Happy Birthday Women's Suffrage!

On August 18th, 1920—90 YEARS AGO—American women won the right to vote and run for office without restrictions or qualifications, such as  property ownership, payment of tax, or marital status. We love you 19th Amendment! Finland was actually the first country to grant full suffrage in 1906, although other countries, such as Sweden, had granted restricted voting rights to women hundreds of years before. Check out the wikipedia link below, if you want to read the interesting details.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_suffrage

Ladies, historically speaking, that wasn't very long ago. We take  many of our rights for granted. This day has always meant more to me than July 4th, which represents the day white, male land owners proclaimed their freedom from Great Britain. I don't mean to trivialize the social and political significance to July 4th, but, honestly, only white men gained true freedom at that time. And to be accurate, only white women were able to enjoy this voting right in 1920. Different ethnic and social groups have had their own respective battles and triumphs throughout the years. Just look at what's going on with gay rights and Prop 8 in CA right now.

But let's get back to women. Here are a few fun facts gathered from the internet:

• A higher percentage of women vote than men.
• A majority of women vote Democratic
• Approximately 3/4 of the women in Congress are Democrats
• The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, is third in line to the Presidency
• Our college attendance is equal to men
• Women make just 78 cents on the dollar on average (argh!!)
• Women must be given maternity leave

So let's celebrate! And vote!