It’s Women’s Equality Day! Are You Registered to Vote?

On By Feminist Asian Dad

On August 26, 1920, our Constitution grew, as did our society’s recognition of who is seen as equal under the law. That was the day the 19th Amendment became part of the very foundation of our legal system, giving the right to vote to women!

Opposition to women’s suffrage was fierce and frequently violent. Anti-suffragists included many women.

Sadly, it is true that not all women who were American citizens could practically exercise that right for quite some time, especially due to racial discrimination.

Still, the 19th Amendment was huge in our nation’s history, the culmination of decades of struggle and sacrifice by activists who persuaded two thirds of the members of both houses of Congress, as well as the state legislatures in 36 of the 48 states, to ratify the amendment. (And of course, the massive majority of legislators at the national and state level were men.) We all – not just women, but all of us – owe these activists a debt of gratitude! We stand on their shoulders.

Prominent suffragist Lucy Burns, who served more time in prison than any other American suffragist. This photo was taken in 1917 whenshe and 32 other women, arrested after silently protesting outside the White House for months, experienced horrific torture while imprisoned for their acts of civil disobedience.

So if you’re 18 and haven’t yet registered to vote, please do so a.s.a.p. so you can vote in the upcoming election! In California, click here.

One of the most famous marches for women’s suffrage took place on March 3, 1913, the day before Gov. Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey was inaugurated as president. Lucy Burns was one of the co-organizers.

(The main image at the top of the post comes from the website of Community Services Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.)