The Seneca Falls Declaration

The Seneca Falls Declaration

Mar 26, 2024

1848 ~ Elizabeth Cady Stanton

*posted because sometimes it’s important to see where we came from, reminding ourselves of the past but also of how much further we have to go, and – in Women’s History Month – to celebrate those who did the work in even more hideous, challenging times (this would have to have been hand-written!!!) than those we find ourselves in at present. Plus, HISTORY NERD.

1. Declaration of Sentiments

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man* to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer. while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled. The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

  • He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise.
  • He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.
  • He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men_both natives and foreigners.
  • Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides.
  • He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead. He has taken from her all right in property. even to the wages she earns.
  • He has made her, morally. an irresponsible being. as she can commit many crimes with impunity, provided they be done in the presence of her husband.
  • In the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he becoming, to all intents and purposes, her master, the law giving him power to deprive her of her liberty. and to administer chastisement.
  • He has so framed the laws of divorce, as to what shall be the proper causes, and in case of separation, to whom the guardianship of the children shall be given, as to be wholly regardless of the happiness of women, the law, in all cases, going upon a false supposition of the supremacy of man, and giving all power into his hands.
  • After depriving her of all rights as a married woman, if single, and the owner of property, he has taxed her to support a government which recognizes her only when her property can be made profitable to it.
  • He has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments, and from those she is permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty remuneration. He closes against her all the avenues to wealth and distinction which he considers most honorable to himself. As a teacher of theology, medicine, or law, she is not known.
  • He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education, all colleges being closed against her.
  • He allows her in Church, as well as State, but a subordinate position, claiming Apostolic authority for her exclusion from the ministry, and, with some exceptions, from any public participation in the affairs of the Church.
  • He has created a false public sentiment by giving to the world a different code of morals for men and women, by which moral delinquencies which exclude women from society, are not only tolerated, but deemed of little account in man.
  • He has usurped the prerogative of Jehovah himself, claiming it as his right to assign for her a sphere of action, when that belongs to her conscience and to her God.
  • He has endeavored, in every way that he could, to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life.

Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one-half the people of this country, their social and religious degradation, in view of the unjust laws above mentioned, and because women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States.

In entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we shall use every instrumentality within our power to effect our object. We shall employ agents, circulate tracts, petition the State and National legislatures, and endeavor to enlist the pulpit and the press in our behalf. We hope this Convention will be followed by a series of Conventions embracing every part of the country.

2. resolutions

WHEREAS, The great precept of nature is conceded to be, that “man shall pursue his own true and substantial happiness.” Blackstone in his Commentaries remarks, that this law of Nature being coeval with mankind, and dictated by God himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries and at all times; no human laws are of any validity if contrary to this. and such of them as are valid, derive all their force. and all their validity, and all their authority, mediately and immediately, from this original; therefore,

Resolved, That such laws as conflict, in any way with the true and substantial happiness of woman, are contrary to the great precept of nature and of no validity, for this is “superior in obligation to any other.”

Resolved, That all laws which prevent woman from occupying such a station in society as her conscience shall dictate, or which place her in a position inferior to that of man, are contrary to the great precept of nature, and therefore of no force or authority.

Resolved, That woman is man’s equal, was intended to be so by the Creator, and the highest good of the race demands that she should be recognized as such.

Resolved, That the women of this country ought to be enlightened in regard to the laws under which they live, that they may no longer publish their degradation by declaring themselves satisfied with their present position, nor their ignorance, by asserting that they have all the rights they want.

Resolved.That inasmuch as man, while claiming for himself intellectual superiority, does accord to woman moral superionty. it is pre-eminently his duty to encourage her to speak and teach. as she has an opportunity, in all religious assemblies.

Resolved, That the same amount of virtue, delicacy, and refinement of behavior that is required of woman in the social state, should also be required of man, and the same transgressions should be visited with equal severity on both man and woman.

Resolved, That the objection of indelicacy and impropriety, which is so often brought against woman when she addresses a public audience, comes with a very ill-grace from those who encourage, by their attendance, her appearance on the stage, in the concert. Or in feats of the circus.

Resolved,That woman has too long rested satisfied in the circumscribed limits which corrupt customs and a perverted application of the Scriptures have marked out for her, and that it is time she should move in the enlarged sphere which her great Creator has assigned her.

Resolved, That it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise.

Resolved, That the equality of human rights results necessarily from the fact of the identity of the race in capabilities and responsibilities.

Resolved, therefore. That, being invested by the creator with the same capabilities, and the same consciousness of responsibility for their exercise, it is demonstrably the right and duty of woman, equally with man, to promote every righteous cause by every righteous means; and especially in regard to the great subjects of morals and religion, it is self-evidently her right to participate with her brother in teaching them, both in private and in public, by writing and by speaking. by any instrumentalities proper to be used. and in any assemblies proper to be held; and this being a self evident truth growing out of the divinely implanted principles of human nature, any custom or authority adverse to it, whether modern or wearing the hoary sanction of antiquity, is to be regarded as a self- evident falsehood, and at war with mankind.

Resolved, That the speedy success of our cause depends upon the zealous and untiring efforts of both men and women, for the overthrow of the monopoly of the pulpit, and for the securing to women an equal participation with men in the various trades. professions. and commerce.

How We Grew: MAD Magazine

How We Grew: MAD Magazine

Mar 25, 2024

One of the great perks of having a pop who owned a drugstore: free magazines and comic books. Once a month or more on a regular basis, the discards – covers ripped in half (the other half was returned to the publishers for credit, maybe?) – a pile that might be four or five inches high, was delivered to us by my dad after work, tied up with twine. MAD Magazine, however, was not a discard, it was a ‘when does the new issue get here, we must have it now!’

MAD Magazine was silly and funny and chock full of ridiculousness; I have to wonder if the creators of The Simpsons were fans? I read it cover to cover including the teeny, tiny little cartoons in the margins. The entire thing was a delight, was in line with adolescent humor: silly, loopy, lewd, and sexist, even if I didn’t fully know that last quality at the time. It reminded me of the works of R. Crumb – which I had happened upon at my cousins, a disturbing discovery under the bed I was sleeping in for a few days while visiting Boston, where I was a little in over my head, trying to avoid my very tall uncle, who was too chummy, especially with my older sister, even for me, an unsophisticated eleven-year-old from small-town USA.

MAD’s movie spoofs were a favorite, even if I weren’t allowed to see the film (Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, or Carnal Knowledge), yet with the films I did see (MASH, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, Love Story) it was as if I were being let in on a secret joke, was part of a group of – well, of smart-asses. What more could a teenager want? This held true even if, pre-teen and teenager (an unsophisticated one at that), I didn’t really get the all of the jokes.

As a child I also believed I looked like Alfred E. Newman: freckles, big cheeks, large, crooked gapped teeth smile, a big head and big – or at least biggish – ears. This felt especially true if my mother had given me one of her specialty haircuts, which were special because they were hideous. She could never get my bangs right, which for her meant even, and so kept cutting, and cutting. Suddenly I was all face, all cheeks, all freckles, and my head really was huge, still is. I have a hard time finding hats that fit, no kidding. I once read that we all have an idea of ourselves and our looks based on a childhood photo, mine is one that most closely resembles Alfred. I know I don’t look like him, but – to me in my child heart, still beating – we’re not all that different.

Alfie

Alfie

Mar 24, 2024

*All songs are poems, & some poems can become songs. Pop song/poems of deceptive simplicity, like this one, Alfie, can have the most profound messages delivered with a magical light touch. Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in 1966, made famous by Dionne Warwick (U.S.) and Cilla Black (U.K.), for the film of the same name starring Michael Caine, the music and lyrics of this song never fail to stop me in my tracks, coming across the wire…even if, to this day, like David and Bacharach, I get a little flummoxed by – ALFIE? but okay, okay it’s an name, Alfred, in the UK, much more so than in the US (thank goodness for that LOL), but all that aside, it’s a gorgeous piece of poetry and the music is equally strong, simple, and powerful.

What’s it all about, Alfie?
Is it just for the moment we live?
What’s it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?
Are we meant to take more than we give?
Or are we meant to be kind?

And if only fools are kind, Alfie
Then I guess it is wise to be cruel
And if life belongs only to the strong, Alfie
What will you lend on an old golden rule?

As sure as I believe there’s a heaven above, Alfie
I know there’s something much more
Something even non-believers can believe in

I believe in love, Alfie
Without true love we just exist, Alfie
Until you find the love you’ve missed you’re nothing, Alfie
When you walk, let your heart lead the way
And you’ll find love any day, Alfie
Alfie

*just tried embedding a link to Dionne Warwick singing a very jazzy version of Alfie from YouTOOB but it would not allow me to do it, find it, it’s pretty durned great.

Monster!

Monster!

Mar 23, 2024

Diego likes to chew (lightly) on my feets. He enjoys this, as do I – until his size and determination (all in fun, totally innocent – wears his momma down. He doesn’t, ever, mean to hurt me, but good gawdess those teefs of his are sharp! Isn’t he adorable? Yes, yes he is. & as it happens, today he turns 2!! Happy birthday, y’big lunk.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Mar 22, 2024

*My mother owned a lot of books, even if – after a certain point in my childhood – she abandoned reading ‘literary books’ entirely, succumbing to the lure of romance, romance, romance (bodice rippers, to be exact). I was fascinated by her collection, mostly housed in the den off the living room, where my uncle – our home’s previous owner – had built a series of uneven shelves and drawers. The drawers were stuffed with my dad’s odds and ends (pipes, ashtrays, pipe cleaners, metal doohickies, antique bits of everything), as well as my mom’s books and school documents, including piles of construction paper interspersed by those old blue inked copies that took an age to create on a manual typewriter.

Our attic also held boxes crammed with my mom’s college texts and notebooks, which – her handwriting was not easy to interpret in the half light – I dug through at various intervals. It was an intrusion, even a violation – but the attic was a room she never, ever to my knowledge entered; she had a paralyzing fear of mice and dark spaces, and once enough dust collected, well, maybe someone oughta look? She doesn’t seem to care? I mostly remember poetry and obscure Latin and Greek tracts, paperbacked pamphlets of varying sizes I was intimidated by as a child, but looked through anyway. I was constantly looking for clues to who she was, and how I might impress or please her; I was smart, I did very well in school, but the gap between us was too well-established by the time I was searching for ways to light her mind and heart toward her middle, unwanted child.

My mother owned a series of books by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the long-suffering wife of Charles Lindbergh, the famous flyer and Nazi sympathizer. Long suffering because, yes, the whole sympathizer thing, but also because their eldest child was kidnapped and murdered. Beyond that tragedy, ‘Lindy’ was simply not a nice guy, neglecting his wife while having – and supporting – another entire family in Germany (two, in fact; he had children with a pair of sisters there), using his fame and notoriety to absent himself, traveling extensively with – shocker – Germany as a favored spot. A-hem.

Regardless, Anne Morrow Lindbergh was universally respected and admired, and I remember reading her books – trying to – at age eleven, twelve, thirteen, eventually abandoning her work because she was writing for generations decades older than my own. At the time, I simply could not relate. Thinking about her now, I imagine Pat Nixon or Lady Bird Johnson finding comfort in her words, other long-suffering wives of really complicated guys who were not nice in their own specific ways although I don’t think Nixon slept around – yick. My mother was also, I am sure, finding comfort in Lindbergh’s words, struggling with a life she had not wanted, but – like Pat and Lady Bird (what TF was her actual name, FFS?) – she sucked it up, buried herself in fantasy (those bodice rippers) and ice cream, making do. Claudia. Lady Bird’s name was Claudia.

From Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift From the Sea:

“When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity – in freedom, in the sense that the dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern.

The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now. Relationships must be like islands, one must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits – islands, surrounded and interrupted by the sea, and continually visited and abandoned by the tides.”