Have women forgotten our oppression past?

[cynatnite]

The 19th amendment granted women the right to vote in August of 1920. (Personally, we should have a march to mark the past 100 years of advances for our rights)

In 1938 birth control bans were lifted after Margaret Sanger provided birth control to women despite numerous arrests and jail time.

1965 married women were allowed birth control pills, but unmarried ones were denied that.

1972 birth control became legal for all citizens. This was primarily for unmarried women.

Abortion was considered legal in the US during the 19th century. It was commonly used in early pregnancy. It wasn't until later in the century that abortion laws began propping up around the country until Roe vs Wade.

There was a time in this country that it was illegal for women to have birth control, access to abortion and could not vote. We couldn't own land or operate a business.

Women were not allowed tubal ligations if they were unmarried or married if they had no children. If married, they needed permission from their husbands who could get a vasectomy whenever they wanted. That didn't change until the 1970's.

Women suffered and died because the law governed their bodies instead of them. They had no choices in becoming pregnant, how often, how many or when. It was legal for a husband to rape and beat them.

My grandmother was a conservative woman. She had five children and she loved them all, but she would say if the choice had been hers she wouldn't have had that many. My Mom grew up in the fifties and sixties. She knew a girl who died from a botched abortion. As conservative and religion as my Mom was, she was pro-choice all the way because she knew the horrible risks.

I fear that we are working back to those days with these fucking abortion laws. Women will lose not just the right to choose to continue a pregnancy or not, but they will also lose the right to make choices about whether or not to have a baby before it happens.

Pharmacists can decide if a woman gets birth control for fuck's sake.

I say this now. I will drive to DC to protest. I will help any girl or woman who wants an abortion.

I don't care if I go to jail for it. I absolutely don't.

I truly believe too many women have forgotten how bad it was for us and how bad it could get again.

[Bettie]

1. I'm with you

I don't remember a time when abortion wasn't legal and I'm over 50...there are a lot of women who were not alive during a time when women didn't have rights over their own reproduction.

I think it doesn't even register that they would be losing bodily autonomy, because they have never not had that, at least to some extent.

I will go to DC, help any girl or woman who wants an abortion as well.

Hopefully, these draconian laws will be struck down.

[DownriverDem]

19. If Roe v Wade is

over turned, abortion rights (or not) will return to the states like before. I remember telling folks when they said they couldn't vote for HRC, that it's also about the judges. For many years to come right wing judges will be in charge of our lives.

[LuckyLib]

32. Many states already have -- when the only clinic

is 500 miles away, or there is only one in the state (South Dakota) that is NOT accessible.

[Bettie]

34. A whole lot of states have extremely restrictive rules

ready to go the second that happens.

If you live in a very blue state, you might have options, but most of the women who might need this service will be SOL.

Six states have "trigger laws" already on the books, nine more have proposed them.

Add to that the recently passed "heartbeat" bills and there will be few resources available to women who wish to terminate a pregnancy.

[appalachiablue]

2. Great essay, thanks for the reminders. Keep it up, we must preserve

the history and legacy of rights for women.

[Ohiogal]

3. There should be

an absolute tsunami of protest over these idiotic conservatives and their efforts to choke off our rights! i don’t understand why there isn’t. Maybe I’m missing something?

[cynatnite]

4. Not even DU is talking about it that much...

Maybe everyone wants to wait for a big ruling from SCOTUS where it could be too late.

[DownriverDem]

20. Then

abortion rights (or not) will return to the states like before.

[Solly Mack]

5. K&R

[IcyPeas]

6. going backwards indeed

but these days it's not just a storefront.... it's washington d.c. lawmakers that are still wanting this era back ("era" no pun intended but Equal Rights Amendment?)

[CrispyQ]

7. I was at a house warming party in 2016 & heard a young woman say,

"If voting made a difference they wouldn't let you vote." I piped up & said, "One hundred years ago women couldn't vote. Do you want to go back to that?" Maybe I could have been more diplomatic but I get so pissed at that attitude as an excuse to not vote. WTF?

They don't speak about it often, but the alt right would love to revoke the 19th. Probably most GOP men, too.

[Bettie]

35. My evangelical sisters-in-law

all say that women don't need to vote, their husbands can make their voices heard as they do in the church.

They all vote, mind you, for the candidates their husbands tell them to.

[cynatnite]

39. I'd have a hard time not asking "Do you ever get the chance to think for yourself?" n/t

[CrispyQ]

48. Man created God to control woman.

And for a good number of them, it worked.

Tell her that & watch her expression.

[Bettie]

49. I've said something similar before

my husband got a phone call the next day asking him to "control your wife!".

She was super offended when he couldn't stop laughing at that.

Nowadays I mostly find a quiet corner and read while rolling my eyes as they talk of their oppression as well-off white Christians (in fucking Wisconsin).

At one gathering, my beloved husband had enough and explained to them exactly why their views (and their adored Trump) are precisely counter to the religion they claim to follow. It was very amusing. Strangely, none of them called to demand that I control my husband.

[csziggy]

8. For a long time married women had to get permission from their husbands

To get birth control.

My mother was working at a county hospital in the late 1950s, early 1960s, for a while in the maternity ward. Some women after their third or fourth or fifth child begged for relief. Occasionally, the doctors would do a "medically required" hysterectomy for them since birth control was not available and their husbands would not use condoms.

As soon as birth control was legal for unmarried women, Mom made sure that all four of her daughters were aware and could get it if we desired.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. Many women cling to white and class privilege, creating divisions that lead to oppression.

Rich white women were the first to have the vote. They were the first to have access to reliable birth control and will always have access to safe abortion, no matter the law. Sisterhood will be easily fragmented until we explicitly address racism and classism.

[leftstreet]

15. +1

[irisblue]

10. A neighborhood girl died in 69. She used a knitting needle to open her cervix,

Preforated her uterus, bled out. She was 14.
🕯️
I remember those days.

[kimbutgar]

11. I keep thinking why are these women in these states sitting back and letting these male

Legislators take away these reproductive rights? Any Democratic candidate running in those states should bring up that the Republican Party wants to take away reproductive rights, why can’t women have a say and control over their own bodies. I think this message can drive young women out to vote for Democrats in 2020.

[sinkingfeeling]

12. I haven't forgotten. Nor am I of a mood to forgive the fools out there today

[ehrnst]

13. I hope that some of our POTUS candidates haven't forgotten. (nt)

[barbtries]

14. When is the protest?

I will get to DC for it.

republicans are trying to get back to the cave. they hate women, they fear women.

[mgardener]

16. I was at a doctor's office before an election a few years ago.

I was waiting to check out when a young receptionist made a comment about a local election, there were several items on the ballot and she found them confusing. She said she wasn't going to bother to vote.
I said to her, " do you know that women died so that you could vote? " " My own grandmother had 2 children before women were able to vote".
She was taken aback. I just said to her, voting is your right and privilege. Use it!

Women and young girls do not realize what they take for granted. How for how short a time women have had what men take for granted.

[spooky3]

53. That is perfect. Thank you for speaking up. Nt

[TygrBright]

17. The forced-birth movement is only one of several trying to put women "back in their place."

One of the first things this MisAdministration did was roll back every possible protection for women seeking equitable participation in the economy. What they couldn't roll back, they eviscerated, adulterated, or downright poisoned.

Their treatment of Christine Blasey Ford was but the tip of an iceberg trying to freeze women's voices from the public policy dialog.

On issues of child custody and support, on issues of credit and property ownership, on issues of access to higher education and equal opportunity in traditionally male-dominated fields of endeavor, they have only begun to dismantle every gain my mother's generation, my own generation, and my daughter's generation have fought and worked and even died for.

They will not stop with forced birth. They want a return to chattel status.

disgustedly,
Bright

[blueinredohio]

38. When my great grandfather died my great grandmother had to send some of her kids

to an orphanage because she couldn't raise them all by herself. Are we going to go back to that? Where women have child after child until she's finally too old to have any more kids. This pisses me off so bad. All my siblings and myself except one are baby boomers and my mother said if they would have had birth control back then most of her kids wouldn't be here. I don't blame her one bit.

[LiberalLoner]

46. You are absolutely correct. +1

[corbettkroehler]

18. When We Have A Democrat Back In The White House

we must press for the reforms to which you eloquently alluded.

I concur that many women are unaware of the last century of reforms but I blame our educational system. We teach too few lessons related to American history. We also teach too few lessons about health and welness.

In January 2021, when the Democrats once again hold the White House, we, the voters, must press our new president to deliver even more progress in reproductive freedom than Obama did.

[cynatnite]

22. Time to start yelling at the candidates. :) n/t

[Wounded Bear]

21. Too many women who haven't voted, or are brain-washed/dominated by evil men...

There should be no place in politics for religion and it's biases and bigotry.

There was an awakening of sorts in 2018 among women. Let's hope it continues in 2020 and sane people can start taking charge for a change. I like that our candidates have been having to answer questions about women dying in childbirth, especially women of color. In the "supposed richest country in the world" that is a travesty.

[cynatnite]

23. I just sent a tweet to Elizabeth Warren asking where she was. n/t

[Bernardo de La Paz]

28. The awakening was the women's march in early 2017. The results showed up in 2018.

Thank you, women voters!

[Wounded Bear]

37. True, and the reality is that we need them to continue...

through 2020 and beyond.

[corbettkroehler]

42. Great Point! (n/t)

[Collimator]

24. Brava!

Thank you for this essay. It astonishes me that so many young women have no concept of how much more difficult their lives would be without the social activism of women in the past.

Another thing that I find morbidly fascinating is how many women actively worked against female suffrage in the early part of the 20th century. I brought this up with a friend of mine who is black. I pointed out that there were no black people stumping around the country in the antebellum period rallying to keep slavery legal.

Just for everyone's information, there is a National Women's History Museum in Seneca Falls, New York. (At least I hope there still is. I didn't google it just now, but I did contribute to it once many years ago.)

Frankly, I think that a trip there would be a great thing for women to do with some of the young girls in their lives. Who knows? Maybe the Girl Scouts already do that sort of thing.

And speaking of trips. If anyone wants another warm body for a protest in Washington, DC, please count me in. I don't drive, but I would take a bus or train to meet up with a group if at all possible. I tend to get anxious in crowds (can't believe that I used to work at IKEA on Sundays--during catalog drop ) so it would help for me to have a designated "march buddy" to hang out with and keep me focused.

Another little factoid, Susan B. Anthony used to wear a red shawl. I bought (and lost) one years ago in her honor. Not everyone has a white outfit, but most folks could grab a red piece of cloth to commemorate a woman who never stood down and was not afraid to stand out.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

25. religion, religion, religion.

Religion.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

29. Religion FUNCTIONS as a tool of oppression by the powerful, whatever the faithful might believe. .nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

26. Great post! Bookmarked, kicked and recoWOMENded. . . . nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

27. Rich women had ways around b.c. & abortion laws. Poor women, not so much. . . . nt

[Gregory Peccary]

30. This is exactly what MAGA is all about

Going backwards, not forwards

[Meowmee]

31. Too many women and younger people in general do not

Vote. Or they vote for the wrong candidates Pretty much none of this would be happening if Hillary were prez as she should be since she won.
I am not sure what else to say. What can you do with people who forfeit their rights due to not voting which as others said women died for? Or who won’t vote for their own interests.

[lark]

33. Abortion was illegal when I was a teenager and so was birth control for unmarried women.

But it was legal in NY. Some of us got together and started helping others of our friends get to NY to get an abortion if they got pregnant and didn't want to have a child. Over 4 years we helped 10 of our friends get abortions. Sad that so many of us didn't trust our religious parents to help us. In our family, mom and dad told us if we got pregnant we'd go immediately to the home for young wayward girls and stay there until after we had the baby and gave it up for a Christian adoption.

Our little underground railroad project worked great and saved the sanity of a bunch of us teenagers that were from 16-19. Thank God for "sisters" of the heart.

[cynatnite]

36. You and your underground saved women's lives.

I will always be grateful to those who risked everything for what we have today.

We will not go back!

[lark]

47. Thank you.

i was so lucky to have known the person who started this and so glad to have been an instrumental piece of the puzzle of us not letting our friends be pushed into having a child while they were still children themselves. I remember breaking down in tears that I didn't have to resort to the really dangerous and risky methods of stopping the unwanted and in my case very dangerous pregnancy.

We WILL NOT go back.










.

[Honeycombe8]

40. A person may have to experience some of these things to fully understand them.

Maybe not, but it usually means something if a person has lived through these tools that were used to keep women "in their place" and moral (men didn't have to be).

So some young women probably have no idea what it was like, since they have not experienced these things. What it's like not to be able to apply for a job because it's "men only." What it's like to know you are paid a fraction of what a young man gets for any job, because you are worth less, to employers. What it's like not to have an education from anyone about how to get along in the world, to think about a job or career, or learn anything about finance...because it's assumed you'll get married, and your husband will take care of all that. No birth control pills (there would be the diaphragm & things like that). No abortion, so if you are in a small city, you will have to leave your city and go stay at an "unwed mother's home" somewhere, so they can take care of you during your pregnancy, and probably handle the adoption.

My mother asked her doctor, when she was young, if there was something she could do about having so many children in succession, because she didn't want any more children. (She'd had 3 or 4 children almost one year after the other). He referred her to a mental therapist, because women should want to have children.

I am envious of young women these days. So many options that I didn't have. But it also brings more pressure to do well in a job or career, and know more than I was required to know. But young women have a much better chance of making a good living than women of my generation, generally.

Abortion isn't the only thing. It's all the different things. But control over pregnancy is a key thing. I'd advise young women to use birth control, to try to avoid an unwanted pregnancy. But they happen. Always have. Always will.

[ismnotwasm]

41. K&R

[colsohlibgal]

43. It Is Getting Scary

Republicans all over the USA, mostly spurred by men, seem intent on making “The Handmaid’s Tale” reality. Some of the bills are draconian, criminalizing abortions after 6 weeks when most don’t yet know they are pregnant. Moves to call it Murder.

They want it to get to the Supreme Court so they can strike down Roe vs Wade....with the advantage enabled by McConnell when he refused to act on Obama’s pick Merrick Garland.

All this when I agree with Rosie O’Donnell when she said if men could get pregnant abortion clinics would be on every corner like 7-11s.

I am past child bearing years but I will fight like Hell for women these awful oppressive laws could tragically impact.

[lindysalsagal]

44. Yes.

[raccoon]

45. I think a lot of them HAVE forgotten. They are in for a rude shock. nt

[mopinko]

50. an august 2020 march is a spectacular idea. i bet it has occurred to others.

i hope so.

imagine, the women's march times 100!!

[EleanorR]

51. 12 charts that explain the record-breaking year women have had in politics

Women have not forgotten, and they are fighting like hell against the fascist white men trying to roll back rights.

The votes are in and the numbers prove it: 2018 is the Year of the Woman.

Democrats have retaken the House and they’ve done so, in large part, because of wins driven by women candidates. But, that’s not all. In addition to running for office in record numbers — and doing it so well that many of them outperformed their male peers nationwide — women spearheaded the most effective, sustained resistance in generations, much of which served to push back against the Trump administration.

There’s a feeling in the air that women are becoming more politically active in America. But it’s more than that. It’s in the hard data. Here are 12 charts and graphs that explain the seismic shift in women’s participation in politics that changed 2018 and could have an impact for years to come.

https://www.vox.com/2018/11/6/18019234/women-record-breaking-midterms

[samnsara]

52. hubby is a pharmacist and YES they can refuse the right to sell BC products.. and it...

...pisses him off whenever he hears about some pharmacist who plays god. Hubby had a manager like this and he always let his customers know that when hes behind the counter they can always count on him for ALL their health care needs.