The 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage: How Far Have We Come?
Photo Credit: The Guardian
“Ida B. Wells”
By Alison Chabala
August 18, 1920, marked the centennial of when the nineteenth amendment was put into effect and women were able to vote. On that day, a long-sought-after women’s rights milestone was finally reached. Indefatigable activists like Ida B. Wells and Susan B. Anthony led the prominent women’s rights movement while straining under the omnipresent burden of sexism in America. But even after this achievement, many were still motivated to pursue the next steps towards gender equality, because there was still so much more to be done. In fact, it wasn’t until 1965 that women of all races could vote.
Women across the board have faced adversity due to discrimination. But surprisingly, statistics have shown that more women have voted than men in every presidential election since 1980. According to a Pew Research article, “In 2016, 63% of women who were eligible to vote said they cast ballots in the presidential election, compared with 59% of men.” Where does this disparity come from? Why did almost 10 million more women vote in the last presidential election than men? Statistics show that this trend has become even more prevalent over the recent elections.
An interview with humanities teacher Stephanie McGraw adds a new perspective to help discern the root of this trend.
“When you go back in history, like when women got the right to vote in 1920, a lot of people thought there would be this ‘woman’s vote,’ and there wasn’t,” McGraw said. “It starts in the 1970s, what we call ‘the culture wars’, And then in the late 70s, there was a huge backlash against Roe v. Wade, and abortion, the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment), and the ERA actually got defeated in the 80s. So I think a lot of women decided that the way to change society is through the vote.”
The surge of women voters in 1980 has been attributed to what has been called the “Ronald Reagan effect.” That was the year of the election between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. In his campaign, Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan advocated vehemently against abortion, and gave his opinions of the role of women.
According to The Atlantic, “the party dropped its support of the Equal Rights Amendment, embraced an anti-abortion position, and courted conservative Christians who lamented the effect of working women on “traditional” families.”
This, many claim, is when women started to take sides based on their own individual opinions and the incongruences and differences of voting among women were revealed. McGraw adds how subsequent events helped ignite the fire of the women’s voting.
“The Anita Hill hearings, 1992, was the year of the woman, and it was part of my coming of age, because women were so upset with the senate judiciary committee, headed by Joe Biden, reacting to Anita Hill, who had accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, and it was a bunch of like old, white guys who basically ignored this black woman,” McGraw said. “So for me it's women frustrated with the system, frustrated with the patriarchy, and the lack of representation, and feeling that the vote is the way to have their voices heard.” When asked if she thinks if higher voting rates of women have any deeper implications, she said, “Yes. I do.”
Photo Credit: The New Yorker
“The Anita Hill Hearing”
Recent events have swayed potential outcomes of the 2020 presidential election between Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. Democratic Associate Supreme Court Justice and feminist icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away in September due to complications from pancreatic cancer.
According to by NBC news, “A Pew Research poll from early September also showed that 66 percent of Democratic voters viewed the Supreme Court as ‘“very important’ in the election, compared to 61 percent of Republicans.” Ginsburg’s death has many possible implications: if her seat is filled by a nomination from President Trump, an indubitable threat is posed for abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights, among other issues.
“I know statistically, the supreme court energizes the right, much more than the left, so I think Trump being able to get a third, really conservative, pro-life person on the court is really going to energize the right.” McGraw said. “But [with] the supreme court vacancy, I’m not sure, because there’s so much on the line, and I think that a lot of conservative women who were disgusted by Trump and weren't going to vote for him, I think because they are so adamantly pro life, I think they might come out and vote.”
The consequences of this presidential election will ripple across the country. And regardless of why more women vote, the women’s vote will be very influential.
“There are so many variables that come into play,” McGraw said. This 2020 election will be very consequential for a myriad of reasons, and the vote is the most important to vocalize your ways to invoke change, because they are intrinsically powerful.”
