The United States became an independent nation in 1776. I would argue, however, that it took nearly two centuries for it to become anything like democracy, and that this evolution came in stages.
The last of those stages came with the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Before that, the most important event in this evolution came one hundred years ago yesterday, when the 19th Amendment became part of the US Constitution. It was written to guarantee women the right to vote.
(Interestingly, a few states, mainly in the western part of the nation, gave women the franchise while they were still territories.)
I mention the 19th because, well, it matters to me and because bicycles figure into it. Although Susan B. Anthony didn't live to exercise the right she fought for, she did see changes, however gradual, in what was considered proper and sometimes even legal for women.
As I've mentioned on other posts, she acknowledged the role of two wheels and two pedals in emancipating us:
Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel...the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.
She beautifully described what kept me cycling during and since my gender transition. I feel free and happy on my bicycle. Perhaps most important of all, I feel complete autonomy over my body and person. If that is not a definition of becoming a woman, a full human being--or of feminism--I don't know what is.
The last of those stages came with the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Before that, the most important event in this evolution came one hundred years ago yesterday, when the 19th Amendment became part of the US Constitution. It was written to guarantee women the right to vote.
(Interestingly, a few states, mainly in the western part of the nation, gave women the franchise while they were still territories.)
I mention the 19th because, well, it matters to me and because bicycles figure into it. Although Susan B. Anthony didn't live to exercise the right she fought for, she did see changes, however gradual, in what was considered proper and sometimes even legal for women.
As I've mentioned on other posts, she acknowledged the role of two wheels and two pedals in emancipating us:
Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel...the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.
She beautifully described what kept me cycling during and since my gender transition. I feel free and happy on my bicycle. Perhaps most important of all, I feel complete autonomy over my body and person. If that is not a definition of becoming a woman, a full human being--or of feminism--I don't know what is.
