Making progress but not there yet, the fight for women's rights
Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 03:27:47 AM PDT
It’s been less then 100 years since women had won the right to vote. That struggle wasn’t easy and women didn’t win the right and privilege overnight. Today, if it even be suggested that, that right be taken away, we would see every woman in America rise up and say "oh hell no".
But why is it then that it is still necessary to struggle to maintain the rights that those who’ve come before us have fought for and won? Regardless of which side of the issues that we stand on, common sense would deem that we should be able to come to the middle and agree, that it is not okay to give up those rights and that it is not okay to have them slowly eroded from us, regardless of the rationale.
Do the ghosts of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul and Margaret Sanger walk this earth shaking their heads collectively, having watched the progress that has been made through the years, only to see it slowly wither away? They would understand the desire of many men to remove these rights, but would they understand how many women would allow them to slip away?
It was with rage and determination that birthed the United States of America. Rage against tyranny and injustice that led men, now considered great, to include in the Declaration of Independence, these words:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..."
It is these words that are embraced, by any group of individuals that face the inequality in our laws that gives hope and courage to stand up and fight, not for special consideration, but for what is right, for what is fair. It is that same desire that had produced the feminist movements through out the history of the country. It has been those movements that have given the women the rights to:
- voice our choices in who leads our governments
- allows us to take responsibility, and make our choices on our own health and reproduction.
- Gave us the right to privacy and choice in reproduction, up to and including the termination of a pregnancy.
- It gave us the right not to be abused, not to be raped, and not to be harassed and provided women recourse in the event that it occurred.
- It gave us the right for higher education and fairness, if not equality, in the workplace.
- The right to a divorce.
So why would women be willing to let these rights erode? We could look at several factors that may explain it.
Apathy – There’s more interest in who will be the final survivor, what Jack Bauer may do in his next episode, or who the next American Idol will be, then there is in who the Presidential candidates are. This is not gender specific either but lays with both male and females. Although we’re likely to care who is elected, the majority of the time, voters will look to sound bites and advertisements to help determine who they elect, rather then actually researching the candidates stance on the issues.
Also, there’s a false security that our rights will always be there and not taken away, thus we tend to allow our elected officials to represent us without oversight and accountability. The best example that can be provided is the passage of the Patriot Act, which had infringed and threatened the constitutional rights of every citizen.
The misconception of feminism – Through out history, there’s always been an attempt to discredit the movements and its’ activists. Many activists were arrested, to include Susan B. Anthony and Margaret Sanger. In the movement of the 60’s and 70’s, women involved in the movement were defamed and referred to as "ball busters", bitches and lesbians. The belief that women wanted superiority over men or, even worst, didn’t want to shave their legs, was used to help propagate a stereotype of the feminist and feminist movement.
That stereotype is still touted by some to discredit the feminist movement. In a March 2, 2000 article on the Common Dreams Progressive News Wire, the author points to the Reverend Pat Robertson’s views on women and beliefs on feminists:
• Robertson's most bizarre -- and perhaps most offensive -- comment about women's rights occurred in 1992, when his Christian Coalition was busy trying to defeat a state Equal Rights Amendment in Iowa. In a fund-raising letter, Robertson wrote, "The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."
The late Jerry Falwell blamed the attacks on 9/11 on the gays and feminists, and even Ann Coulter, who has benefited greatly from the feminist movement has been known, to disparage feminists, to include calling them weak and pathetic. Although a lot of the stereotyping has been over the top, it still works to discourage others from acknowledging or embracing the feminist movement.
The Church and Religious Teachings – Perhaps this is the biggest contributor to the current battle going on with women’s rights, especially when it comes to reproductive rights. We can not forget the call from the 1998 Southern Baptist Convention, for wives to submit to their husbands. Indeed, Ephesians 5-22, does call for exactly that. The bible also goes further and deems that man is the head of woman in First Corinthians 11:3. The idea of submission by women is not limited to Christianity, but is also embraced in the other major monotheism religions. It can be speculated then, that the idea and premise of feminism, would contradict these teachings.
Also, religious leaders have time and time again, spoken their views on birth control and abortion. In his article, The Pope and The Pill, John Swomley outlines how the decisions of two popes in regards to contraceptives, has driven a campaign against reproductive rights, not just in the USA but in many catholic countries.
So, how do we stop this erosion of the rights women have fought for and won? Perhaps reminding people what the feminist movement truly is, a fight to maintain the rights that we’ve already won. A fight to get rid of double standards and be treated as human beings, not property or lesser "beings". It’s a fight to be able to have and make the same choices, and to maintain responsibility for ourselves and not have someone else take that responsibility on for us. It’s about raising our sons to be compassionate and our daughters to be able to stand on their own, with their heads proudly raised.
We need to continue to reach out to both men and women, to educate them on the issues in regards to women’s rights. We need to ensure that the voters aren’t just making their decisions on sound bites and knee jerk reactions, by exposing or expounding the candidates stance on issues.
We need to make them aware that regardless of which side of the issue they are on, that the rights originally won, gave them the choice to choose that side.
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