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The power of the female pen....

It's easy to forget that women -- all women -- all races -- have been the last to acquire all kinds of rights. With election season coming I'm reminded that one of those rights was the right to vote.

I found this and loved it. I hope you will too.This is an example of the power of the female writer!

Opposed by a well-organized and well-funded anti-suffrage movement which argued that most women really didn't want the vote, and they were probably not qualified to exercise it anyway, women also used humor as a tactic. In 1915, writer Alice Duer Miller wrote,

Why We Don't Want Men to Vote


Because man's place is in the army.
Because no really manly man wants to settle any question otherwise than by fighting about it.
Because if men should adopt peaceable methods women will no longer look up to them.
Because men will lose their charm if they step out of their natural sphere and interest themselves in other matters than feats of arms, uniforms, and drums.
Because men are too emotional to vote. Their conduct at baseball games and political conventions shows this, while their innate tendency to appeal to force renders them unfit for government.

****I loved that! How about you? I mean even back then we had our joke lists about men. I can think of many an email joke about men that came as a laundry list like this one:)


Onward to a fun memory. I'm showing my age here but I remember being a kid and playing dress up while singing this commercial. The 80's had a real female empowerment theme. Come on now? How many of you remember this? I can't be the only one who danced around the house singing it:)



Oh and speaking of the power of women!

LEGEND OF MICHAEL has a strong heroine who fights for what she believes in and now you can get it for only 1.99!

And I blogged about my new cover with the blurb for THE STORM THAT IS STERLING is here

Have a great weekend everyone!
Lisa
www.lisareneejones.com

Comments

  1. Humor has always been used to shape public opinion. Thanks for sharing this brilliant example from Alic Duer Miller!

    Your Legend of Michael sounds great, Lisa! I love strong heroines and heroes who deserve them.

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  2. When I tell my daughter that in my father's lifetime, women could not vote, she looks utterly baffled. She is equally baffled about segregation, and Title IX funding for women's collegiate sports. Maybe this is a good thing, that she takes for granted certain types of equality. When I tell her women are now up to 79 cents on the dollar for comparable jobs held by men, though women are statistically better educated then men, she gets a determined, thoughtful look in her eye.

    We need heroines like Michael's lady, and we always will. Loved the humor!

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  3. Thanks for the humor, Lisa! Wyoming was the first state to give women the vote - in fact, we're called the Equality State, so we're very conscious of that legacy. Maybe it happened because that list is a pretty good description of some of the Wyoming cowboys I know:)
    And thanks for that Enjoli ad. Yup, I remember that one!

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  4. Lisa, I remember that commercial,and I loved "Why We Don't Want Men To Vote." Too funny. It's so hard to believe how much things have changed in such a short span of time.

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  5. Thank you Mia on Legend of Michael and Alice's brave humor is inspiring

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  6. Grace I get frustrated at how the media and even women beat up female politicians on both sides. Dislike them openly but don't put them down in graphic horrible ways. I don't think a lot of younger people realize how hard we fought to get the right to vote, let alone, the chance that a female could be president. I don't think we have the right female for that job yet but it will be harder to get there if females are made out to be air heads. But yet...in some ways its a reason to cheer that people have forgotten the past and don't know why this is still a battle. That shows how far we have truly come.

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  7. Joanne-- Well then I bet Alice was one heck of a COWGIRL:)

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  8. Anita -- it is hard to believe. Times are changing so quickly now. I mean how do you remember a time when we couldn't vote when we can't remember a time without a cell phone? But they existed and not that long ago. I still remember a cold cold day in San Antonio and having to stop at payphone to call client. That was the 90's when if you have a cell phone you paid HUGE HUGE money to use it!

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  9. I loved this post. I did a historical trilogy set when women were fighting for the privilege to vote so I did some research on that issue. Hmmm...I wonder where we might be today if we'd have gone one step further and taken the vote away from men. It's an idea worth pondering!

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  10. Loved "Why We Don't Want Men to Vote" ...very funny. Yes, I do remember that commercial and I think you are right that a lot of the commercials in the 80's did have a huge female empowerment theme...I kind of miss it

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  11. OMG that Enjoli commercial is hysterical! I remember that being on tv all the time when I was a kid.

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  12. Interesting post, Lisa. Thanks for sharing!

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