Alfredo Duncan

My aunt was born in 1951, in the time after World War I. During this time, the air was heavy with fear of chaos. At this time, the Cold War began to create tension among nations, and she remembers growing up with the fear of the Soviet Union’s attack, during the start of mandatory bomb drills. It was also during this time that the zero-sum idea was introduced; the belief that the next war between the United States of America and the Soviet Union would be nuclear, and where there would be absolutely nothing left, where the sum of everything is in fact zero.

In the time of her adulthood, the legal voting age was 21, as opposed to the change in 1979 to the age of 18. She was extremely excited to vote for the first time, as a second generation female voter. My aunt participated in the election that resulted in Nixon’s second term of presidency. She reminisces of the time her mother and her six older sisters, would go to a local voting site. Her mother had been born in 1908 and was one of the first women to vote in her family. Her mother voted without fail, even when she could no longer leave her home, doing absentee voting until her death in 2006.

To this day, my aunt never misses an Election Day, and is active in her local and state elections. She believes that the electoral college should be changed, citing how in this past presidential election, the people voted for Hillary Clinton; however, as we know, Donald Trump won the electoral college vote. She has always had a firm belief in one party in politics and has stayed with this party for the entirety of her life. My aunt believes voice in the government is a very important factor of our lives at citizens of the United States.

Who is Emmeline Pankhurst and why is she important today? Emmeline was a British suffragette who lived during the late 1800s and early 1900s, around the time Women’s Suffrage gained the most momentum. She is known for founding the Women’s Social and Political Union, also known as the WSPU. She is usually viewed as a “complex, paradoxical figure” (Bartley 2) because of how she would act in two different natures. Known for having extreme courage and bravery in the face of adversity, Pankhurst etched her name into the Women’s Suffrage Movement.

Emmeline Pankhurst, born as Emmeline Goulden, is believed to be born on July 14th, 1858 in Manchester, England. She was the oldest of ten children and as the most aged she took care of her younger siblings. She noticed that little importance was placed on her and her female siblings’ education in contrast to her brothers’. When she was able to get an education at a local boarding school, she was known to excel in the subjects taught. However, it was difficult for Emmeline to grasp why the school prepared her in a “womanly” fashion. She was taught to make life at the home easy for men. At the age of fourteen, Goulden attended her first women’s suffrage meeting. This influenced her decisions later in life.

She later met Dr. Richard Pankhurst, her future husband, at a political meeting. Known as a social activist, Richard advocated for equal rights for men and women, and many other social changes. They fell in love at first sight. However, soon after Richard’s mother and father passed away with little time in-between their passing. This prompted them to get married, as “‘the lonely one could not be kept waiting’” (Purvis 17). Later, they gave birth to their first child, Christabel Pankhurst. Emmeline later gave birth to her daughters Estelle and Adela Pankhurst. She would also birth her sons Francis Henry Pankhurst, who would pass away 4 years later, and Henry Francis Pankhurst in 1889. In 1898, on July 5th, Richard Pankhurst passed away because of a stomach ulcer. As expected of anyone going through similar situations, Emmeline was emotionally battered. Nonetheless, she continued her pursuit of women’s suffrage in public affairs.

In the year of 1903, Emmeline and her daughters, aged from 18 to 11, founded the WSPU with other women, including Pattie Hall. This greatly inspired many other women, to the point where they had so much faith in it that they would give their life to the cause. She took a radical approach to women’s suffrage, going as far as committing arson, window smashing, and other illegal activities. One recorded event includes the death of Emily Wilding Davison, who was killed by one of King George V’s horses in the Epsom Derby.

Emmeline Pankhurst was an outstanding symbol of female empowerment and courage. She was a key element of the Women’s Suffrage Movement. She did what needed to be done, for the causes she believed in. She is a model to both women and men, today.
 

I’m very inspired by my aunt’s testimony. I saw how she grew up, how life was like not so long ago. It’s obvious that we exist in two completely different environments, though. I do not have certain qualities in my environment and the voting age is lower for me. However, being able to discuss these topics with my aunt has allowed me to grow as a person. I know more about my own family history, and greater respect the ability to vote. It is commonly said, “You don’t know what you have until you lose it,” and my female family members, along with the rest of the women in the U.S., did not have the right to vote, and so they worked for their right to vote. It is known that those who work the hardest achieve the most, and that’s what was done. Everyday we step closer to the equality for all people in the world, for the destruction of bias and prejudice. We step closer to world peace, where we do not hurt others by the belief that we are greater than them. All we work for is to be equal to one another. I’m inspired by this amazing story of hard work and perseverance in all aspects. From being a male dominant society, we have gone to a society where men and women share opportunities in the workforce. From having females uneducated and not able to live on their own, we have many strong, independent women in our midst.