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There’s still a long way to go

As our newsrooms begin work on a special publication next month that will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, I have had the opportunity to look at a lot of the research being done — and that includes clippings from old newspapers.

I read one last week that made my jaw drop. It was part of the (Parkersburg) Daily State Journal’s June 13, 1885, coverage of Parkersburg High School’s commencement, during which two female graduates were given an opportunity to speak on opposite sides of the women’s suffrage debate.

First up was Rena B. Johnson. The excerpt, as is often the case with clippings so old, contains language that we understand today should not be used:

“Miss Johnson appeared as the champion of woman’s right to suffrage taking the affirmative of the question “Shall Woman Vote?” The young lady’s argument fairly bristled with points in favor of the down-trodden American females. She based her argument upon the principle of right and justice; claiming that woman was taxed without representation; that she should have the ballot for the protecture of home; and all the arguments usually made in favor of the cause were presented in a spicy manner. She made some of the masculine portion of the audience wince when she announced that the only inhabitants of our county to whom the ballot is denied are children, convicts, lunatics, Indians, Chinamen, Jeff Davis and women. Miss Johnson showed great ability in the presentation of her views, and her paper was logical throughout. She has a manner that is calculated to impress her hearers forcibly, in regard to what she has to say.”

Now, notice the difference in the way the reporter treated the retelling of Johnson’s opponent, Carrie J. Roush:

“This young lady opposed woman suffrage in a severely critical manner. She laid the movement at the feet of a few fanatical women, who, having failed in securing husbands, soured by failure, tried to make the balance of the world as miserable as they were. More potent than the ballot is the home influence exercised by woman. Better the kindly word, the loving look, and the warning than elocutionary stump-speaking or an unseemly scramble for office. Home influence is the desideratum of womankind. It is the crown she has worn during all the past ages, and which she should not now resign for the uncertain honors of political preferment. Home is woman’s kingdom; it is there she holds the scepter. There let her reign with regal sway, satisfied to rule over the loving hearts of loyal subjects.”

One rather loses track of when the reporter stopped quoting Roush and started typing from his (likely not her) own opinion. And yet, there’s no denying that much of that appallingly misguided 135-year-old perspective on women has been preserved in today’s society. It is just (slightly) more subtle.

Think for a moment about the people you know who pass along social media “jokes” such as “The feminist picnic was canceled because no one brought sandwiches.” Why is that worth forwarding? What makes it funny? What message are they hoping to convey?

Think about the people whose first questions to a young woman are not about her career or education, but about whether she has found a man to marry her and when she is going to have kids.

Think about the folks who tear down women who work out, or handle odd jobs around the house by themselves, by telling them they are “too pretty” to get that sweaty, or “they need to be careful trying to do men’s work.”

Or if those examples are hitting too close to home, but not close enough to the political arena, think about the folks who still use comments about appearance, makeup and wardrobe to insult female politicians they don’t like — or worse, when those women display the same fortitude, aggressiveness and ambition that would garner praise for a male politician, add the labels “crazy” or “hysterical” to their list of jabs.

Yes, the 19th Amendment might be 100-years old, but ladies and gentlemen, last week five states — Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Nebraska and South Dakota — filed a motion to stop any progress on the possibility that the Equal Rights Amendment might finally be ratified. Reading stories like that, and comparing historical attitudes about women with the attitude that I know first-hand we are still facing today, it is clear: We’ve come a long way, maybe, but there is still a VERY long way to go.

Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com

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