The Nineteenth Amendment. Should Women Have Been Granted The Right To Vote?

Here’s a tropic which allows us to address a number of subjects all at once.

In the first place, it’s a question that had never really entered my mind until just recently.  What this points out is how quickly a hotly debated topic from yesteryear can attain the label of a sacred cow.  This is the ultimate goal of all political parties as it frames the and ensures that the final result fits into a certain paradigm.  At a time when everything is being questioned, the ability to keep certain topics sacrosanct is more valuable than can be imagined.

On the other hand, taking a moment to review the tactics and positions of each side as they relate to such topics as this can provide interesting revelations and insights into today’s world. Whereas my initial reaction to the realization that I have never seriously considered the question is to……seriously consider the question….I would be very surprised if my reaction represented that of a significant number of others.  Further, I will be very surprised if, no matter how I phrase the question or address the topic, I can find enough people with sufficiently open minds to consider the question on their own.  The jury is still out on how many will attack me for being close minded for addressing the topic while they, at the same time, attempt to shut any discussion down.  In any event……

The Topic

In reviewing the arguments which were put forth prior to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment I have to admit that I was not impressed with the quality of those which came to my attention.  The general underlying theme, in my estimation, was the attempt on the part of “progressives” to further the shift to a democracy from a republic in as short a time as possible.  Of course they succeeded and unfortunately in so doing have proved those who suggested that ratification of the amendment represented the death knell of the republic to have been right.

Although there are number of problems with women universally being granted the right to vote, there are really very few questions one must answer prior to deciding on which side of the issue one’s personal political principles fall.  Essentially the primary question which must be answered is the one which asks which particular unit it is that represents the building block of the society to which we are referring.  If, as so many wish to claim in this day and age, the individual is the sole remaining unit worthy of the honor than so be it, but then accept that which comes along with just such a decision and delegation.  I can only ask, why the wailing and moaning over losing all those societal characteristics which result from the decision to delineate the family as the basic unit?  Perhaps the better route to have taken in deciding to whom to grant suffrage would have been to have made the decision based on the point at which particular individuals, regardless of gender, shouldered certain responsibilities?

At which point I bring to the reader’s attention the other question I see as important, which is to ask what particular sacrifices those of the female gender have asked of themselves in the past, or recommend for themselves in the future?  If men and women make sacrifices for the family unit than both can rightly lay claim to particular benefits.  On the other hand, if life is all about the individual, I fail to see why those of either gender should be required to make any sacrifices for anyone else regardless of gender.

Thanks.

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