Though women today still struggle with equality issues from equal pay to work-life balance, one major issue of equality was decided 90 years ago this week: the right to vote.

It took 72 years of work on the part of passionate "suffragettes" who faced risks from social ostracization to arrest to stand up to their convictions, but the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed on August 26, 1920.

The most famous of these suffragettes was Susan B. Anthony, who was what we at Savvy Auntie would call a PANK (Professional Aunt, No Kids) - Anthony never married nor had children. Though she had many nieces and nephews of her own, she's an Auntie to every American woman due to her efforts to help pass the Nineteenth Amendement. Though it was not passed until 14 years after her death, it became known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment.

The holiday we celebrate this week, Women's Equality Day, was established at the height of the women's liberation movement in 1971 by Congress, the brainchild of Representative Bella Abzug of New York.

According to the National Women's History Project, "Women’s Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, but also calls attention to women’s continuing efforts toward full equality."

Gail Collins, herself a symbol of the ongoing struggles women continue to face, was the first woman to be appointed editor of The New York Times' editorial page. In a recent column, she expressed her gratitude to the women who didn't give up on their rights just because the going got tough:

"We always need to remember that behind almost every great moment in history, there are heroic people doing really boring and frustrating things for a prolonged period of time."

How are you making a difference for other women, Savvy Auntie?

Published: August 24, 2010