Self-Evident? "All Men and Women Are Created Equal"

We all know that Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain. While Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues,  concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies - I am going to pose a more provocative question for the readers of Change.org:

What does Independence Day mean for women? Historically and then in the present?

It's no secret that the Declaration of Independence was written and signed by men. And while the document has been translated to apply to both women and men and has become a statement of motivation for all marginalized groups - the original language seems to imply gender bias:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

I challenge those who celebrate the 4th of July today to really think about our "founding fathers" and how they built a nation where women have been struggling to find their sense of independence ever since the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Personally, I wish we nationally celebrated the 20th of July of 1848 when Elizabeth Cady Stanton created The Declaration of Sentiments, a document signed by 68 women and 32 men, 100 out of some 300 attendees at the first women's rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York.

Now take a read at this language, it suits me a little better:

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are suffer able, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they were accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design despotism, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled.

The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

I would hope that as we praise those who brought the United States to Independence from Britain today, we also think about those who brought women into independence from the patriarchy as well.

Any good feminist knows that it is important to maintain a critical eye toward tradition. Often those traditions carried misogynistic sentiments in the beginning when women were left out. Just as Betty Friedan asked all women to re-assess the alleged joys of housewifery because "The feminine mystique has succeeded in burying millions of American women alive" - I am asking those who are celebrating their own patriotism today to re-assess the role of the patriarchy in United States. It's important, in the quest for true independence - both as a country and a society - to make sure that all men and women are allowed to be independent human beings, not buried by the false expectations of what freedom is supposed to mean.

This post is dedicated to the female veterans. For more information on the plight of women in the military go see: http://www.graceafterfire.org/