NEVERTHELESS, SHE PERSISTED

To do justice to all the women before me in a single article would be impossible. However, in the spirit of reminding myself and others of why we continue to advocate for ourselves and true equality, let’s take a moment and look back on the true beginning of the women’s movement in the United States.  

The women’s suffrage movement began in 1841 in Seneca Falls, New York. The convention – originally named the ‘Women’s Rights Convention” but now usually referred to as the Seneca Falls Convention – lasted two days. Despite very little publicity, 300 people attended.  

At the start of this convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivered a speech and in very clear terms defined the purpose of this meeting as “to declare our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government which we are taxed to support, to have such disgraceful laws [erased] as give man the power to chastise and imprison his wife, to take the wages which she earns, the property which she inherits, and, in case of separation, the children of her love.”

Today, we celebrate the fact that we achieved these rights but still must continue to work toward true equality. When we break the glass ceiling, when women no longer have their symptoms dismissed by doctors simply because they are women, and when rape culture is dead and buried – then, you could argue that women no longer need to advocate for their rights.  

Until then, thank an activist the next time you see one.