In Honor of ...

A few months ago I watched as Whitney Houston was honored on the day of her funeral.  Television and media covered her funeral and the New Jersey flag was flown at half mast.  Although I enjoy Whitney Houston's music, and have always admired her talent, there are many other women who are so much more deserving. I did a google search to see if Whitney worked to help the hungry in a third world country or made a lasting impact on mankind in any way. I found nothing and this disturbs me.  Women today have much more substance than musical talent and pretty faces.

It is important to remember that only in last 50 years have women begun to be recognized as people of worth. In fact, women were not even recognized as 'a person' until 1920 when the suffrage movement passed and women were given the right to vote. Prior to 1920 a woman had the same rights as the household pet. 

The women's suffrage movement started in the late 1800's when Elizabeth Cady Stanton was outraged by slavery and was frustrated because she had no voice simply because of her gender.  Elizabeth Cady Stanton was instrumental in supporting the freedom train. It is said that would hide slaves in her basement.  Since most of the slaves could not read or write, quilts were sewn by Stanton and other women that had maps hidden within their patterns. The quilts were handed to those escaping slavery to guide them.  Since Stanton had a husband and children at home she could not travel.  Before long she joined forces with Susan B Anthony who did not have familial responsibilities and this allowed her to travel to gather support for the women's movement because, as Ms. Stanton is quoted, "until women have the vote we have no voice to push for change."

In the early 1900's Margaret Sanger, a nurse, was apalled at the number of women dying from multiple pregnancies and self induced abortions.  Birth control was illegal and so was any education on contraception. Her mission was to educate and offer women a choice.  When fliers educating women on conception and condoms were seized by the US Postal Service, she was imprisoned and forced to do hard labor.   Imagine being thrown in prison for sharing  condom, yet that was Margaret Sanger's crime.  Birth control and education on contraception became legal in 1918, but only if obtained through a medical doctor.

In 1917 women picketing for the right to vote were imprisoned for obstruction of a sidewalk.  Prison guards, with the warden's blessing, beat the women with their clubs. By the end of the first night in jail, most of these women were barely alive. 

**Lucy Barnes, one of the organizers, had her hands chained to the bars over her head and was left gasping for air and bleeding. 

**Dora Lewis was literally thrown into a dark cell,  her head was smashed against an iron bed which knocked her out cold.

**Her cellmate, 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. This is known as 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.  For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their  food,all of it colorless slop,was infested with worms. The women were kept in solitary confinement and not allowed contact with the outside. However, word was leaked to the press and soon the members of the suffrage movement gained public sympathy. Women were given the right to vote in 1920. The first woman senator was elected in 1922 but women still had many challenges ahead before they were recognized as equals.

In 1963 Betty Friedman wrote 'The Feminine Mystique' which challenged the idea that most women were happy as submissive homemakers.   One article said that Friedman didn't start out to become a feminist, but her change of heart came one afternoon when she was to meet her publisher at a restaurant to discuss her work over lunch. Because she was female,  she was not allowed inside until her male companion arrived to accompany her.  During this era, women without a male escort could be denied entry into many establishments.

As recently as the 1970's discrimination against women was still prevalent in our country.  The Boston Marathon began in 1897 but women were prohibited from participating until 1972.

Our first woman senator was in 1922 but  our first Female Supreme Court justice nomination did not happen until 1981 when Sandra Day O'Connor was nominated for position.

Although I am saddened by Whitney Houston's death and her wasted life.  I will mourn her but I do not honor her.  She had a beautiful voice but there are so others who are so much more deserving. I will save my honors for those who have made a lasting impact on my world.  The flag was never flown at half mast for the women I mention in this writing and they are barely mentioned in our history books.  Yet we owe them a debt of gratitude  for all of the freedoms we enjoy today.