Women of the World - Unite!

By Glenys O'Connell
There are really good topics for Roses blogs this month but once again I'm rambling off in another direction, this one close to my heart.
Here in Canada 2012 marks the 83rd Anniversary of the Day Women Became Persons.
To my daughters this sounds crazy. "But we've ALWAYS been people, Mom," is their response.
It seems that so many of us who benefit from the brave work of the women who went before us seem to know very little of that work.
Historically, the British North America Act of 1876 claimed that women were not 'persons' as far as the law was concerned relating to property rights ownership, voting, and other rights enjoyed by men.
For years after this, despite challenges from women seeking public office, the right to own property, etc., women were still considered chattels. In other words, we were pretty much owned by the men in our lives - for better or for worse!
It wasn't until 1929 that the British Privy Council - Canada was still a member of the British Empire as the Declaration that led to the Commonwealth wasn't signed until 1931 - announced that women here were, indeed, persons with all the rights that entailed.
And yet, while we've 'come a long way, baby', we're still hitting the glass ceiling at work, finding ourselves earning less than men for the same jobs, finding it harder to get credit, doing the lion's share of childcare and housework...the list goes on.

So, while my daughters will hopefully never have to work in the women's lib groups that I did back in the 70's, or be turned down for a job or promotion because 'you might get pregnant and leave', or not be allowed to take out their own mortgages or have control of their own money, we've still a way to go to true equality.
And we must always remember the brave women throughout the world who stood and took the kicks and blows, who went on hunger strike, risked their lives protesting, or even threw themselves under the King's horses. For women in some nations, the brutality and inequity continues to this day.
By now you're probably wondering what got me into such a tizzy that I wanted to write about this.
Well, someone sent me the little essay below. It's mostly about the terrible treatment of suffragettes in the United States, but it's a story that has been played out in many other nations and a  history none of us should forget. We must guard our freedoms. I don't know who wrote it, but it carried a notice to feel free to share:

 The 83rd Anniversary of  Women as “Persons”…
 It is the story of women who were ground-breakers.
These brave women from the early 1900s made all the difference
 in the lives we all live today. It was not until 1920 that women    won  the right to go to the polls and vote. The women were innocent and defenseless but when, in 1917, 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 cell mate, 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 colourless 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, sisters, cousins and nieces know the price that
 was paid  to earn equal rights for women here, in North America?
 2012 is the  83rd Anniversary of the “Persons Case” in Canada which, finally, declared women in Canada to be “Persons”!
 Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on, at least to all the
 women you know, so  that we may remember to celebrate the rights that were won for all by these heroines .

 Knowledge is Freedom: hide it and it withers; share it, and it blooms.

If you want to read more about Canada's 'Famous Five' here are some links:

Emily Murphy

Henrietta Muir Edwards

Nellie McClung

Louise McKinney

Irene Parlby

Glenys O'Connell writes romantic suspense with strong heroines who are willing to fight for the things they believe in - whether it's truth, justice, or true love! You can read some excerpts of her work here 

You Gotta Fight for Your Right

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

I'm not a radical feminist, but I do believe in equality for the sexes. A 50/50 balance of power in any male-female relationship is important to its overall success. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one woman in United States history who believed in such a balance.

Born on November 12, 1815 in Johnstown, New York, Elizabeth Cady Stanton grew up knowing her father wished she were a boy. She decided at an early age to be just as good as any boy and excelled in school. In 1839, she met fellow abolitionist Henry Stanton and fell in love. The couple eloped and moved to London. During the ceremony, Elizabeth told the minister that she and Henry would be equal partners and she would not promise to "obey" him.

While in London, Elizabeth met Lucretia Mott and the pair spoke out about women's rights. They drew up a declaration of woman's rights and modeled it after the Declaration of Independence. Their points included that women had no right to property, even to the wages they earned, that only men had the power to divorce, that if a woman wanted to work, she had little choice of what she could do, and she wouldn't get much pay, that women were denied an equal education, and that women should have the right to vote. Sixty eight women and thirty two men signed a petition in support of the declaration.

Elizabeth met Susan B. Anthony in 1851, and together they continued the fight for women's rights. Elizabeth was president of the National American Women's Suffrage Association from 1869 until 1892. During the Civil War she spent time signing petitions for emancipation. She believed the only way to gain womens' suffrage would be to gain a constitutional amendment that would state the sex of a person wouldn't keep a person from obtaining the right to vote.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton died on October 26, 1902. She did not survive to see women get the right to vote nearly 20 years later, but her fight paved the way. She believed in her cause, spoke convincingly about it, and never backed down. She was a true woman of achievement.


My latest release from Whispers Publishing, Speak Easy to Me, takes place just before the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution giving women the right to vote.

Blurb:

Willa Hardwick doesn’t want to be an ordinary housewife, especially if the only available men work at Providence’s most notable speakeasy, The Fountain. She wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like that. Women should have choices, and Willa is willing to fight for those choices as well as the right to vote.

Grant Sterling hides behind his piano night after night, entertaining the guests at The Fountain. He knows the speakeasy’s owner, Ralph “Zinny” DiZinnia, is involved in shady dealings, but he’ll never tell. In fact, Grant would rather not speak at all.

When Willa’s brother, Tommy, double-crosses Zinny, Willa faces an uncomfortable proposition to save his life. How far is she willing to go for family, and can she trust the help of a quiet piano player?


Excerpt:

The Fountain was packed tonight. Women in their short, fringed dresses and feathered caps giggled and flirted. Men in their fancy suits and winged-tip shoes talked politics and patted their laps when a pretty dame happened by.

Grant and the boys had been playing nonstop in their little corner of the bar, which was fine with Grant. He had no desire to set foot on the crowded dance floor, though the rest of the boys all had taken a turn. He was comfortable at the piano and that was where he intended to hide for the evening.

Until the door at the back of the speakeasy let in a real looker. Not anything like the Janes already filling the bar. No, something in the set of this gal’s shoulders told Grant she was not the usual customer. Some dark pencil outlined her eyes, some red lipstick rimmed her lips, but it was nothing compared to the circus look on most of the female patrons tonight.

Her skin glowed white and flawless while chestnut curls played about her jaw from under a tight-fitting, cream-colored hat. A single strand of small pearls graced her slender neck.

And the dress. Good God, the off-white dress wrapped around her figure, showing off an ample bosom, a trim waist, and a heavenly set of gams that went on for miles.

She was perfect, and yet, Grant picked up on her unease, a tension in her muscles. Her wide, chocolate eyes scanned the bar as if she were a small rabbit looking out for predators. When two men approached her, however, she smiled cordially, and Grant nearly oozed off his piano bench.

Buy Speak Easy to Me today from:

Whispers Publishing
Amazon
All Romance E-books

Chris

http://www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com/