Women

Sisterhood for Women’s History Month – by Deborah Levine

Is Women’s History Month still relevant today? Is the need for sisterhood activism over as some say? We look back at the first group to advocate for women’s right to vote nationally and see that it was ultimately successful. The Seneca Falls Woman’s Rights Convention was held long ago in1848. But the words of its organizer Elizabeth Cady Stanton still hold true and yet are still controversial, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.”

That right was opposed for decades by a well-funded anti-suffrage movement that argued most women really didn’t want the vote, and most were unqualified to exercise it. It took 70 years of women activists to convince the country on women’s right to vote.

For decades, these women were not deterred. They went to the states, especially the western states, where the pioneering spirit won voting rights for women beginning with Wyoming in 1869. Yes, progress was up and down. Utah gave women the vote and then it was repealed. But activists persevered and almost 50 years before Congress passed the 19th amendment, the Equal Rights Party nominated a woman candidate for US President.

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution became law in 1920, and women could vote, including in the Presidential election. But only after the victories of the civil rights movement did all American Women turn out to vote in the same numbers as men. That milestone was reached in 1980, more than a century after Seneca Falls.

What held women back and why does representation of women still range from meager to modest? The underlying reasons were beautifully express by Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American congresswoman in 1968 and the first major-party Black woman presidential candidate. “The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says: It’s a girl.” “Tremendous amounts of talent are lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt.”

When the Women’s Liberation Movement reignited in the late 1960s, we had the vote, but not economic equity in hiring, salaries, representation and promotions. The Feminist Movement did achieve gains for women regarding education, pay, and maternity leave. But critics succeeded in making Feminism synonymous with aggressive, angry, and other words that I won’t repeat but you all know them. The goal of this stereotyping was to de-legitimize, marginalize, and render invisible the outspoken voices. As a result, many women distanced themselves from the Feminist label.

Those critics have re-surfaced with a vengeance. So-called pundits labeled the women activists as 1.) ugly & fat and irrelevant, 2.) old and irrelevant, and 3.) naive and irrelevant, 4) mean & unlikeable and irrelevant, or too stupid or ignorant to know that they are now irrelevant. These views have gained a place in the national conversation demonstrating the depth of animosity in our society.

Are we surprised? Not when we remember the words of women’s rights activist Gloria Steinem (1934…) “Any woman who chooses to behave like a full human being should be warned that the armies of the status quo will treat her as something of a dirty joke. That’s their natural and first weapon. She will need her sisterhood.”

We must stand together to counteract those who would render women invisible and irrelevant. Keep in mind that attempts to give women guarantees of the same rights as men was never adopted into the U.S. Constitution or any legal document or legislation. The economic consequences of this invisibility embedded in our society continue today. It’s not surprising that only 20% of seats on Fortune 500 boards were held by women as recently as 2016. While there has been some improvement on the boards by 2023, of the S&P 500 companies, 459 CEOs are male and just 41 are female.

  • If protests against gender inequity are so irrelevant today, why do the statistics say otherwise?
  • Only 29% of the seats in the US House of Reps. in 2023 are held by women.
  • The World Economic Forum’s 2023 report on the Global Gender Gap ranked the United States 43rd among 146 countries examined, down from  27th last year. The rankings were determined based on gender gaps in four main areas: work, education, health and political leadership.

It’s time for a re-vitalized sense of activism and sisterhood. Be visible! Do not allow push-backs that make us irrelevant. I was deeply saddened to see editorials claiming that we’re too ugly to count, or too fat, naive, stupid, or ignorant. The stakes are high and the coming generations need our faith, perseverance, and determination. Social justice depends on us and our Sisterhood. Let’s stand together proudly as photos of decision makers on women’s health show a room entirely populated by men.

Let’s protest loudly when belittled in newspaper editorials. Let’s support each other when we’re told “It’s not your turn” or “You lack the leadership credentials.” Above all, do not let bias against older women make you feel irrelevant. We are the glue of society and I certainly won’t permit that. Advocate vociferously to change the statistics and let the world know that women can and do make this world a better place.

CLICK  for my interview for Grandma’s March 2024: Inspiring Inclusion: Crafting a Legacy with Every Story Told

 

And keep in mind that the National Women’s History Month’s theme for 2024 celebrates “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.” 

 

Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash

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