"May it please your honor, I will never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty."
August 13th, 2010 by Diane Sam
From the Fearless Women Website: "In the small New York town of Rochester, Susan B. Anthony with her friends Guelma McLean and Hannah Mosher along with a dozen other women, registered to vote in the presidential election of 1871. The next day more women followed in her footsteps. On Election Day, fifteen of these women, including Susan B. succeeded in voting. She was then arrested and found guilty. Ordered to pay a fine of one hundred dollars, Susan B. replied, "May it please your honor, I will never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty." Fearless! |
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| On August 26, 2010 women will gather all over the US and Canada to celebrate their fearless journey over the last 90 years to demand equality and a better life. On this day, 90 years ago, in the US, the 19th amendment was ratified giving women in the US the right to vote. (it was Jan 1, 1919 in Canada). (check it out at the Fearless Women Day website if you want to join in). |
Why do I bring this up on a blog dedicated to breastfeeding and pregnancy/new mom issues? Because it shows you what women can do if they are united in a cause. Although the right to vote seems so obvious to us now, let's not forget that it wasn't just given to us. It was a result of women like Susan B. Anthony in the US, Nellie McClung in Canada and many others around the globe that were willing to protest, to risk arrest and fines, etc.. to ensure what we consider today a natural right. It didn't start out that way.
I want to remind the moms that read this blog in particular because of the similarities between women's right to vote at the turn of the last century, with the right to a decent maternity leave in this day and age. I have to be blunt. As a Canadian, I don't understand why our American sisters are not marching in the streets in huge numbers demanding a maternity leave at least comparible to international standards. I honestly don't get how they just seem to accept that their dismal maternity rights are ok. |
McClung, Murphy and Jamieson |
There was a facebook discussion going on yesterday about just this topic, with the US ladies be-moaning having to go back to work so early, losing that CRUCIAL time with their newborns, and having, in many cases to severely cut-back on or eliminate breastfeeding altogether. Some when the baby was only a few weeks old!
What bothered me was the sense of defeat I was hearing. I went on and reminded everyone that the maternity benefits were not given to Canadian women as a sort of magical gift because we are passive 'socialistic' country where things are just given to us. NO! Believe me, the corporations and many politicians fought against this initiative. It came about because of a STRONG, FEARLESS, UNITED feminist movement in Canada. That FOUGHT for mothers and babies. These women were outspoken, fearless protestors and political agitators that worked together across the political spectrum in this country until the legislation was passed. They weren't defeated before they even began!
Please don't get me wrong, I love America, and I love American women! God Bless them all, as the saying goes ... But I just don't get them. Who cares if you are left, right, blue, red, Republican, Democrat - shouldn't you all rise up together and demand a better maternity leave, and therefore a better future for women and children?
I think that the poor rates of successful long term breastfeeding can be in many cases attributed to moms going back to work way too early before it is properly established. Or, feeling like, well, I have to go back to work in a few weeks anyway, I'd better get the baby used to the bottle, or I'd better start pumping (pumping is great, but should be approached with caution if started too early), etc...
(If anyone has done any research on the relationship between the length of paid maternity leave and breastfeeding rates, I'd love to hear about it).
See http://www.momsrising.org/maternity if you want more info or want to get more involved, so yes, there are fearless women already working on this in the US, just NOT ENOUGH!!
Let's be another generation of FEARLESS women like those suffragettes a century ago!!!
What do you think moms? Are you ready to be fearless? Are you ready to rise up?
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