When I started working on women's history about thirty years ago, the field did not exist. People didn't think that women had a history worth knowing.
—Gerda Lerner, Women and History (1986; 1993)
Read more: History of Women's History Month http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womensintro1.html#ixzz1HqPmouV1
This is Women's History Month
The other day I got to thinking about the Equal Rights Amendment. I did not know that it was originally written by Alice Paul in 1923 and that it is still waiting for three states to ratify it to make it a part of the Constitution. The 15 states that have not ratified the Amendment are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia.
I suppose I got to thinking about it because I watched a movie in which a woman was thrown in jail for not reveling her source for a news article and they tossed her in jail for contempt of court. I watched the way she was treated. I was also reminded of a movie I watched about the struggle that women had in order to get the vote. (They didn't get it until 1920) They had rocks thrown at them and were spat upon and had to hide their involvement with the movement from husbands who could take their parental rights away from them. The struggle continues.
"Issues commonly associated with notions of women's rights include, though are not limited to, the right: to bodily integrity and autonomy; to vote (suffrage); to hold public office; to work; to fair wages or equal pay; to own property; to education; to serve in the military or be conscripted; to enter into legal contracts; and to have marital, parental and religious rights".
Many of these "rights" are just basic to what should be. There should be no question and probably would not be if the ERA had been passed. Women today can vote and hold public office. They can work but not always to fair wages of equal pay. They can own property and many are well educated. They serve in the military and enter into legal contracts.
Men still sometimes think of women as their property and right now we are seeing a spate of laws which show that they do not have the right to bodily integrity with anti abortion laws springing up hither and yon as part of the Tea Party Tsunami which is sweeping the nation. I am not saying whether or not I am in favor of abortion but I am saying that as a male it is none of my business.
And things are worse elsewhere in the world. In some country baby girls are not wanted and female infanticide is practiced. As is female circumcision, a practice which has no health value and is condemned by the World Health Organization.
The treatment of women as chattel is so strongly enrolled in our cultures that it will be difficult to change things. We must recognize the root causes and strip away the hypocrisy of the male. Men could not be sure that a child was theirs without strictly controlling the women. Total control and that meant women became property.
In some countries women are forced to wear clothing which will hide their bodies. The burqa which the woman on the right is wearing is declining in use but it is still required in some places (particularly in Afghanistan) -
When I was in Egypt I was invited to a wedding party. We were told that the husband and father entered into a contract and the woman was transferred from the father to the husband.. sometimes she had never even met the man her parents had chosen for her to marry. She was invited to the party afterward. (If you Google Muslim Marriage it will not tell you this.)
Elizabeth Kaeton had this to say about marriage on her Blog, Telling Secrets:
(used with permission)
Let's face it, "traditional marriage" is a legal contract between two men wherein the woman is the subject of the legal agreement. That's why the father of the bride walks the bride down the aisle and "gives her hand inmarriage" to the groom.I once went to a wedding in a fundamentalist Christian Church for one of my former students. I was appalled to hear that the wedding was going to be a success because _____________was such a servant. A servant? Is that what a wife is supposed to be? Not in my book, but then I have never been married and I am not used to being waited on.
She's property, is all. The church has been complicit in this legal transaction since the fourth century.
I guess the point of all this is that I really don't like the way women are treated in much of our world. I remember in the 80's when I read in our Social Studies book that there were "even 5 women in the House of Representatives" I used that as a math lesson and asked the kids how many women should be in the House if the structure of the House of Representatives was really representative? I asked them what was the percentage of women in our world. They figured about half. I let them know that it was about 52% and we figured out there should probably be a couple of hundred or more women in the House if we were truly representative. I am still waiting for one of my kids to run for office.
Men (not all but many) treat women with disrespect. I have known women who were not allowed to write checks or have any part of the business of the family. To be fair I also know some women who have the entire running of the household and the husband turns over all responsibility for paying bills, etc to her. But I knew some women who when suddenly widowed had to take a crash course in money management.
I have a great respect for women. I have seen them in charge of business, my representative in the Iowa House is a woman and she is one of the best I have ever seen. Hard working, intelligent and very capable. (And she doesn't seem to have the same problem with power that men have. She is a great representative.) I have had women principals and administrators (some good one bad) in my career. Things are changing but sometimes too slowly and it needs to be fair all the way around.
I was very proud of this Pakistani woman who spoke up for herself and her rights and the dual treatment she was receiving from this Mullah. I think she came out on top. More women need to take a stand for their rights and not to let men steamroll them.
I am in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment which simply states:
THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.
If and when it is ratified it will help all people men and women by placing in the law of the land the fairness which Abigale Adams requested when she wrote to John:
The article that I got that quote from was from the government site. It was followed by this:
Her plea was the first call for the equality that American women would gradually achieve.
To which I would say - Not yet, Not yet, we are still working for it.
{Note - You may wonder why I am so much in favor of Equal Rights. Well you see my mother and father were divorced when I was 4 years old and my mother had to raise me without his help. She did have help from her parents but without that it would have been pretty tight.
I can still remember seeing a little girl in the optometrist's being told by her mother that they would have to wait until they could check with her father before she could get the glasses she needed. I remembered back to when I got my first set of glasses and I went from having to squint to see the chalkboard to seeing individual leaves on a tree across the street. -
My mother was smarter than many she worked with and yet she received less money. She was treated with disrespect by some of her bosses who had an ego problem.
The unequal treatment of any part of our society isn't fair and until we have this law it is
going to stay that way.)
ADDENDUM:
I just read that the Supreme Court is going to hear a case relating to whether or not women can sue Wal-mart over discriminatory wages. Should be interesting.
"In the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies," she wrote, "and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors."
The article that I got that quote from was from the government site. It was followed by this:
Her plea was the first call for the equality that American women would gradually achieve.
To which I would say - Not yet, Not yet, we are still working for it.
{Note - You may wonder why I am so much in favor of Equal Rights. Well you see my mother and father were divorced when I was 4 years old and my mother had to raise me without his help. She did have help from her parents but without that it would have been pretty tight.
I can still remember seeing a little girl in the optometrist's being told by her mother that they would have to wait until they could check with her father before she could get the glasses she needed. I remembered back to when I got my first set of glasses and I went from having to squint to see the chalkboard to seeing individual leaves on a tree across the street. -
My mother was smarter than many she worked with and yet she received less money. She was treated with disrespect by some of her bosses who had an ego problem.
The unequal treatment of any part of our society isn't fair and until we have this law it is
going to stay that way.)
ADDENDUM:
I just read that the Supreme Court is going to hear a case relating to whether or not women can sue Wal-mart over discriminatory wages. Should be interesting.
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