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Women in academic dress marching in a suffrage parade in New York City, 1910. Source: ; Photographer: Jessie Tarbox BealsOne hundred years ago today, the in the U.S., granting women the right to vote. This anniversary is something to celebrate, and a time to look back with pride on how much women have accomplished. The fact that it falls this year 鈥� in the midst of a global pandemic, a reckoning with systemic racism, and arguably the most consequential election season of our lifetimes 鈥� also feels significant. Perhaps it鈥檚 an opportunity to reflect on what these times have taught us about the meaning of voting, and what we should keep in mind as November approaches.

This year in particular, we are reminded that voting is not just a personal act. It is an act of community, of stepping into the public sphere, of showing that you care about what happens to those around you. If the pandemic has had any positive impact, it is that we have seen how connected we are to each other. Many of us have adopted new habits that acknowledge this connection: picking up groceries for neighbors, putting signs in our windows to thank essential workers, wearing masks. Voting is another way of showing that we are all in this together.

We are also more aware this year of the ways in which, despite our deep interconnectedness, our society is not yet one in which every person has the same rights and opportunities. The protests spurred by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others have brought this inequality to the forefront. And the inequality extends to voting. Though white women gained the right to vote in 1920, African American women, Latina women, Native women, and Asian American women have been forced to continue to fight for that right long afterwards.

Even today, voter suppression efforts in many parts of the U.S. mean that if you are a person of color, a student, elderly, or a person with a disability, you are more likely to encounter : limited polling stations that result in long lines, names left off voter rolls, onerous voter ID requirements. These voter suppression tactics are not new, but we鈥檙e likely to face a barrage of them this fall.

It鈥檚 clear, then, that the struggle to ensure every person鈥檚 right to vote is far from over, 100 years after the 19th Amendment was passed. This struggle will require not only our votes, but our activism: educating ourselves about our rights, keeping election protection hotlines on speed dial, and supporting advocacy organizations that battle voter suppression. It鈥檚 critical that we reach beyond ourselves to focus on our communities. Can we share information about how to obtain mail-in ballots and ? Can we ask our elected officials to support legislation that expands the right to vote? We can all find a way to help, no matter how small.

So this November, we must vote like our lives depend on it 鈥� because they do. The women who spent 75 years fighting for the 19th Amendment knew that their lives depended on it, too. It鈥檚 true every election season, but it feels especially true this year.

Layli Maparyan, Ph.D., is the Katherine Stone Kaufmann 鈥�67 Executive Director of the 星空无限 at 星空无限.

The long march towards progress is often one that extends across generations. The U.S. , which resulted in women鈥檚 right to vote with the 19th Amendment in 1920 鈥� took 75 years to produce the desired result. That鈥檚 three generations of women, each playing a specific role in getting that policy objective to the finish line. Along the way, there were movements and side movements and countermovements, all of which shaped the ultimate contours of that social justice victory. We鈥檝e now gone 99 years past the ratification of the 19th Amendment 鈥� that鈥檚 almost four generations 鈥� and women鈥檚 equality is still far from realized. Thus, on this Women鈥檚 Equality Day, it seems most fitting to me, as we stare into the century mark of this milestone, that we make a full-court press to fast-track some gender equality moves that would signal a bona fide century鈥檚 worth of progress.

Here are my suggestions:

First, we should revisit the . Its simple yet powerful text, originally crafted in 1923 right after women got the right to vote and revised in 1943, reads:

• Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
• Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
• Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

In the late 1970s, the Equal Rights Amendment passed both houses of Congress and was signed by President Carter, but failed narrowly during the state-by-state ratification process. That was 40 years ago. In 2019, , as theoretically only one more state needs to ratify the amendment to reach the majority needed. Do we have the political will to pass the Equal Rights Amendment now? Women鈥檚 equality was not a partisan issue then, nor is it one now; women in both parties desire equality and benefit from equality. Passing this constitutional amendment at long last would signal to America鈥檚 women and the world that women 鈥� and, in fact, people of all genders 鈥� are now truly included in 鈥渓iberty and justice for all.鈥�

Second, we should join the community of nations that has ratified the (known as CEDAW). This international instrument, which has already been in the world except for Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Pulau, Tonga, and the United States, is basically like a global Equal Rights Amendment. It addresses women鈥檚 human rights and commits nations to legally enshrining them. While the U.S. has made various arguments about why it has not ratified CEDAW, a more powerful statement for gender equality would be to just ratify it!

Other actions that would signal that we are truly in the 21st century when it comes to women鈥檚 equality would be stronger laws, policies, and legal procedures that address sexual violence in all its forms for all women (with a nod to the recent groundswell known as the #MeToo Movement), and laws, policies, and legal procedures that enshrine gender spectrum equality (because gender in the 21st century doesn鈥檛 mean what it meant 99 years ago).

Lest we think these legal moves towards equality are ends in themselves, we can also consider the fact that social scientists have found links between legal equality at the national level and human wellbeing. For example, a recent published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence showed that greater gender equality at the national level correlates with greater life satisfaction among both female and male adolescents, even with other potentially-influential factors controlled. Thus, there is something to the notion that gender equality, social justice, and human wellbeing are all interrelated and interdependent.

As we look back at and celebrate the generations of women who fought for the right to vote, let us remember that progress doesn鈥檛 end there. Each generation must pick up the baton and push forward for increased recognition of gender equality in the law and in our everyday lives. Let鈥檚 hope that this time next year when we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, we will also be celebrating the ERA, CEDAW, and, all in all, a bona fide century鈥檚 worth of progress on gender equality!

Layli Maparyan, Ph.D., is the Katherine Stone Kaufmann 鈥�67 Executive Director of the 星空无限.