Never mix your liquors

I'm still recovering from a night of celebrating a friend's birthday perhaps a little too vigorously, especially considering the infrequency with which I imbibe. And so I'm led to thinking about the temperance movement, and its connection to women's rights.

One of the things I find really interesting is the way that basically all the reform movements of the early 1800s in the US were interconnected- temperance, abolition, dress reform, education reform, diet reform, prison reform, etc. And many of these movements were connected to women's rights. Why? Because the educated women of the upper classes who were drawn to this work, partly out of a sense of moral obligation and probably also partly because they were bored (since they weren't supposed to work outside them home) were not allowed to be equal participants. And after being told they couldn't speak publicly in mixed meetings, or at all, and being asked to confine their reform work only to that labor that was appropriate for ladies, they got a bit cranky. The birth of women's rights in the US can be traced back to an international abolition conference in London, where the female delegates (who'd been sent as voting delegates by their American chapters) weren't allowed to speak or vote. They were allowed to sit in their own little section and observe. The dedicated female abolitionists at this meeting were, to say the least, slightly perturbed. And that feeling fermented and eventually became a movement.

Strolling through wikipedia you'll find that many women who were associated with the temperance movement (esp. the Women's Christian Temperance Union) were also suffragists. And since they each deserve an entry of their own, I'll link you to a few of them.

Frances Willard
Susan B Anthony (who will get her own post later on this month)
Amelia Bloomer (a perfect example of the intersection of different reforms)