Women appear to be on the march again, and it's not for unionized daycare.
This is the story of women who were ground-breakers. These brave women from the early 1900s made all the difference in the lives we live today.
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 when, in North America , women picketed in front of the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote, they were jailed.
And by the end of the first night in jail, those women 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.
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.
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.
All women who have ever voted, have ever owned property, have ever enjoyed equal rights need to remember that women’s rights had to be fought for in Canada as well. Do our daughters and our sisters know the price that was paid to earn rights for women here, in North America?
2009 is the 80th Anniversary of the Persons Case in Canada, which finally declared women in Canada to be Persons!
Why Women Should Vote
Women went to jail and suffered beatings just a short time ago, to get the vote.
In Alberta, my lovely province, more women (64.6) would vote for Stephen Harper than men (58.3). We have smart, independent women here, that do not expect their "man" to support them, we out feminist the feminists. It's a real movement and other provinces are following, more women would vote for the Conservatives than Liberals, in every area of Canada. (click on Tories edge into majority territory) So, what are women thinking? Why the shift from the left to the right? What about women and their love of social programs?
It might be that Iggy is unappealing to women, but you could say the same about Stephen Harper, women didn't seem to like him....at first. Is he a cute teddy bear now, nope. Is he a chick magnet? HA!
I think it's that sense of security he gives off. He's reliable, honest and most important faithful. He's what every woman wants to have in a man, after she's gotten over the tall, dark, and dangerous type. Women are turning towards PM Harper because he is a steady boat in a crashing surf. If you were on that boat, and had to choose Harper or Iggy to get you to safety, which hand would you take? Who would you trust your child to? I would actually trust Layton more than Iffy, at least he has principles that he sticks to, wrongheaded as they are.
What's up with women? Face it, we are smarter than you think, after only 80 years of being able to vote, we understand how important it is to our families to vote for someone who will do their best to protect them and move this country forward. Right now that is PM Harper and the Conservative party.
10 comments:
Great post! Now if only all women in Canada had the right to own property.
Unfortunately Native women on reserves do not have this right. The CPC has being trying to rectify this for ages but have been blocked by the Liberals who have succumbed to pressure from Native Chiefs (men).
Married women on reserves cannot own anything. It is all the exclusive property of the husband. Now that is an issue to get behind. Cheers.
Excellent post Hunter!
Nice pic here, makes me miss my Mom:
http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/10/13/a-harper-thanksgiving/
Hunter, Check out this item about the Famous Five.
Hunter - on the mark post, as usual.
sor - I was not aware that native women were not able to own property. That is disgusting and the CPC should work tirelessly to change that.
Jad, link not working??
Wilson, how weird is this ?
The link was to the victoria Times Colonist
http://www.timescolonist.com/life/Five+famous+persons+honorary+senators/2095808/story.html
How on earth did it get transposed to the Toronto Star ?
Universal suffrage occurred in Canada in 1919. The Prime Minister at the time was Sir Robert Borden, leading a coalition government.
In the US, universal suffrage was passed in the 19th amendment in 1920. The President at the time, who pushed hard for it was Woodrow Wilson, of the Democratic Party.
So hunter, I missed the part of your post thanking Democrats, and Coalition governments, for getting things done, such as women's suffrage in the US and Canada.
LS: "So hunter, I missed the part of your post thanking Democrats..."
Demcocrats. The party of Jim Crow (segregation) and the KKK.
liberal supporter, this was a post about women and their fight for the vote, NOT who was in power at the time, but nice lack of understanding of the issue.
Sor, you are right, the CPC has been trying to get a bill passed so First Nations women would be treated equally, but the progressives are being regressive on that issue.
liberal supporter, this was a post about women and their fight for the vote, NOT who was in power at the time, but nice lack of understanding of the issue.
Baloney. This post was all about how women now want to vote for the CPC after the struggle for suffage. I simply pointed out the facts about who was fighting with them. You are the one trying to conflate the fight for suffrage with voting for a specific party.
Nice try yourself.
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