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July 10, 2003 PBS recently aired a docmentary on the Suffragist Movement in the United States. The focus was primarily on Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton. What women! What a history! I never take my freedoms for granted. I was inspired by these women's lives and feel a renewed dedication to women's rights. I can barely imagine what life would have been like in past centuries. It is almost unbelievable that it has been less than one hundred years since we were franchised. I think about the word chattel. Before the right to vote, we were chattel. Webster's defines chattel as a noun (ME.chattel, catelL; OFr. chaid; LL.captale capitale; see CATTLE); 1. an article of personal or movable property as distinguished from real property: furniture, automobiles, livestock. farm equipment, etc. are chattels. 2. (Archaic), a slave. As a woman, as a slave, we had no rights. No voice. If women wrote, it was not under their own names, but rather under a pseudonym, a man's name. It's a wonderful thing to be able to speak and maybe even to be heard, to write under our own names and be read. This is still a new found freedom for me. Even in college, I remember writing a paper on the Story of Ruth. I had too much of my own opinions and the professor gave me a poor grade. I remember how terribly I felt. That was in the early sixties, right in the middle of all that chaos of change. I respected my professor, swallowed my pride and learned a valuable lesson. I learned about precedent: "an act, statement, legal decision, case, etc. thAt may serve as an example, reason. or justification for a later one." I learned that everyone has opinions, and they are valuable, but they are more valuable if they are wedded to a precedent. The one thing I value most in life is freedom; freedom to as well as freedom from. I know that if freedom itself is taken for granted, it gets taken away. Love of freedom rquires vigilance and unwavering devotion.There is always a price to be paid, though. I think of my grandmothers who were immigrants. They came over in steerage, the place for people paying the lowest fare. The word steerage reminds me of cattle. My grandmothers couldn't read or write in their native language. They never learned English. They lived their lives within the traditions of the Jewish community. They had rights, probably even more so than American women of their day. I doubt, though, that their opinions were respected much, if ever they dared to voice them. I think of my mother and the women in our close-knit community. The only differences between them and my grandmothers were that they did speak English, could read and write and had modern machines, like vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and cars. Women's lib hadn't hit when I was growing up. One brave woman decided to get an education and become a teacher. She was my world events/geography teacher in grade school. She introduced me to The New York Times. She opened the world to me through her teaching and her example. The other women in the group had nothing good to say about her. After all, she made her family pitch in and do the dishes, wash the laundry and be more responsible for the household. She even made her husband participate. No one was left unaffected by the sixties. With advances in opportunities many women have been able to achieve their goals and their dreams. Many have not. Those who have not, have at least the possibility now. There are many I am sure still suffering. Fear, jealousy, self-hatred still imprison many. And age. How many older women are envious of their daughters? How many are pained by their own loss. I think of all the sacrifices mothers made for their children. How unselfish so many women were and still are for the sake of their children. I appreciate and understand their frustrations, sorrows and disappointments, and most of all, their achievements. As a member of the National League of American Pen Women, I honor their lives by supporting the efforts of other women and especially by encouraging the young women coming up. I feel privileged to have attended college, earned my own living and found my voice. I celebrate our victories and weep for those who had their lives so circumscribed. In the United States, we have a mother's day celebration. As a nation based on Judeo-Christian values, we should celebrate mothers everyday. Personally, I would like to see a Women's Day celebration to include all women, not just mothers. This would make me happy. ------------ About the author: Risa Roberts' poems have recently been published in a table top edition of the International Library of Poety called "Letters from the Soul", as well as received Judge's recognition in an anthology by FamousPoets.com. She graduated Douglass College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ in 1970. She worked and traveled in the Far East and the Middle East. For the past eight years, South Florida has been her home. Risa is a Licensed Massage Therapist as well as active in the art community of Broward County. Email Risa: risa008@yahoo.com Comment on this column in the forum. Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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