Women and Voting

How lovely to wake up to good news in Alabama, a victory achieved because people of color voted for Doug Jones in droves. Thank you, thank you, thank you for keeping that revolting Roy Moore out of national politics.

But what the hell, white people? This time, laziness and indifference worked in the Democrats' favor, as I presume many of the state's white voters would have opted for Moore. Yet that same laziness and indifference factored into Hillary Clinton's defeat, and they will come around again to bite progressives, just as they bit Republicans last night.

Why do so many people take their franchise for granted? In yesterday's election Alabamans were faced with a candidate who once said that America was a better place before Congress granted voting rights to African Americans and women. Alabama's black citizens fought back against those words. Alabama's white women did not.

The #metoo movement has focused on sexual harassment and assault, but perhaps it should also turn its attention to this other version of sexist assault: the ways in which men have controlled women's ability to speak freely about issues that concern them, to cultivate an individual political conscience that does not necessarily align with that of the men around them, to see their right to vote as a treasure and to claim that treasure every chance they get.

My grandmother was born in 1915, before American women could vote. In historical terms, that was not so long ago, and women's hold on our franchise can still feel fragile and insecure. It is in no woman's best interest to elect a candidate who believes the nation would be a better place if we all kept our mouths shut.