Allow me to take a step back in time.
In 1840 an international, anti-slavery conference was arranged in London, England. Amongst others, quite a few American men and women were representatives, or delegates, at this convention. However, when the chairmen discovered that the Americans’ had brought along women, it led to a resurrection. They refused the women to speak, and they even made them sit behind a curtain while listening. This horrified the American women, -and Quaker pastor, Lucretia Mott, and the young oppositional, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, then agreed to hold a meeting about women`s issues when they returned to the US.
It turned out to take longer than anticipated, but finally, – in 1848, after eight years (!), the meeting took place in New York. Around hundred men and women signed the so- called “Declaration of Sentiments”, which was written by the young Elisabeth, who had attended the conference in London, eight years prior. Her declaration was a rewriting of the Declaration of Independence, from 1776. The original Declaration of Independence was, as its name suggests, a declaration of independence, where thirteen American states, or actually colonies under British rule, signed and stated they were, or wished to be, self- governed and free. In addition, The Declaration of Independence also has a statement on human- rights; the well- known phrase “All men are created equal”. This passage, however, resulted in a great deal of reactions, since slavery still was a common practice in most US states.
Following the Declaration of Independence, one began to discuss human rights and slavery, – and some even meant that slavery could compare to women`s role in society. They equalized women`s role with a slave`s, as neither of them had any particular rights, – and were considered as property to men. Elisabeth`s Declaration of Sentiments was an extension of the human rights and stated that “All men and women are created equal”. In addition, the statement conveyed the civil, economic and political rights women now claimed. For instance, sovereignty over income and property within marriage, the right to divorce and custody of children, – and the right to work and pursue education. As a consequence, to the gathering in New York, a lot of new associations were established, – and in 1850 the first national conference saw the light of day. Black women participated alongside the white`s, and they also took part in the right-to-vote battle. Sojourner Truth, a former slave, became well-known for her speech “Ain`t I a Woman?” under an Ohio Women’s Rights Convention, in 1851.
The evolution of women`s rights in America, spread across the ocean, – and in 1851 the English activist Harriet Taylor Mill published an essay about women`s right to vote. The essay was published anonymously. She referred to America, where things had started to happen and Taylor Mill argued for women`s rights and equality in every aspect of life. She collaborated with her husband, John Stuart Mill, on a book called «The Subjection of Women”- and it was published in 1869- in her husband`s name. Back then, a myth, partly supported by religion, partly by biological brain- science, claimed women could not think rationally. Mill, on the contrary, meant that men and women were born fundamentally alike, when it came to intelligence and moral. What was known as “Female nature”, he wrote, was an “eminently artificial thing”. Only when man`s reign over a woman was abolished and provisions for women were put to an end, – you would see what womanhood really was and what woman would be capable of doing. John Stuart Mill`s book was translated and read in most European countries and became of great importance for the aspiring woman`s right movement. For a lot of people this book was like a spark that ignited the flame.
The flame has ultimately resulted into us, in 2020, having celebrated over a hundred woman- days, in Norway. Some of them were celebrated behind closed doors, like during the Second World War, but still. We have fought for the right-to-vote, more kindergartens, equal pay for equal work and the self-righteousness of abortion. We have fought against female oppression and the self-righteousness of abortion being limited once again. We have hashtagged Metoo and we have yelled, discussed and declared. And while reading about these women, girls and ladies– the ones that enabled the rest- I feel such admiration, humbleness and reverence. To such an extent, that when I, on the day itself, – felt the need to present to my young sons, what these brave women did, back then, – actually ended up crying my heart out, in the middle of the lecture.
What they did, means something.
It means something, when someone do.