A Question about Women's Suffrage

My roommate is a 62 year-old woman and she and I were discussing what America was like when she was a child. She told me that women were still fighting for their right to vote in the 40's. I wasn't aware of this. I know that things didn't change automatically after the 19th amendment was passed, but I didn't think that women were still being denied the right to vote so long after the fact. My grandmothers never told me anything about this -- in fact, I distinctly remember them talking about voting for Roosevelt and Truman. Do any ladies here remember a time when women were being denied their right to vote? I'm only asking about people being denied suffrage on the basis of gender, not race or other reasons.

My mother who was born in 1921 never voted. When I questioned her about this when I was a teen she said that my father was the one who voted and she didn't need to. None of her sisters voted either. I think in my case it was a weird family thing where women left the politics to the men and the men left the child rearing to the women. This kind of sexism was mutually supported amongst the extended family. I think your room mate mis spoke as clearly women did attain the right to vote in the 20's. Weird little cultural or local pockets of discrimination probably occurred but I don't think it was widespread. It would be interesting to know some statistics on the number of women who voted in comparison to the number of men and formulate some theory from that.

although I can well imagine in some areas the "wimmin-folk" being discouraged from exercising their hard-won Constitutional right. There were, of course, barriers to employment or job advancement. Even up to the late 50's/early 60's I heard of teachers who got pregnant being forced out once they began to "show." Actually, I think Susan Faludi's book "Backlash" covers some of that stuff. Have a copy around here somewhere, have to check up.

subjected to poll taxes and other barriers to voting as a routine matter in the 40s and 50s. White males would sit in front of polling places with shotguns in their laps and would call out to any blacks they saw coming in to vote. It was flagrant intimidation.

No white woman I knew growing up in Texas in the 40s and 50s (I am 67)ever spoke of having aproblem voting. But blacks did and I am sure Mexican Americans had a very hard time also.

around the country-----well into the 30's. Things changed in wwii when women got out more (workforce).

She voted in every presidential election starting in 1928 thru 2000.

(edited for typo)

problem voting after 1920. In fact, prior to 1920 women were allowed to vote in some states - my grandmother and great grandmothers were allowed to vote in municipal elections in Kansas.

However, women of my age were not generally allowed into graduate school, could not get a mortgage on a home, could not get credit in our own name (my Dad had to co-sign on a car loan in 1967 when I was 23 and fully employed), we were not allowed to apply for many types of jobs, there were no/zip/zero athletic scholarships available for women, we were paid much lower than men in the same jobs (still true), we could not get a business loan, and generally we were both smarter and had more education than our bosses.

I could go on and on and on.

most of us just assume that women began voting everywhere and you point out that it just didn't happen that way.

Reminds me of the slaves in Galveston who still remained slaves after the Union was victorious in winning the Civil War.

Kicking this up for more discussion.