This is an amazing film that everyone should see. I didn't know what to expect from this film because I haven't studied the women's suffrage movement since it's brief mention in school. Although, I have read two entire books about Woodrow Wilson and neither of them that I recall gave a single line to Women's Suffrage. (I'm going back for a second look.. this bugs) I think that a Constitutional Amendment that gave half the population the right to vote is worth a line or two.. don't you?
From 1789 until 1917 there were no women serving in congress. In 2002 there were 73.
Today, Nancy Pelosi serves as the Speaker of the House. Hillary Clinton is one of 3 remaining contenders for the White House. Condoleezza Rice currently serves as the Secretary of State.
Women have opportunities in every institution of higher learning and in every imaginable field and profession. If you've been watching Carrier, you'll be very impressed with the two female naval aviators who fly and LAND the amazing F-18's aboard a United States aircraft carrier.
But, every woman that enjoys the liberty that is: the right to vote, own property, work in their chosen field, the right to be tried by a jury of their peers (peers that include women), divorce and attain or share custody of children, the right to an education... and many other rights owes those liberties to the women who worked and sacrificed to bring nations and governments to recognize those rights.
It is an important distinction to say that these women made governments RECOGNIZE their rights, not grant them. Thomas Jefferson recognized that God grants these rights.. not governments when he wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
I am so grateful for my liberty and for the many men and women through history who have endured much to ensure that my rights are recognized by my government and many governments around the world. And, I am so grateful for the men and women today who stand sentinel and protect those rights.
Sadly, there are many parts of the world where the rights of women and of men are still oppressed. It is my prayer that Thomas Jefferson's words will someday take hold in the hearts of people everywhere and that governments will come to recognize the sacred liberties of every human being.
