August 26, 2008 is the 88th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, granting women the right to vote.

"It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union."

-Susan B. Anthony

"That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?"

-Sojourner Truth

"I am strong
I am invincible
I am woman."

-Helen Reddy

"Those pilgrim women who ...
Who braved the boat
Could cook the turkey, but they ...
They could not vote.
Even Betsy Ross who sewed the flag was left behind that first election day.

(What a shame, Sisters!)

Then Susan B. Anthony (Yeah!) and Julia Howe,
(Lucretia!) Lucretia Mott, (and others!) they showed us how;
They carried signs and marched in lines
Until at long last the law was passed.

Oh, we were suffering until suffrage,
Not a woman here could vote, no matter what age,
Then the 19th Amendment struck down that restrictive rule. (Oh yeah!)"

-Schoolhouse Rock!

Has Barack Obama made any sort of statement on the HHS plan to reclassify some kinds of birth control (such as the birth control pill and IUDs) as abortion? I was very, very pleased to see Senators Hillary Clinton and Patty Murray speaking out against the idiocy. It'd be great to see Obama take a stand against it, too.

(I walked away from it, but it followed me. *clings*)

Yesterday, CNN apparently ran a panel on whether calling Hillary Clinton a "white bitch" is appropriate.

Thanks to kradical for the heads-up.

Scene: home. Watching the news. There's a report on women finding they don't get hired when they mention they have kids during a job interview. Reporter tells us that mothers, particularly single mothers, are thought to be unreliable because they may need to be out of work to take care of a sick child.

Ron (looking at me, confused): I dunno...nobody ever asked me if I have children in a job interview.

Me: *blink* THAT'S BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT A WOMAN, DEAR.

Ron: *blink* Ohhh... [beat] ...You mean people ask you that?

Me: Yes. Yes, they do.

Ron: Ohhh...