Ninety Years Ago Women Won the Right to Vote
Christopher Walken (one of the greatest actor’s of all time) famously stated on Inside the Actor’s Studio that his favorite line in all of literature is Shakespeare’s “Who’s There?” the very first line of Hamlet. Today, the possibilities implied by those two words, are ironically effervescent. August 18th 2010 marks the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment!
Feminism, has always been a subject of interest to me. In fact, the first play I produced and directed for my company was a feminist piece. It’s rather unfortunate that feminism today as a whole has been equated to man-bashing. There is so much more on the topic that is still elusive, especially to the majority of young Americans. My fascination in regards with feminism has to do with history and symbolism. As we all know women are symbols of nature, life, and sex; interestingly enough, historically our roles abide by these same symbols. Here we are ninety years later, and it seems more often that not, that women are the symbolic pillars of balance. 90 years after winning the right to vote, women are not only voting in huge numbers (54% of women voted in 2008), they are having families, and working full-time jobs.
This brings me back to Shakespeare’s “Who’s there?” In terms of women as individuals or as a collective, does anyone really know? But at this point, on this day, I do believe it’s safe to say one thing for sure, whoever is there, is one hell of a fighter!
I’m a married twenty something, living in NYC. I’m the artistic director and co-founder of ReniGraef Productions. I’m a yogi, an humanitarian, political activist, Hermetic and Gnostic enthusiast, and culture junkie. My life revolves around human connection!
(www.renigraefproductions.com); (http://nishaszewczyk.blogspot.com)
What happened before, during, and after the fight for the 19th Amendment happened.