While doing my morning ritual of skimming through the New York Times this article caught my attention. It may be hard to believe that in the year 2011 women in other counties are just now being granted the right to vote. Here in the United States in May of 1919 the women’s suffrage amendment was voted on in Congress and taken into affect in 1920 granting women the right to vote. That’s more than 90 years ago! Taking a look back in history and seeing the fights and struggles African-Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanics have gone through could make you think we have made great strides, but clearly we still have a ways to go. From the Brown vs. Board of Education case in 1954, where Linda Brown was denied admission to a local elementary school on the basis that she was black, and the Supreme Court ruling in her favor started the ball rolling for the civil rights movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s. I feel here in the U.S. we live in a sheltered world and I find that I don’t think about things until I am confronted with them face to face. We are all guilty of getting caught up in our day-to-day lives and lose sight of much larger issues that effect the world as a whole. I can not imagine living in a country where I knew that I have no say in the community around me. Here in the United States we have freedom of speech which is protected by the First Amendment but again try to imagine a world where you did not have that protection and could be put in prison or even killed for something you said. A world where I am discriminated against simply on the basis of my gender. I’ve been noticing that people my age take for granted their right to vote and many do not vote, most saying oh my vote wont make a difference. Whether your actual vote will or will not make a difference as a citizen of the United States, one should take full advantage of this opportunity.
Comments Off on Saudi Women Granted Right to Vote
Thinking Sociology 