Today is the 88th anniversary of women in the United States finally receiving the right to vote. As I watched this video I couldn’t help but hope that it will not take another 88 years for a woman to become the President of the United States. I wasn’t a Hillary Clinton supporter, but I whole-heartedly supported her right to run. I do hope that during my lifetime a woman will become President. One of my favorite quotes is from Laurel Thatcher Ulrich… “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” Some have used this as a slogan to justify “bad” behavior. If you read Ulrich’s book, she makes the stronger comment that it is a shame that our history books do not include all of women’s history. Those who “misbehave” like Joan of Arc or Alice Paul were written down for others to “learn” how not to be. Those who led rather normal or non-descript lives being mothers, teachers, nurses, midwives, etc.–who “behaved” themselves, were either forgotten or lived lives that men didn’t think worth writing about. It is a shame we don’t value their histories as well as those who spoke out or caused ripples in the flow of society.
I cherish my right to vote and will do so this November. I will think of those countless women who marched in the rain, who stood outside the White House with signs petitioning Pres. Wilson, who sat in jail and were force fed because the went on hunger strikes, and who spoke with conviction of heart. Even though I have not yet decided who to give my vote to this election, I will honor the right I have to give it.
