My Great-Grandmother was not a Person
My Great-Grandmother was not a person. Neither was yours. Up until about 67 years ago no females were. We were supposed to be pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen. At least that's the perception that the laws enforced. (For ex: The Election Act of the Dominion of Canada and The Common Law of England) As part of the British Commonwealth many of our laws were the same as England's and enforced by British parliament. One such law from the Common Law of England stated that 'A woman is not a person in matters of rights and privileges, but she is a person in matters of pains and penalties.' This gave women second class citizenship.
Women were not recognized as equals to men, even though the expectations of women were such that the work load was equal if not greater. As pioneer women we built homes, raised families, maintained the homestead, hunted food, fought natives, made clothes, cooked, cleaned, as well as the many manual labour jobs that men held.
For example, women worked in coal mines, armories, and aided the war effort via the manufacturing industry, such as factorys. If this is what is determeined as equality then women were getting the short end of the stick and men were receiving all of the benifit. This perception still holds strong today, although not as strongly.
Men said that women were to fragile to vote. Yet no man has ever experienced labor pains. Furthermore no man has fought any battle that was as hard as the one the famous five women have fought. The Election Act of the Dominion of Canada states that 'No woman, idiot, lunatic, or criminal shall vote.' So women are equal to criminals? It's not a crime to be a woman.