Women's History Month: Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born on November 12, 1815, in Johnstown, New York.

Her father was an attorney, and so the young Elizabeth loved perusing through his law books. It was during this time that Elizabeth started to notice how the law unfairly favored men over women.

She was formally educated (unlike other girls of the time) at an Academy (or high school). She enjoyed co-ed classes and would intellectualize with the boys and win lots of academic awards.

Her father wasn't so encouraging though. When Elizabeth's older brother suddenly died, her father told her that he wished she had been born a boy. Elizabeth was heartbroken, but found encouragement from a next-door-neighbor, the Reverend Simon Hosak, who tutored her in the Greek language.

After graduating from the Academy, Elizabeth went on to continue her studies at Troy Female Seminary, where she got rightly freaked out by a fire-and-brimstone preacher. Then her father took her to Niagara Falls, which "restored her sense of balance." After that incident, she never returned to organized Christianity.

Elizabeth met her sexy husband (this, at 3:30), Henry Brewster Stanton, through her cousin. When they got married, she was all, "take that part out about obeying your husband! This is an equal partnership, and I'm not going to agree to that." They got busy and had seven children.

She loved being involved in social, political, and intellectual stimulation. She got to hang out with cool people like Frederick Douglass, Louisa May Alcott, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Henry was kind of a j-hole on the subject of women's rights. He didn't agree with Elizabeth's views and efforts for women's suffrage.

Something awesome about Elizabeth was that she was a proponent of "voluntary motherhood" -- meaning, not letting the husband demand sexy times from the submitting wife. My body, my choice! She was into homeopathy, and letting her children express themselves freely and have lots of outdoor adventures.

Elizabeth first got involved in the women's rights movement when, during her honeymoon, she attended an anti-slavery convention with her husband. She was forced to sit in a roped-off section with other women, out of the sight of the men. A cool dude named William Lloyd Garrison was all, "That's bull shit!" and sat with him. He's my new crush.

So, in 1848, she and some lady friends held the first women's rights convention, in Seneca Falls, where she declared men and women to be equal. Frederick Douglass was there and was all, "Holla!!!"

She met Susan B. Anthony in 1851. A beautiful friendship -- and partnership -- was formed, that lasted 50 years.

Once the 13th Amendment passed (allowing black men to vote), Stanton and Anthony got so pissed because their friends from the abolitionist movement wouldn't extend the vote to women as well.

Her radical positions included acceptance of interracial marriage, and the belief that organized Christianity relegated women to an unacceptable position in society. She was an strong supporter of birth control. Because of these views, many people chose to focus more on Anthony rather than Stanton when praising the women's rights movement. Until recently.

She died 18 years before women were granted the right to vote in the U.S. :(

Here's to you, Elizabeth!



Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Cady_Stanton