Good Ol’ NPR Strikes Again
Good old NPR enlightens me during my morning drive to the gym. I learned that this week marked the 129th anniversary of first national election anywhere in the world where women had the right to vote. Not surprisingly, New Zealand led the way. The country where assault weapons were banned within a week of its only mass shooting just had to be the first to enfranchise half its population.
It took twenty-seven more years until “The Land of the Free” caught up to the Kiwis. American arguments against female vote included:
“Those flibbertigibbet females will just vote the way their husbands force them to.”
“They will support the best-looking candidate.”
“I’ve looked into the future and I saw “Women For Trump” signs at his rallies.” (I made that one up, but more than half of White women supported Trump in both 2016 and 2020 despite the Stormy Daniels mess and the Access Hollywood tape.)
I am still blown away by the fact that American women did not have the right to vote when my mother was born.
Good old NPR presented some interesting facts concerning female suffrage:
Europe was not exactly leading the way in allowing all its citizens to vote. Switzerland did not pass universal suffrage until 1971. Portugal waited until 1976 and Liechtenstein brought up the rear in 1984.
Female voting was restricted in many countries:
Of course Black women were subject to the same Jim Crow laws as Black men in the US.
In India, woman could vote beginning in 1935 but only if they were married to a male voter. Those wild and crazy single college girls in Delhi cannot be trusted.
Famously liberal Canada allowed all women to vote in 1918 except those with Asian or Indigenous backgrounds. That took until 1960. “Sorry, ma’m. You look sorta Indian. You can’t vote, eh?”
Iceland put a unique twist on female suffrage. In 1915, women there could vote only if they were more than 40 years old. Men could vote at 25. Those female hormones have to quiet down before women can be entrusted with the vote. That changed in 1920.
Happy 129th, voting Women of the World!
By Ed Dufton
