Did you ever think lipstick would get so much attention in the media? Well, here we go. It started with Gov. Sarah Palin saying during her speech at the RNC, “What’s the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom?” Pause. “Lipstick.” It received a huge laugh. It was a funny line. But here are a few lines that aren’t quite so funny. A blog recently wrote “What’s the difference between Sarah Palin and a Muslim fundamentalist? Lipstick.” Not so funny. And how about Sen. Obama’s comment yesterday: “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” Did you ever think lipstick would be come such a hot topic in this election? This election has been full of surprises, hasn’t it?
The most amazing thing to me, as we just celebrated a huge anniversary of when women gained the right to vote, this election could be decided by the women’s vote. And the result could be that glass ceiling could be broken forever.
Sometimes we forget … or maybe we didn’t know the sacrifices of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers. It wasn’t until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote. My grandmother was 20 years old. Women were jailed for picketing the White House. They were only carrying signs asking for the right to vote. The warden ordered the guards to teach the suffragists a lesson. The 33 women were convicted of obstructing sidewalk traffic. The guards beat Lucy Burns. They chained her hands to the cell bars above her head. They let her stay like that all night. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed. They beat, choked, slammed and kicked the women. Their food was infested with worms. They endured all of this so that you and I can have the right to vote.
No matter where your beliefs fall, use your lipstick power this fall and vote. Never take that right for granted.