February 14, 2022
On this day in 1920, the League of Women Voters began as a "mighty political experiment" aimed to help newly enfranchised women exercise their rights as voters. The campaign to stop women from voting was vicious. As they fought to claim their right to vote, the existing power structure and people in it sought to tamp them down through physical, mental, and social violence. They were bitches. Mannish. Unsexed. Loose. Socialists. Why would society want to give power to such people? Language has been used to oppress, delegitimize, and bully for all of our history.
But they fought on because they knew that the threat they posed was in demanding to be recognized as fully human, and they were not willing to compromise their humanity.
Because they knew they carried the moment and movement for us—the generations of women who would come after them. Because they knew that when those in power are threatened, they try to hold onto it by any means necessary.
And here we are, 102 years later. Fighting different, but painfully similar battles for voting rights. For equity. For the rights and recognition of all people to have space to use their voice and power and have their full humanity recognized. We have made progress, no doubt. The efforts of Leagues, civil rights organizations, and powerful activists throughout the last century have moved us forward. Through vision. Quiet power. Loud, visible power. Demanding progress. Individual and communal sacrifice. And an unwavering belief in our humanity.
A century later, establishment power hasn’t changed. It continues to try to bully and dehumanize us in many ways, including language. This is how we know we are making progress—power is not content.
More often than you might imagine, when we open mail or email, or answer calls at the LWVC office, we are gifted with “love letters” designed to intimidate, demean, and silence the League. Nasty women. Lesbian socialist bitches. Marxist harpies. Handmaids of death. That’s a small sampling from some of the more tame “love letters” we have received.
Like the suffragists who started our movement, this language does not deter us. I claim it. I refuse to give power to those who would intimidate or silence me, the League, and the work we all do together and have done for 102 years. I wear these slurs as a badge of honor. They make me feel powerful. Call me another one, and I will wake up more resolved tomorrow.
Help us continue to wield our power
Winston Churchill said, “You have enemies? Good. That means you have stood up for something in your life.” So thank you for standing up for progress and equity. For carrying the moment and movement for the generations of people who will come after us.
Please consider making a gift today, so we can keep wielding our power in the legislature to stand up for what’s right and keep moving forward with resolve.
In League,
Stephanie
(Your friendly League harpy)
Executive Director, CAE
League of Women Voters of California