"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." These are the words of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Amazingly, this Amendment did not pass until 1920, almost 150 years after America became it's own country. During it's first 144 years of existence, approximately half of the population of the United States was denied the right to share their voices or cast votes pertaining to issues that directly affected their lives.
Today, things are much different. More women are registered to vote than men, and in fact more women DO vote than men. In 2004, "60.1% of women and 56.3% of men voted. That's 67.3 million women and 58.5 million men - a difference of 8.8 million" (http://womensissues.about.com/od/thepoliticalarena/a/GenderVoting.htm) Obviously, those 8.8 million voices can make a huge difference in the direction the country travels in, and it should.
Women have just as much at stake regarding what happens in America as men do, and more when it comes to issues regarding their own bodies and health. In the 2008 election, 57% of women voted for Barack Obama, while only 43% voted for John McCain. Compare this to men who split their vote for each of the candidates. In that election, women essentially decided who the president would be. That's why it matters whose voices are heard in a country. Imagine if women had the right to vote all over the world. Certainly their interests and concerns would start to become a bigger priority and candidates would have to support policies that would benefit women, rather than run campains that marginalized and oppressed women.
No comments:
Post a Comment