“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweet.” – “Romeo and Juliet,” William Shakespeare
When Juliet utters these words to her Romeo, it is because she is questioning naming conventions. I did the same as I sat in the audience at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in 2004 for the premiere of the motion picture, Iron Jawed Angels. Starring Hilary Swank and Patrick Dempsey, the film traces the path of the first suffragettes and the men, who helped bring women the right to vote in 1919 under then-president Woodrow Wilson.
Passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote. The 19th amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle—victory took decades of agitation and protest. Iron Jawed Angels demonstrates this agitation and protest.
After the film, women in attendance from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) gathered at the podium to read aloud statistics that were upsetting and depressing, even in the 21st century