In Honor of Suffragette: Things to Be Thankful For – Women’s Rights

I am posting for Day 19 of the Suffragette movement. Suffragette 19 honors the brave and bold women of the Suffragette movement. In the U.S., their sacrifices led to the passing of the 19th Amendment, which granted most American women the right to vote. Visit http://www.suffragettethemovie.com/#nineteendays as we look back at the movement, celebrate the trailblazers, and salute those who continue to fight for equality.

On a day where the majority of women are spending it in the kitchen basting turkeys and smashing potatoes it seems kind of funny to be talking about being thankful for women’s rights.  But the reality is we can read the recipe handed down to us from our grandmother and sit at the table and enjoy the company of our male relatives and friends.  In many places in our world, right now in the year 2015, there are women that can’t do that, and young girls that still don’t have the hope that they will in their future either.

I spent some time in India after high school before I went to university and it was shocking to me at how so many women there didn’t have the opportunities that I so easily took for granted.  That women in other countries could not go to school, have the right to eat meals with their husband, vote in elections, many couldn’t even go into a temple to worship.

It made me realize that the reason I was able to freely able to do all those things is because their were women in history who paved the way for me to be able to do so.  And I am so thankful they did.

Once we have those rights though it’s easy to forget about the fight that took place to get them.  The fight that’s not over yet for many women all over the world.  The reasons why we need to continue to fight for women’s basic rights.  To be able to read, to be able to vote.

And here you can watch a clip from the movie Suffragette.

Inspired by true events, “Suffragette” movingly explores the passion and heartbreak of those who risked all they had for women’s right to vote – their jobs, their homes, their children, and even their lives. Academy Award nominees Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter, and three-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep, lead the cast of the powerful drama about the fight for equality in early-20th-century Britain. The stirring story centers on Maud, a working wife and mother who becomes an activist for the Suffragette cause alongside women from all walks of life. “Suffragette” is directed by BAFTA Award winner Sarah Gavron and written by Emmy Award winner Abi Morgan.