Women’s suffrage in the United States permanently altered not only our political landscape, but also sowed the seeds for women’s roles to change in society overall. As we discussed in class, women were seen as a sort of “moral backbone” figure in American politics, with mother and child iconography being heavily utilized by progressives when rallying for (and succeeding in passing) prohibition shortly before women were even granted the vote themselves. This iconography can be seen explicitly in the ad below (image 1), with the moral yet weak mother and children at risk of being “sacrificed” for the immoral and greedy liquor seller. How much of this viewpoint remains in our culture today, and in what ways have women be perceived if not as moral?
(Image 1; prohibition ad)
The climax to the fight for women’s suffrage was enflamed by the ending of World War I. In late November 1918, Carrie Chapman Catt, a leader of the National American Women Suffrage Association, wrote to president Woodrow Wilson about her disappointment that American women’s ideas weren’t brought to the international stage when discussing what would come next. Her words were incredibly specific and called for justice, as, in her words, “(women) were sorely needed to help save man’s own ideas of civilization, all was asked of them and they gave all; only to be denied even a small voice when asked, in return, to be represented and consulted as to the use to be made of the victory they did so much to secure” and continuing on, she adds that the present status of women in the U.S. was “humiliating” and that the president should make “the men and women of America and of the world feel the keen edge of (his) disapproval” of this. (https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/women-fight-for-the-vote/about-this-exhibition/hear-us-roar-victory-1918-and-beyond/house-and-senate-passage-leads-an-exhausting-ratification-campaign/suffrage-ocean-to-ocean-before-the-next-election/)
Journalist and author Elaine Weiss explains in the video below (video 1) that she believes a major reason that the suffrage movement had to work for so long in order to secure the vote was that it never was solely about voting rights but rather solidifying a cultural change for the roles women were allowed in society. Could women succeed in society by only securing the vote but not earning respect in the hearts of (male) politicians? In the same vein could women even earn the right to vote without first changing the perception of women in the eyes of average men and other, perhaps more conservative, women? Even in local society women were expected to keep quiet and not to fight for their opinions, a sentiment exemplified in it being frowned upon for women to speak in church (an action seen as “promiscuous” despite the praise and reverence paid to the virgin Mary and other female saints).
https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-9071
(Video 1; Elaine Weiss interview)
Returning to the image of the Moral Mother, if women didn’t have power politically it was easier to place them on a pedestal of “above politics”. If women were allowed to join the political realm it was seen as a risk that the institution of the family would shatter apart, women losing their purity of cause and goodness along with their loyalty to their children and family duties. These family roles were seen as practically ordained by God and/or Nature, especially by the conservative religious population. Beyond even all of this, women earning the vote drastically reduced the individual weight of a man’s vote by an estimated half that of before. Why would men actively try to reduce their own power? The sudden addition of people who had never held such power before would surely upset the status quo, not to mention that the inclusion of a new demographic would further fuel the discussion as to why all demographics weren’t being given equal rights and protections.
In May 1919 this political cartoon was printed in the Washington Evening Star in which Clifford Berry predicted that the “last call” for politicians to claim suffrage was nigh (image 2). This prediction ended up coming true, and after the overwhelming support with which the bill passed, the politicians who voted “nay” had to prepare themselves for the reality of the very new voters that they had voted against now having the power to vote them out of office in the next election cycle. In this way, women could be seen as a sort of rising force that was a threat to the way that things had been and not only a threat to patriarchal power but a viable threat.
(Image 2; band wagon political cartoon)
According to Corrine McConaughy (video 1), a real push for women’s suffrage came from the sway that women associated with other organized groups had slowly amassed. These groups often had strong “family business” ties, such as The Farmers Alliance and the Grange. These ties to family units as a whole allowed the groups to be joined either by the women directly or essentially by proxy when husbands and other male family members became members. In these cases, any sort of civic skills, connections, and power could be transferred towards the causes of suffrage and other rights. I think that this is an interesting point to specify, since this sort of “softer” social power is the kind that tends to snowball. After suffrage was achieved, the influence didn’t go away and instead spread further into formal politics. This allowed these women to quickly and effectively move on to working on other issues such as the voting rights of non-white men and women as well as furthered rights for women such realms as education and the workplace.
These new paths of education and employment were embraced by women who wanted to seek out fulfillment outside of “the home”. As we discussed in class, historically American women only had the possibility of work in either their own homes or other’s homes as domestics. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau was first founded in 1920 and was created with the express goal of improving the welfare and opportunities of women who work for wages. Since the Bureau’s founding the amount of women in the workforce has increased from 20% of the labor force to 47% (https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/about/history). These women workers were essential during World War I, and their necessity only increased during World War II. Due to the war effort, these women weren’t necessarily seen as threats to the “traditional way of life” but instead as patriotic.
In the 21st century, the characterization of the inherent morality of mothers is arguably still used today, though normally being invoked by the mothers themselves, instead of something that is superimposed onto them by men. This can be easily seen with activism organizations with names such as “Moms Demand Action” and “Mothers Against Drunk Driving”. This change illustrates the rise of mothers (and women collectively) as activists in their own rights and legal equals with men.
Interestingly enough, though, women and women’s issues have been challenged as immoral by some modern conservatives, with sexual and reproductive rights often being rallied against because of perceived immorality and possibility of “traditional” motherhood and family institutions disappearing. These are yet ongoing battles, and the next societal role that women will take is still a mystery that we will have to wait to watch unfold.
In this way, it can be seen that women have been socially perceived in a variety of ways since suffrage was enacted. Whether it be as moral, immoral, a threat to the status quo, a highly influential soft power, or a rising working class, it seems that women’s roles haven’t stayed stagnant for long. Through looking at these roles, though, the story of women becoming progressively gaining more equal footing can be illustrated in an interesting way.
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