Can you imagine if:
your father forced you to marry a repulsive man you did not love?
your husband forced you to make sacrifices to his pagan gods?
your husband brought home his illegitimate children for you to raise?
your husband went away to battle and did not return for years?
your husband granted permission for you to speak?
you were not allowed to pray?
And if you refused any of your husband's requests---you would be tortured; maybe even to death!
This was Valeria's life in 3rd Century B. C.
You've come a long way baby!!!
Oftentimes, women fantasize over the glamour of yesteryear. And yes, a woman of position such as Valeria would have pampered beyond belief! Bring on the scented baths and massages with oils, the beautiful silks, clothes, and jewels! But in reality, there has never been a better time for a woman to live than the 21st Century. The freedoms of women today would shock our grandmothers!
How so? Can you remember your grandfather telling your grandmother how to vote? And she would probably listen. But then my mother would not take voting instructions from my father. I can recall a conversation between my parents that went something like this.
"You should vote for so and so," my father told my mother.
"I'm not voting for him," my mother responded. "I like the other candidate. She is my friend."
"But so and so is more qualified for the position. And he's an honest man."
"But I promised my friend I would vote for her. A promise is a promise."
My father turned red at this point in the conversation as he said, "But your friend . . . well, she is crazy."
"Crazy because she's a woman?"
"Because she doesn't have any sense."
"In your opinion is there any woman who has enough sense to run for office?" My mother questioned him.
My father did not answer. Good decision, Daddy!
Mother voted for her candidate, and Daddy voted for his. Daddy's candidate won, but at least Mother exercised her right to vote! And later Daddy's candidate was indicted. And no, Mother didn't rub it in . . . she was a defender the politician.
Can you imagine that women have been voting for less than a 100 years? They received their voting rights in 1920. My great-grandmother voted for the first time when she was in her sixties. I wonder if she voted for the candidate of her choice or her husband's choice? Or perhaps they may have liked the same candidate?
The 15th Amendment passed in 1870 granting African American men the right to vote. However, not until the voter's right Act of 1965, did most African Americans fully exercise their voting rights. They were prevented from voting by poll taxes and literacy tests, especially in the South.
Progress is slow . . . 3rd Century BC to the 20th Century. You've come a long way baby, but what a long, long journey!
Celebrate your freedoms! Be sure to vote . . . it's a privilege. And if you really want to know how free you are, order a copy of Valeria's Cross on amazon.com.
