Mercy and I have been listening to a Great Courses class on American History on her way to school every morning. (Thanks, Nana and Gramps!) The class this morning was about the 19th amendment, ratified in 1920, which made it legal for women to vote.
The idea of women's suffrage was a radical and completely unpopular notion among most Americans, including women, until the late 19th century.
Why was women's suffrage so radical and unpopular? According to the Great Courses history class, most Americans initially opposed women's suffrage for these 3 reasons:
- Giving women the vote would destroy the traditional family. (Having two voters in the family would loosen the family cohesion. In addition, women's suffrage would bring women into unseemly contact with other men and possibly even lead to women being elected to public office. Nothing should be allowed to distract women from their vital role: creating a home, raising children, and exerting a civilizing influence on their husbands.)
- Women didn't need the vote because they already had power to influence society through their husbands' votes. They already had access to power through their husbands.
- Giving women the vote would emasculate males and leave a vacuum in society. Men would lose desire and impetus for being engaged in creating a better society.
Do these arguments sound familiar to anyone else but me?
My opinion is that we, Mormons, should avoid using these reasons to explain to ourselves - or others - why women don't hold the priesthood in our church. Unless we believe them?!
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