The Tribune

By NOELLE NICOLLS

khalilanicolls@gmail.com

HAVE women actualised their power at the polls? As the general election approaches, women should contemplate this important question. And it should take no time to render a clear verdict. No. The reason is simple.

Women in the Bahamas have no unified plan, no collective vision, no common agenda. And it is impossible to actualise the power of the women's vote, with its majority composition, unless the female majority is galvanised around a common set of objectives.

The Bahamas has a rich history of women's activism, and although the movement has become disjointed in the past few decades, starved for leadership, there are still Bahamian women keeping the consciousness alive. But their efforts have not been enough to actualise feminine power at the poles.

When Dame Doris Johnson delivered her landmark speech, on behalf of the Women's Suffrage Movement, in a Magistrates Court in 1959, to an audience of parliamentarians, she articulated what can be considered a status on women report for women of the era, and a national women's agenda.

It is a speech every Bahamian should study in the formal education system. It reflected an understanding of feminism that slaps down the stereotypical view of the women's movement: that of a bunch of self-absorbed women, who are too big for their britches, who think women are better than men, or at the least, women should be equal to men, and seek to marginalise men to achieve numerical equality for equality's sake.

This view in no way reflects the Bahamian reality of women's activism, or the wider Caribbean for that matter. In fact this stereotypical view reflects a complete misunderstanding of the global women's movement, but it has been used throughout the ages to diminish the power of the women's movement. Sadly, it has had a great impact on damaging the reputation of women's activism.

Not even the standard definition of feminism, as an organised movement advocating for the social, economic and political rights of women equal to men, does justice to the reality of women's activism, which in practice is almost always centrally focused as a product of women's empowerment on the security, health and welfare of the wider community.

In reality, women's activism, while it is by definition concerned about issues that interest and concern women, has demonstrated time and time again that it is hardly ever exclusive of the wider community's interests.

Bahamian men and women need to be better educated about the history, purpose and value of women's activism in the Bahamas, Caribbean region and around the world.

Despite the challenges with public perception, now is not the time for women of the Bahamas to retreat or to become complacent, but to reorganise and mobilise around common objectives, and to actualise their power at the poles.

Contained inside Dame Doris' 1959 speech, there is great inspiration and direction; and yet it is only one material reference from an era filled with the same power.

The women did not wish to be regarded as rebellious, said Dame Doris, but the women also had no intention of supporting a system that would "cling sullenly or timidly to ancient, outmoded ways of government" that work counter to the interests of national development. The existence of such a system rightly stirred a spirit of revolt in the hearts of women, she said.

Dame Doris not only laid out an argument for gender equality, but she also laid out an argument for fairness, relevant for all Bahamians.

Drawing on a principle that grounded the American Revolution, "no taxation without representation", Dame Doris brought charges of "tyranny and despotism" against the government on the basis that women, who had accepted and paid all taxes imposed by the government, had no representation in the government, and therefore no power to limit or extend such taxes.

In other words, the suffragette's working in the interest of women, were really laying the foundation for the empowerment of all Bahamians.

Dame Doris' other arguments for the enfranchisement of women at the same time articulated the collective vision of women for national development.

The women argued that a jury system comprised solely of men, used to try sons and daughters of the land, could not possibly guarantee "full and impartial judgment." That women should serve on juries was among the demands for which the women said there was "no alternative" option and no room for compromise.

Dame Doris pointed to the fact that delinquent girls, as young as eight years old, were at that time sent to prison with "seasoned criminals", when their only "real crime" was poverty and insecurity. The active participation of women would end such practices, previously overlooked by the government, and bring proper care and guidance to socialise delinquent girls.

"Education in the processing and operation of school medical services and milk distribution, care of our many weed-covered cemeteries, registration of births, deaths and marriages, proper filing system of registration of voters, suppression of nuisances, maternity and child welfare, jury service, notification and disinfection of infectious diseases, care of the aged, etc., are only a few of the areas to which women can make their contributions. This is a task so large that it takes the energies of everybody, men and women, to better conditions in our islands," said Dame Doris.

Fundamentally, Dame Doris articulated a principle that holds true today: women bring different insights than men, and their perspectives are invaluable to national development. She went further to suggest there are certain issues for which men "are not naturally interested", and the insight and interest of women was vital to "investigate, report on and seek improvement" in such areas.

"We women wish to serve our country and assist your efforts in attending to such projects as housing schemes, slum clearance, establishment of libraries and museums, local welfare services, supervision of food and drug supplies, and the establishment of reasonable and respectable lodgings for temporary visitors from our Out Islands," said Dame Doris.

Dame Doris and the other suffragettes were heroes of the women's movement, and they were heroes of progress for all Bahamians. They may have been radical for the era, and they may have been feminists, but they were no one to be discouraged and dismissed.

Their contributions show us that we must always question the motives behind those who deem others to be radicals. Clearly, while society ascribes a generally negative value on radicals, it is those once considered radicals to whom we often owe much of our progress as citizens of the world.

Their contributions show us that we must question our instinct to shirk from being associated with women's activists or even self-identified feminists.

Above all else, their contributions show us that women need to embrace their own value and ability to contribute, and galvanise around common objectives. Only then will we be able to actualise our power at the polls, having been enfranchised through the efforts of the suffragettes.

Read the Watchwoman every Tuesday in the Tribune's Women's Section, and follow Noelle online at Twitter.com/noelle_elleon.