Happy Women's Equality Day! 85 Years Later, Women Look for More Ballots

[MaineDem]

Today, on Women's Equality Day, observing the 85th anniversary of U.S. women gaining the right to vote, some think women in the next congressional elections may see their numbers rise for the first substantial increase since 1992.

85 Years Later, Women Look for More Ballots
Run Date: 08/26/05
By Allison Stevens
WeNews correspondent

WASHINGTON (WOMENSENEWS)--Will 2006 be the next "Year of the Woman?"

Early signs indicate today, on the 85th anniversary of U.S. women gaining the right to vote in federal elections, that the answer might be yes; at least for pro-choice candidates.

Currently, women hold 15 percent of the seats in the House and Senate, a percentage that has risen gradually since the first and last "Year of the Woman" in 1992, when women's share of congressional seats jumped from 6 percent to 10 percent.

That percentage could jump higher next year, if early recruiting numbers at EMILY's List--a leading political action committee dedicated to putting pro-choice Democratic women in office--are any indication. Pro-choice Democratic women are expressing interest in statewide and federal campaigns in unprecedented levels this early in the cycle, EMILY's List officials say.

http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=2425

[myrna minx]

1. Here's to my grandma

who was 25 years old before the received the right to vote. :kick:

[Totally Committed]

2. A thank you to all the courageous women who came before

and fought so hard for our right to vote. The fact that there had to be a "fight" at all is shameful, but not as shameful as the fact that --

**** Women in this country still do not make the same wage as a man does, doing the same job.

**** We still have not had a woman POTUS (and the possible candidates are so prohibitively "male"-assimilated (read: war-mongering, good-ole-boy-ing, "I-can-be-as-big-a-jerk-ing" as the male candidates) that it doesn't matter anyway. Props to Barbara Boxer, Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, among the few who really do us proud, for their true leadership, without being assimilated into the "good ole boy" Washington network.

**** There are still some who think we should do nothing but stay home and raise children.

**** According to studies done on the subject, we still do the majority of the household chores, even if we hold a full-time job, as our male partners do. And, overwhelmingly (though, happily, this is changing a bit) we are still seen as the "nurturer" of our children, and do most of the child-rearing.

**** And, finally, we still do not have autonomy over our own bodies and reproductive systems. Men would never put up with this bullshit. We will never be "equal" until the ABSOLUTE RIGHT OF CHOICE IS OURS, AND OURS ALONE.

So, celebrate, ladies. We can vote. But we can't plan our own families, we can't make an equal wage, and we can't be trusted to run the country without surrendering our womanhood. We've cpme a long way? Maybe. But there's a long way yet to go!

TC

[Callalily]

3. We continue the fight

these brave souls started.