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Brittney Fields

The Importance of Women Voting

The freedom to vote is something that is very important in a democracy. The right

to vote is a privilege that originally wasnt given to everyone. The first to be able to votewas white males, later black males would gain the right to vote, and lastly women gained

the right to vote. Women gained the right to vote through the womens suffrage movement.

Later, Doris Granny D Haddock knew the importance of women voting and did a voterregistration drive to support working women to vote. The importance of women voting has

become very clear in the 2012 election because of the legislative that has been introduced

that directly affects women.The womens suffrage movement was a pivotal point for women. When women

came together in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848 they had a resolution in mind. The

women resolved their resolution by saying, it is the duty of the women of this country tosecure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise (Burrell 89). At the time,

this resolution was thought of as too bold, and some of the women worried that it would

mean they wouldnt be taken seriously. It wasnt until black men gained the right to vote

and women did not, that it became a priority. After many tribulations women were finallygranted the right to vote in 1920.

As monumental as the Nineteenth Amendment was, women didnt rush out to vote

in the elections following its passage. The women who did vote varied on socioeconomicstatus, with middle-class, native-born, urban women voting at higher rates than lower-class,

immigrant, or rural women (Burrell 91). For some time women werent seen as pivotal

factors during elections. It wasnt until 1952, that women emerged as an important group tobe targeted for votes. During the 1952 election between Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai

Stevenson women came out to vote in greater numbers than ever. They voted differentlythan ever before. They reacted to different issues in different ways from their male

counterparts. They became a political entity, significant in their own right, probably for thefirst time since they had been delivered from political bondage (Burrell 94). Women

became a key part of elections even if they werent the majority of voters.

It wasnt until the 1980s that the percentage of women voters was higher thanmens (Burrell 93). This is an important shift because in the United States there are more

women than men, therefore more women need to vote to make it equivalent to men. This

was the beginning of thinking of women as a distinct voting bloc. It was also during the1980 election that the term, gender gap, appeared in the media.

Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election and that was bad for welfare state policies.

The policies that were at risk were welfare, food stamps, unemployment benefits,Medicaid, social security, disability, legal services, and housing (Piven and Cloward 141).

In the early 1980s more than half of employed middle-class women worked in the health,

education, or welfare jobs (Piven and Cloward 143). With Reagan being up for reelection

in 1984, many groups were trying to rally voters and also get more people registered tovote. The Womens Vote Project , representing over sixty organizations, kicked off a

national voter drive in 1984 on Susan B. Anthonys birthday with the slogan Its a Mans

World, Unless Women Vote! (Piven and Cloward 147). Women realized that the policies

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that were at risk directly affect them, so they gathered in large proportions to vote.

During the 1992 election between Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Ross Perot

women played a significant role. Bill Clinton promoted things such as abortion rights,family leave, and comparable worth (Bendyna and Lake 237). These policies were

important to women. After the primaries and up to the general elections in November,

women supported Clinton at higher rates than men throughout most of this period(Bendyna and Lake 246). With this support Clinton won the 1992 election. Clinton won by

43 percent of the vote, 46 percent of the votes were women and 41 percent of the votes

were men (Bendyna and Lake 247). Clinton had supporters from numerous groups ofwomen including women with less than a high school education, with a college education,

youngest and oldest age groups, African-American, working women, and women in the

Democratic and Independent parties (Bendyna and Lake 248). From these numbers it is

apparent that women wanted Clinton in the office because of his policies. The womensvoting bloc gave Clinton his margin of victory and therefore a victory for women.

The 2004 election between George W. Bush and John Kerry was another election

where women were an important voting bloc. Most women support Democrats based on

their domestic issues policies, such as economy, healthcare, prescription drug legislation,and elderly benefits (McCaffrey 127). However, especially after the events of September

11, 2001 women supported Republicans in the area of national defense and this was anadvantage for Bush (McCaffrey 127). With this knowledge in hand the Republican

National Committee launched a program called Winning Women, which was designed to

reach out to female voters (McCaffrey 141). The Democratic National Committee alsocreated a group to reach out to female voters called the DNC Womens Vote Center

(McCaffrey 142). Both candidates had something to offer to the women voter, and took full

advantage of that fact.

As stated by the political psychologist Dr. Martha Burke, The womens vote willdecide the next election, as it has since 1980 (McCaffrey 142). There was another woman

who was aware of this fact and used it to mobilize women voters. Prior to the 2004

election, Doris Granny D Haddock, best known for her trek across the country to raiseawareness about Campaign Finance Reform, decided to do a voter registration drive.

During the voter registration drive she traveled 23,000 miles encouraging working women

to vote or to register to vote (Burke). The unique thing that Granny D did to encouragewomen to register to vote is she took over their job for as long as it took to register. Some

of the jobs she did were; be a mermaid in Tampa, feed alligators in Orlando, bartend in

New Orleans, a masseuse in Detroit, and she even went into a strip club to register women;

although she didnt get on the stage. She did all of this, at the age of 94, to attract televisioncrews and newspaper writers. During a speech given by Granny D on September 20, 2003,

she speaks of the importance of women voting, my last wish is that Americas women,

who worked so hard amid great violence for the right to vote, take that now as a sacredduty in 2004. Granny D wanted women to vote and prove they had a voice in this country

like they did in previous years.

In an interview done by the Keene State College Womens and Gender StudiesCapstone class, Steve Chase was interviewed about Granny Ds registration drive. In

response he spoke of the unique way Granny D was able to get people to vote who usually

werent a priority.

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But there is also ways in that she was a trend setter because a lot of elections in the

United States, sort of the elites in the democratic and republican party just want to

quibble over people who are traditional voters. Theres not a sense of we want toexpand. I mean think about it, about 50 percent of the eligible voters dont vote. That

is untapped potential that could dramatically change, probably for the better, this

country. But many, many groups have now gotten quite sophisticated about reachingout to people who are not traditional or habitual voters. And Obama, whatever you

think about him as somebody in a government position, he was a pretty skilled

campaigner and they adopted many community organizing techniques and reachingout to a significant portion of people who not normally have been reached out to in

elections. And so, I think you could assess what Granny D did in terms of her project,

but it also was part of a shift that happened that really democratized this country, in a

meaningful way. Were going to have to expand beyond the usual suspects who vote.(Chase, Interview)

As Chase points out, for many years there wasnt a large need to target atypical

voting groups. However, in more recent years it has become an important aspect of thepresidential elections.

In the upcoming 2012 election women once again will be an important voting bloc.Currently, there are policies that are being threatened or weakened that impact women.

Through out the debates, the topics of birth control, abortion, health care, and equal pay

have been brought up. Some of things being threatened are Medicaid, Social Security,Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Violence Against Women Act,

family planning, and workplace protection against sex discrimination (Smeal).

Republicans, in general have led the way for weakening these policies.

According to Mitt Romneys website he would like to overturn Roe v. Wade, toleave the abortion issue up to the states, he also supports ending federal funding to Planned

Parenthood (Values: Marriage, Family, Life.). These are just two things that Romney

would like to change that affect women.In 2011 the Violence Against Women Act expired and will go to the senate to be

decided if it will be reauthorized. This year, three provisions were added to extend

protection to women in same-sex marriages, Native American women, and womenimmigrants that are here illegally (Press). The eight Republican members of the Senate

Judiciary Committee all voted against the act due to the provisions (Press). This act is a

very significant protection for women and the longer it is debated the longer it will take to

be reauthorized and the programs reinstated that help women.Republicans are also blocking the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would make it

easier for women to file class-action suits against employers they accuse of sex-based pay

discrimination (Bennett and Ellison). In 2010 the Paycheck Fairness Act didnt receive oneRepublican vote in the Senate and they want to block it again (Press). With women earning

only 77 cents to every dollar a man earns (Press), it is very important that legislation such

as this act are passed.Voting is very important in a democratic society, it allows everyone to voice their

opinions. Women had to work very hard to gain the right to vote. Once, they were able to

vote many people, such as Doris Granny D Haddock knew it was important to have

women continue to vote. This upcoming election is another instance when it is important

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for women to continue to vote in large numbers. Many policies directly or indirectly effect

women and they have a stake in voting in this election as well in elections to come.

Works Cited

Bendyna, Mary E., and Celinda C. Lake. Gender and Voting in the 1992 Presidential

Election. Eds. Elizabeth A. Cook, Sue Thomas, and Clyde Wilcox. The Year of the

Woman: Myths & Realities. Boulder: Westview Press, Inc., 1994. 237-254. Print.

Bennett, Jessica., and Jesse Ellison. Why Women Need the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Newsweek. 22 Sept. 2010. Web. 24 April 2012.

Blair, David, Regina Bringolf, Ruth Mayer, Susan Hay, Abigail A. Walton, Phyllis Zrazvy,

Maude Salinger, and Steve Chase. Interview. 28 February 2012.

Burrell, Barbara C. Women and Political Participation. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, Inc.,

2004. Print.

Crawford, Darlisa. Women Voters Key in 2004 Presidential Election. McCaffrey 140-

142.

Haddock, Granny D Doris. Working Women Vote. Rolling Thunder, Manchester, NH.

20 September 2003. Keynote Address.

Hilty, James. 2004: An Election for the Ages? McCaffrey 125-132.

McCaffrey, Paul., ed. The Reference Shelf: The United States Election System.New York:

H.W. Wilson, 2004. Print.

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Piven, Frances F., and Richard A. Cloward. Why Americans Still Dont Vote: And Why

Politicians Want It That Way. Boston: Beacon Press, 2000. Print.

Press, Bill. The Mommy Wars are back: And Republicans are losing! Orlando Sentinel.

23 April 2012. Web. 24 April. 2012.

Smeal, Eleanor. HERVotes: Why Women Must Vote in 2012Ms Magazine Blog. Web.23

April 2012.

Values: Marriage, Family, Life.Mitt Romney for President. Romney for President, Inc.

Web. 23 April 2012.