of some excellent adventures & experiences.
Including the indigenous people who were pushed out of their ancestral lands and continue to be oppressed. It's no surprise that this former colonial enterprise continues to oppress all those who were excluded on the basis of gender, religious beliefs as well as non-belief, skin color, and all the other reasons amendments to the constitutions are still needed desperately.
Writing in the NY Times on Sunday(7/2), Jill Lapore, in "How to Stave Off Constitutional Extinction", argues that our Constitution will cease to be the living document it is if we can no longer amend what Thomas Paine (in Common Sense) said we have " every opportunity . . . to form the noblest purest constitution on the face of the earth." She concludes "Americans won't be able to agree anytime soon on how to amend the U.S. Constitution . . . Amending is what makes the Constitution everyone's." But it's now in the hands of a perverse, illogical court of
"Originalists" who misread it for their own selfish ends. Amend it, America, or watch the dream perish.
There was real risk in what the signers did in Philadelphia 247 years ago today. And they knew it: "Let us hang together, or we'll all hang separately." ----B. Franklin, Printer. In thanks for our nation, for all who died for it, for all who lived for it, for all who fought and continue to fight for human equality, the climate, and justice.
The fight for equality must include ALL people, regardless of gender, race, religion, sexual identity and preference, etc. The Supreme Court, through its recent decisions, appears hellbent on restoring the country to the 18th century, despite our history since then towards a more equal society. Rather than affirm or expand rights of certain classes of people, they have extinguished them, and more rights are being challenged (gay marriage, contraception, etc.)
Women are not included in the US Constitution. We need to publish the Equal Rights Amendment NOW!
Yes, we need to have the Congress pass HR 17----removes the deadline to ratify the ERA. If Congress removes the ratification deadline, the Amendment will be added to the Constitution because it now has all the State ratification votes for it that are needed.
I fully support removing the deadline for the ERA, but it can't happen until the christofacists are removed from congress in 2024.
Actually President Biden could order publication with one phone call to the National archivist.
this and the SCOTUS are excellent items to motivate the base. Dems seems to be missing in actions on it.
I bet the majority of Heather's readers haven't even heard of this. Spread the word
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/tnyradiohour/segments/lepore-amend-constitution
This 20-min conversation between David Remnick & Jill Lepore is terrific. Very thoughtful words. Thanks, Jim, for posting the link.
And this, in print, is another version re: these excellent observations in the 20-minute tnyradiohour podcast to which Jim Holley linked in his post: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/opinion/constitutional-amendments-american-history.html
Thank you for your post; Trying not to despair.
My thoughts....nothing is going to get done with these current elected USA critters! They are about the money and their own pockets!
DECLARATION OF WOMEN'S INDEPENDENCE
If there is one woman whom women should owe allegiance to, then Elizabeth Cady Stanton should be the one, and perhaps as their 'God'
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the most influential women and a social activist who who rose to fight against the subjugation and subordination of women. Organised the Seneca Falls Convention, the firebrand crusader of women's rights crested a document dubbed "The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions" with which the 68 women and 32 women who were in attendance signed it. However, 200 people did not sign it.
As controversial as she was, one of the contents of the document stated that "The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her."
In 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Women, highly regarded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In it, she expressed her indignant regard of her society's subjugation of women and her quest for equality: "...laws respecting woman,...make an absurd unit of a man and his wife. ...only considering him as responsible, she is reduced to a mere cypher. ... I really think that women ought to have representatives, instead of being arbitrarily governed without having any direct share allowed them in the deliberations of government." The courage of these women is even more admirable for the utter lack of legal recourse available to them тАФ and the increased marital, societal and financial vulnerability they exposed themselves to.
Though she was in the 19th century, her ideas were modern and foresaw enormous legislative changes that the world at large, especially here in Africa, have adopted. In Africa, some countries have developed the 2/3 gender rule to fill elective positions that are highly regarded as patriarchal.
Thank you. We are fortunate to have your voice.
Thank you so much. I feel fired up. I welcome you to subscribe to my newsletter. I have hard-to-find historical data about our history coming soon.
Thank you, Edwin. I am тАШway behind with African history except for a bit of early Egypt. (And, of course, тАЬThe African Queen.тАЭ) I will try to read and learn from you.
I just did! Also, feel free to check out DanielтАЩs Thoughts and Opinions.
Subscribe to my newsletter, your goal it seems
Thank you; this broadens my understanding of her influence. And so good to have a forum for such an easy, international dialogue.
Despite her statements seeming controversial, her resolve to demand respect for women and inclusion in legislative decision-making was a bold move that I personally applaud.
I became a "Women's Libber" when I was six years old. We wee living in Texas in 1946, a community property state that gave all and total control over community property to the husband. My mom complained to me about how unfair this was. I believed her. I think that I was her sounding board. While women have made great gains and great contributions, there's still a whole lot of work to be done. MAGA is little more than the South having risen again. I don't know if there will ever be a day when misogyny and racism no longer exist.
I don't think most people including women have any idea of how long they were basically chattel with no legal rights. We find this in Pride and Prejudice....five daughters who couldn't inherit and of Downton Abbey, once again all daughters. One of the Vita Sackville West's great laments was that she couldn't inherit her ancestral pile, Knole, because she was a woman. History is replete with women barely existing except for the ties to some male and being a burden because they needed a dowry. My own mother-in-law was the first person to have a Meier and Frank (now Macy's) credit card in her own name. And as woman, I have put up with 80 years of mansplaining and having my opinion ignored or being talked over. Now we have a Supreme Court where five men and the handmaiden are determined to set us back (and not only women) to a white patriarchal theocratic society.
Yes, definitely, there are those among us who want to stop the progress that females and minorities are making in this country. This is why I often mention Timothy Egan's book, "A Fever in the Heartland," about the rise of the KKK in the 1920's. MAGA is really KKK. Regarding misogyny, google "The Anger Games, Who voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election, and Why?" It's a study by two Univ. of Kansas professors and one of the reasons Trump got their votes is his (and their) misogyny.
I have read A Fever in the Heartland and have recommended it often. I am Hoosier born and raised and I was outraged and disgusted. I only knew that Indiana had the highest number of KKK members in the 1920s. My ex-classmate in Elkhart who is highly resistant to knowledge and education tried to tell me that Italians were welcome in Elkhart. Well, neither she nor I were around in the 1920s, and I gave her the information about the great fall in Italian immigration after the 1924 immigration act. I heard a lot of prejudice of all kinds from my family, but I hope none of them were KKK members. I tend to think not, but it wouldn't surprise me if they knew people who were. As a woman, I am well aware of misogyny. For me it is made worse because I am well-educated, well-read, and reasonably intelligent. I have a neighbor who recently said he regards himself as a feminist (he was saying he should have listened to his wife) and he is the mansplainer I most encounter in person. He understands intellectually (as did my father), but not emotionally. Plenty of them online as well.
I agree about MAGA being KKK and I also call MAGA Nazis because they are subscribing in reality to the extermination of all people who are not White Christians, with males at the helm and women filling the role of helpmates and breeders.
Thanks for the Timothy Egan recommendation! I've learned so much history from him, I'll read this one, even though this topic is increasingly depressing to me. Misogyny and white supremacism are rampant and basically immoral and unethical, and so deeply ingrained that they are possibly not visible to those who practice them.
I share your experiences & age of recent hx. being asked during a job interview of what kind of birth control do I use. Credit card denial. Along with the mansplaining & opinions ignored or considered less than those of a male
Wow....I can't imagine being asked about birth control in a job interview. The nearest I came to that sort of thing is when I was coaching girls basketball and there was a really bad disparity between preparing the court for the boys and nothing for the girls. In fact, I had to throw out boys shooting baskets. In this instance, I was complaining to our AD who had me in a bear hug and told me to put in a tampon. I did mention that he had said that shortly afterwards and he acted like did I actually say that. Well, yes, a.hat, you did. I also explained that women could become angry anytime over inequality and that it had nothing to do with periods. He was awful to his first wife and one of his daughters committed suicide. He has ended up with a very nice woman who is better than he deserves. My husband has a friend who i do like and he is a wonderful punster. But he hangs on my husband's every word and then looks at his phone while I am talking. Pffft. I had to tell another friend of ours when we were talking about writing letters that I had taught expository writing because he thought only my husband can write. The truth is that I can write, but it does nothing for me and I would rather spend my precious time (I am 80) reading. I also had a ex-student, female, complaining about the original women's march. She played basketball for me. I explained to her, without mentioning details, that she had no idea what I had to put up with to coach girls. And that she had no idea about the history of the treatment of women.
WHAT?!!!! I feel so naiive. I didn't know that asking about birth control was even possible during an job interview. What did you tell them?
Unbelievable
When I was divorced in early 70s - I had NO credit - of all things, had to ask my ex husband to co-sign a loan so I could buy a tractor to mow the lawn. I have to say - after that I did not look back!!! Man-splaining? Oh yes - far too much.
I remember here in Illinois when my aunt divorced her husband and even though she had been working throughout their marriage too, and had contributed to their credit, she lost her credit totally by being divorced. Luckily she was keeping the house. Since he lived in another state he could not live in it anyway. I was just shocked as a child to realize that she was a second class citizen. Her husband, who was from Panama, was very sexist anyway. I remember her being upstairs giving my little cousin a bath and he called for her to come downstairs and fix him a drink. I remember thinking how he was willing to let the baby drown just to have her get him a drink when he was right next to the kitchen and could have easily gotten it himself. I know there are still homes like that where it is expected that the women serve the man, and it is just unfortunate that we evolved these roles, just as we evolved with so much racism.
Wow. It is difficult to imagine how her ex could have had that frame of mind. To state the obvious, the human brain is not inherently rational in thought. It's a good thing that animals in the wild don't have human brains because they'd never survive. We have a great capacity for self deception.
I have posted this before: every single woman MUST read "When Everything Changed" by Gail Collins. Every man should as well.
I had never heard of it - absolutely will look for it at the library! Thanks.
Thank you for the recommendation.
These stories, each very personal and formative, are acquiring a weightтАФa historical weight and authorityтАФas they accrue in these responses and exchanges. Much as I thought I understood, these personal stories, in their brevity and plain presentation are powerful engines for empathetic response. Perhaps a book, a collection of these stories, would help to draw support for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. Examples that stimulate empathy may draw more supportersтАФactive, voting, supportersтАФthan may well-reasoned argument.
"The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), first proposed in 1923, is an amendment to the United States Constitution that guarantees equality of rights under the law for all persons regardless of sex.
"As of January 27, 2020, the ERA has satisfied the requirements of Article V of the Constitution for ratification (passage by two-thirds of each house of Congress and approval by three-fourths of the states)."
"Leading constitutional scholars agree that the ERA is now part of the Constitution. Because of issues raised about its unique ratification process (explained on the Frequently Asked Questions page), the Archivist of the United States has not yet taken the final ministerial step of publishing the ERA in the Federal Register with certification of its ratification as the 28th Amendment."
https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/
The Equal Rights Amendment has met all of the requirements for ratification according to Article V of the Constitution. We need an order to publish by POTUS to the National Archivist. ThatтАЩs it!
Thank you for your worthy reply. If possible, I welcome you to subscribe to my newsletter and engage robustly on issues that matter to you.
Thank you for the invitation. At 89, a bot slow and short of funds, about to start writing postcards to get out the vote in America as I hope to help save the democracy, I may have to continue to read you here only.
Wooow! Age is gold. I am happy that you are engaging with us here. I feel honoured to have you here.
As grateful and in awe as I am about Cady Stanton's achievements for womenтАФand I amтАФ it's important also to say that she and Susan B. Anthony, and many suffragists of the time, did not include Black women in their push for women's rights, and argued that white women should have been enfranchised before Black men. There were white suffragists who did not draw those race distinctions, and Black suffragists who were fighting just as diligent and against greater odds.
So true, we rise these women as heroes for the cause. But, actually the underlining history tells the real history of the womenтАЩs movement. Unfortunately no one is perfect.
...and with very few exceptions they were all products of the times and environments in which they were brought up and in which they lived, as are we.
And today Black women are a potent force in this country, too many to mention, but at the forefront right now - Stacey Abrams. She is amazing. Well, I do have to mention Barbara Jordan (RIP). As a society, we keep learning how easy it is for us to underestimate each other. At least, I keep learning and learning and learning how wrong I've been even though I've been around bright, strong females my entire life. I think that confirmation bias slips into the picture at times.
Richard, yes, I would happily cede control of the country to Stacey Abrams, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Karen Bass et al right now.
You and I are definitely in sync on this. To this I would add Barbara Lee, the only Congressional member to vote against authorizing the invasion of Iraq. Still, with all due respect to the other ladies, Stacey Abrams is in a league of her own. She's brilliant beyond words.
And our Vice President Kamala Harris
Helen, absolutely. I must have been asleep when I wrote that! Thanks!
I apologize for a misstatement above. I meant to say implicit bias, not confirmation bias. I grew up in Jim Crow Texas in the 1940's and '50's. It would be no exaggeration to say that females and minorities were treated disparangingly and this impression of unworthiness can creep into one's thinking ever so insidiously. Two really good books on the post Civil War era and how we have looked at it and been affected by it are Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s book (Stony the Road) about Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow along with James Loewen's book, "Lies My Teacher Told Me." They do inform us.
True. Despite her worthy efforts, he lost a moral ground with regard to advocating for universal human rights for all regardless of their race or gender. Elizabeth Cady Stanton once stated that having black men as voters before white women beats "logic." She further went and said that black women are worse off when they are under black men than when they were under white masters. "We educated, virtuous white women are more worthy of the vote.' Elizabeth Cady Stanton further said 'What will we and our daughters suffer if these degraded black men are allowed to have the rights that would make them even worse than our Saxon fathers?.
It was a great blow to me to learn it тАФ but it also made me more alert to hypocrisy and pledge to do better.
It seems to me those who were fighting for the rights of certain groups had their own Weaknesses and did not incorporate the larger human picture of universal human rights.
advance is "uneven" right Alexandra? She was an ardent abolitionist on the other hand. You'll find this across the board when you explore past and present attitudes and values. Morality is "jellybean"... but look, i started reading Wikipedia on her (again) and it's chock full of interesting detail. I'm putting aside for now, but it almost feels like "novelette". A full biography would make a wonderful read.
Frank, I'm doing a deep dive into California history that very much includes Cady Stanton. She was a great leader - but that makes it even more important not to overlook her failings. Other suffragists of the time split with her and Anthony and formed a second women's suffrage organization in great part because of this issue.
Yes indeed, read abt that. Today we would call this her "failings" in today's mores, but she was hardly alone in her views. Her denial of full equal voting rights for blacks also reflects a widespread belief, boltered by contemporary science, that blacks were biologically inferior to whites. It shows how technological superiority advanced and bolstered supposedly objective science thanks to imperial conquests and colonizations. All non-whites into that category too. Her husband never went along with voting rights for women, Wiki gave a nice thumbnail on their relationship. Women were widely regarded as over emotional and lacking in intellect. She faced that prejudice in a London conference where it was virtually a "men only" event, with women being relegated to a segregated watching room only. Moral change is usually a struggle.
Which is why progress is difficult to come by. Certain people on the left do not understand that and they certainly were very foolish and arrogant during the 2016 election. So if they are complaining about the direction the the Supreme Court has taken us, they bear some of the blame.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and California?! I'm curious to know what one has to do with the other. I always associate Cady Stanton with upstate NY, because she grew up in Johnstown, Fulton County, and of course spent time in Seneca Falls.
"He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.
He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded menтАФboth
natives and foreigners.
Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without
representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides.
He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead.
He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns" Elizabeth Cady Stanton further stated in the said document.
For those of you who are requesting for a thread on different historical issues that matter to you, I welcome your move and I am greatly indebted to this community. In the coming days, I will reveal hard-to-find historical relations between Africa and America. I welcome you to subscribe to my newsletter (with indeph information and more engagements) for free.
Edwin, I invite you to please stop pushing your newsletter on us. We can all see that you have one, and that your writing is worthy. It is in bad taste to use Dr. Richardson's newsletter to advertise. Thank you for your contribution, and your understanding.
How do we see each other...here may be a guide to holding each and everyone of us. It is a great start to possibly seeing Christ in everyone. There may be only one person that's truly living, The Christ.
"In Christ, we always begin with perfect God and perfect Man, the absolute reality of being. Man is the image of perfect Mind; this, is the only real man and includes true identity of each of us. The real man is: spiritual, pure, sinless, satisfied, complete, expressing undeaviating Principle and is characterized absolute integrity and adherence to stiritual law."
John DeWitt, Christian Science Board of Lectureship
No proselytizing here! Please.
"The real man is: spiritual, pure, sinless, satisfied, complete, expressing undeaviating Principle and is characterized absolute integrity and adherence to stiritual law."
Absolutely ЁЯТп
тАЬIn Christ, we always begin with perfect God and perfect ManтАЭ
And therein lies the problem. You cannot break open your thinking based on a book written by men, for men, making god in their own image. The Creative Force made humanity, flaws and all. Our ability to survive our flaws and rise to the harmonious, sustainable existence we need on this unique Blue Marble, is continually being tested. Holding on to patriarchal myths will NEVER get us to harmony or sustainability.
Edwin and all, I found this statement years ago and now talk with my best friend every time I meet someone. He is there but we must chose to see. So, I ask one more time, how do we see each other? I look through that statement and see all it offers....we can give each other dignity by holding everyone up to that statement. Again the statement is this... In Christ, we always begin with perfect God and perfect Man, the absolute reality of being. Man is the image of perfect Mind; this, is the only real man and includes true identity of each of us. The real man is: spiritual, pure, sinless, satisfied, complete, expressing undeaviating Principle and is characterized absolute integrity and adherence to stiritual law
Again, subscribe to my newsletter
Her document further states "He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough educationтАФall colleges being closed against
her.
He allows her in Church as well as State, but a subordinate position, claiming Apostolic authority for
her exclusion from the ministry, and, with some exceptions, from any public participation in the affairs
of the Church."
As a young girl, she detested the fact that as a married woman, she won't be entitled to personal property ownership, and she found this as personal insult. "She seethed when one of the judge's law students, Henry Bayard, upon being shown Elizabeth's new Christmas gifts, teased, "if in due time you should be my wife, those ornaments would be mine."" This revealed the extent with which patriarchy and subjugation of women as inferior had become so pervasive in the 19th century and reflected in legal and organizational structures.
I am learning so much today. What an infuriating, vivid anecdote. тАЬShe seethed ... тАЬ I am now seeking out all I can read about Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Any suggestions for best biographies about her are appreciated.
I'm so glad I did not grow up during those times!
Have you discovered Matilda Joslyn Gage yet? She's the co-author of the _History of Woman Suffrage_ (along with Stanton and Susan B. Anthony) that too many people have never heard of. There's a reason for that: she was intersectional long before her time, and that didn't go over well with most of the white single-issue suffragists. She was also highly critical of organized religion. Check out her _Woman, Church & State_ when you have a chance.
Just found Matilda Joslyn GageтАЩs тАЬHistory of Woman SuffrageтАЭ and тАЬWoman, Church & StateтАЭ on Kindle. Thank you for your post!
Check out the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (https://matildajoslyngage.org/) when you have a chance. Lots of resources there! Little-known fact: she was L. Frank "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" Baum's mother-in-law.
Susanna, thanks so much for this info about the foundation & the link to the org! Fabulous.
Pass it on! As you've probably guessed, I'm a fan. Not for nothing is my laptop named Matilda. ;-)
Edwin Seneca Falls (1848) was a hallmark occasion, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, and some other men that underscores the rights of women for equality.
There are many men who contributed immensely to the modern-day women's rights and I celebrate them.
I have read that the Suffragettes in Seneca Falls were influenced by the relative high position that women held in the Haudenausaunee Nation, known as the Iroquois by non Natives. While the mainstream women's suffrage movement was based on White Supremacy, there were other women involved in the suffrage movement.
https://www.lwv.org/blog/how-native-american-women-inspired-womens-suffrage-movement#:~:text=Many%20don't%20know%20that,influenced%20the%20movement's%20early%20stages.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/vote-not-all-women-gained-right-to-vote-in-1920/
While the mainstream women's suffrage movement did not include Black women, Black women started their own organizations, and Frederick Douglas, a former slave and his family supported the women's suffrage movement too.
https://www.nps.gov/articles/black-women-and-the-fight-for-voting-rights.htm#:~:text=In%201913%2C%20Ida%20B.,elections%20and%20held%20political%20offices.
https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/blog/black-womens-fight-for-suffrage/
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/five-you-should-know-african-american-suffragists
Asian women were also involved in the Suffrage movement although also not given credit for it in most histories. https://www.nps.gov/people/mabel-lee.htm#:~:text=Mabel%20Lee%20was%20a%20suffragist,Mabel%20the%20right%20to%20vote.
https://www.alicepaul.org/six-influential-aapi-women-in-suffrage-history/
https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/exhibits/suffrage/Pages/context/asian-american.aspx
https://www.helloprosper.co/learn/asian-women-suffragists
Again, Latina women were involved in the fight for Suffrage although they too are often not mentioned in the history books. https://www.govexec.com/management/2022/07/nina-otero-warren-latina-champion-womens-voting-rights-and-education-new-mexico-will-soon-grace-us-quarters/374237/
https://womensmuseum.wordpress.com/2020/05/22/latinx-women-in-the-u-s-womens-suffrage-movement/
So, keeping that in mind I could not say that about Elizabeth Cady Stanton, because that is not the history that I see.
What really angers me is that women are being encouraged in many groups to have second class status. I am referring to the roles conservative branches of religions play in keeping women subservient. Evangelical White Christians are basically trying to hold onto a lifestyle for women that was supposed to have disappeared over 100 years ago, where women are in essence having no say over their lives as they did back in the days before suffrage. Women lost their property to their husbands at marriage. I can see why women of means would not want to marry. It was a losing proposition other than for having children because children born under marriage are sanctioned as legitimate, and otherwise they are not.
And, please include Matilda Goslyn Gage, referenced just today in The Guardian. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230703-matilda-joslyn-gage-the-suffragist-who-defied-the-us-government
Wooow! I will read about this woman today. And sure I will. Thank you
Still today via the Dobbs decision over her own body, Edwin.
I have a list of all women who attended the convention, but I will only write a few. Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martha C. Wright, Jane Hunt, and Mary McClintock were women who organised for the Seneca Falls Convention on July 14, 1848. With a short notice of 3 days on July 18, 1848, they were pessimistic that a few people will attend, but to their surprise, 300 were in attendance. Lucratia Mott was the one who started the convention presentation and followed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton who read the Declaration of Sentiments. Their Declaration of Sentiments stated that "all men and women are created equal" and not "all men are created equal."
What can we say of these men who attended the First Women Rights Convention at the Seneca Falls? Richard P. Hunt, Samuel D. Till man, Justin Williams, Elisha Foote, Frederick Douglas, Henry Seymour, David Spalding, William Parker, Elisha Doty, John Williams, William Dell, James Mott, William Burroughs, Sharon Philips, Jacob Matthews,...the list is endless. I can say they were ahead of their time, when society degraded when constitutionally.
I sincerely hope to see the ERA Amendment ratified in my lifetimeтАж.been wanting far too long for it to be so. My grandmother, born in So CA in 1898 didnтАЩt get the right to vote until she was in her early 20тАЩsтАФshe was always forward-thinking, and thoтАЩ we never really talked politics, her day-to-day life & actions spoke of inclusion and equal rights/justice. She passed in 1979 nearly reaching her 100th year. I miss her still.
I think we will see it. All it takes at this time is a Democratic majority in the House, 52 democrats in the Senate (with 50 willing to suspend the filibuster, since Manchin and Sinema refuse) - and it happens.
The Dems need to run with that promise in 2024. It is so close. I think it will happen.
And then all the restrictions that the GOP are imposing on womenтАЩs autonomy of our bodies is completely obliterated.
We will be dancing in the streets-what a party that will be! ЁЯТГЁЯП╗ЁЯХ║ЁЯП╗ЁЯе│
The ERA would be terrific. Restoring womenтАЩs bodily autonomy nationally will also require repair to voting rights and repair of the courts. At the very least, balancing the Extreme Court and adding an enforceable ethics code. Preferably restricting that court to its constitutionally assigned cases of original jurisdiction, and transferring all other cases to a new Federal Review Court with all the guardrails : term limits, strict enforceable ethics requirements and procedural requirements including proper use of any shadow docket, etc,etc.
What an excellent vision: тАЬ... restricting that court to its constitutionally assigned cases of original jurisdiction, and transferring all other cases to a new Federal Review Court with all the guardrails ...тАЭ How wonderfully sane.
Joan, IтАЩm afraid weтАЩll not see this in our lifetime, unless, we manage to give the Democrats a тАШsupermajorityтАЩ in both the House and Senate, plus a forward thinking President.
Even so, if we add this idea to the conversation, it will make the proposed Judiciary Act of 2023 changes look moderate by comparison, which will help it pass within our expected lifetimes. Plus, my expected lifetime may not be that much longer, but I care about the world in which my daughter and her children will live.
Oops, transposed numbersтАж.she left for whatever comes next in 1997, not 1979тАж.that much earlier would have robbed us all of some excellent adventures & experiences.
Wow! What a life--you were so fortunate to have her for your grandmother!ЁЯЧ╜
Many people were left behind
Including the indigenous people who were pushed out of their ancestral lands and continue to be oppressed. It's no surprise that this former colonial enterprise continues to oppress all those who were excluded on the basis of gender, religious beliefs as well as non-belief, skin color, and all the other reasons amendments to the constitutions are still needed desperately.
Indeed!
Writing in the NY Times on Sunday(7/2), Jill Lapore, in "How to Stave Off Constitutional Extinction", argues that our Constitution will cease to be the living document it is if we can no longer amend what Thomas Paine (in Common Sense) said we have " every opportunity . . . to form the noblest purest constitution on the face of the earth." She concludes "Americans won't be able to agree anytime soon on how to amend the U.S. Constitution . . . Amending is what makes the Constitution everyone's." But it's now in the hands of a perverse, illogical court of
"Originalists" who misread it for their own selfish ends. Amend it, America, or watch the dream perish.
There was real risk in what the signers did in Philadelphia 247 years ago today. And they knew it: "Let us hang together, or we'll all hang separately." ----B. Franklin, Printer. In thanks for our nation, for all who died for it, for all who lived for it, for all who fought and continue to fight for human equality, the climate, and justice.
Happy Birthday Americans. We need to fix what's broken.
The fight for equality must include ALL people, regardless of gender, race, religion, sexual identity and preference, etc. The Supreme Court, through its recent decisions, appears hellbent on restoring the country to the 18th century, despite our history since then towards a more equal society. Rather than affirm or expand rights of certain classes of people, they have extinguished them, and more rights are being challenged (gay marriage, contraception, etc.)
I fear equality will always be a struggle.
Our constitution is the oldest in the developed world.
Amendments be damned.
How about a complete rewrite?
Not until women are legally covered by the current co stitution.
Well that's a helluva catch-22.
If you're right, we're in worse shape than I thought.
Or we could just make women truly equal. Which we are getting closer and closer to.
The ERA has met all requirements of Article V. Publication is the only step between legal equality.