Why Were People, Including Many Women, Opposed to Women's Suffrage? In the 1800s and early 1900s, the heated debate over the right to vote was happening- particularly the right to vote for women. As stated in the Declaration of Independence, "all men are created equal.." but women were purposely left out of this very famous statement. They were deprived of their right to vote for various reasons- including political and social reasons. The political climate of the time was very different than it is today- women were not allowed to vote, be audience to political gatherings, participate in politics, expected not to protest, and expected to agree with her husband on all topics to promote a "harmonious" household. Today, women are a part of politics with female politicians on all realms of the political spectrum, women voters everywhere, and laws passed in the interest of women. But why were women limited from all aspects of politics? As women were half of the US population, their votes could considerably transform the realm of American politics as they had a different perspective on the world, laws passed, and the treatment of women. All political power is currently in the hands of men- and if women were allowed to vote, they would lose their supremacy. There is no reason to suppress the rights of an entire minority, unless you fear their power. As Stanton states in her 1848 Declaration of Sentiments, "[Men have] compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice. … [Men have] never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise." (Stanton) A woman has no voice in the laws that she is subject to, and has no opportunity to change them. She has never been allowed to exercise the right she should be able to, and this is keeping her oppressed. For this reason, men and people who were in power wanted to maintain the control they had. An article from The Woman's Protest Against Woman's Suffrage referred to the advocacy of suffrage as "mischief", which is another word for misbehavior in the face of authority and behavior. The author of this statement expresses that suffrage would mean the misbehavior of women and the lack of control by men over "their" women. It is human nature while in organized society to create ideas about how certain aspects of life should go. This is not limited to the treatment, expectations, and standards for women both in public and private life. One aspect of this is how women at the time were expected to be perfect housewives, nurture the children into the next generation of either caregivers or strong men, keep the home tidy, and cook plenty of meals. Anti-suffragists claimed that given the rights to vote, this traditional life of a woman doomed to household chores would be disrupted; and according to The Woman's Protest Against Woman's Suffrage, this life of household drudgery is what part she plays in society, and the part she owes to play- "It is the Suffragists who are destroying the wholesome personal element in female life, by their doctrine of degradation in the washing of pots and pans for husband, father and son, while they demand the vote, and opportunity to serve the State, the husbands, fathers, and sons of other people, with what? What service?" This opinion was not unique to men- for this belief that women should not have the right to vote was also held by a number of women, including the woman who founded National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, which ran The Woman's Protest Against Woman's Suffrage. These women may be afraid of the change of the life that they had been born into from their first breath- for change is in fact a very difficult thing. Besides the predestination of women to the home, women were additionally thought of to be unintelligent, frail, and high-strung. Many believed that women were not smart enough or too emotional to hold the great power of voting. "It has often been pointed out that women could not, with justice, ask to legislate upon matters of war and peace, as no woman can do military duty; but this point may be extended much further. No woman can have any practical knowledge of shipping and navigation, of the work of trainmen on railways, of mining, or of many other subjects of the highest importance. Their legislation, therefore, would not probably be intelligent, and the laws they devised for the betterment of sailors, trainmen, miners, etc., might be highly objectionable to the very persons they sought to benefit." (Seawell, 1911) Anti-suffragists feared that any job a women may hold or power she could use would be misused in stupid ways that would harm the safety, wellbeing, and state of the country. Family Immigration History One particular line of my family tree originated from Germany. In the mid 1800s, they moved from Germany to what is currently Ukraine because of poor farming conditions- the soil was so poor that they were forced to move to a new place to farm again in a hopefully more prosperous place. Money was tight, and they could not afford to have low crop yields and risk going into debt. As they had no generational wealth, they were forced to go somewhere else to avoid this. So, they moved to the Crimea Steppe by the black sea, and settled there. They farmed for a few decades, and sought out the Americas for a better life. The first world war was also going on quite close to them, and they wished to escape the potential danger- although the country in which they lived in was not involved in the war, they did not want to risk the destruction that war could bring. They did not wish to lose everything or be drafted if they were brought into the war. So in the early 1900s, they traveled across the Atlantic Ocean by ship and landed in New York. They landed in New York as it was the place that immigrants passed through to gain access to the United States. After they arrived in New York and became citizens, they moved through the states and arrived in North Dakota- which was where they then settled. Farming in the vast plains of the Dakotas for a few decades, they moved next to Victor, California and continued to farm and work in new areas of agriculture- working in packaging plants also. Victor is where they remained for further generations- including my grandmother who lives in the area near Victor. My father, her son, grew up in the same area and eventually moved to Sacramento for college. No Unemployment for Healthcare Workers and School Staff Refusing Vaccines In the state of New York, there is a proposed plan to increase the number of vaccinated healthcare workers and school staff before the vaccine deadline. This deadline is where all of the types of workers mentioned must have their first vaccine doses or face termination. In this plan by the New York State Department of Labor, workers who are fired because they refuse to get vaccinated by the deadline will not be eligible for unemployment. While 84% of all New York hospital workers are vaccinated, that 16% of unvaccinated workers is still a substantial amount of people. As one might presume, healthcare workers come into contact with people with COVID often. An unvaccinated hospital worker poses a great threat to the vulnerable people at the hospital, whether they happen to be carrying COVID or not. This is relevant, because whether you agree with vaccine mandates or not, the threat of COVID is still very real. Millions have died worldwide. This vaccine is something that you can do to protect yourself and others from this threat. Keep in mind that even if you say, "Oh, I am healthy! I do not need the vaccine!", you are making a choice that I do not respect. Choosing not to get vaccinated, unless you have a legitimate reason not to, puts people around you at risk, not just yourself. Everyone is entitled to their opinions about vaccinations, but what if you are unvaccinated and get COVID and give it to someone else, and they die? It is an inherently selfish choice. Someone close to me had a friend who died last week of COVID. What if it were your friend? |