Women’s suffrage in the early twentieth century created a movement that would have lasting impacts for decades to come. The 19th Amendment signified a change in both American politics and society, as (some) women finally had a seat at the table when discussing policies that would directly affect them. While much progress still needed to be made and women continue to work for this today, women’s suffrage acted as the first major step toward gender equality in the United States. During the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, women’s suffrage resulted in more media portrayal of women as forces of democracy, more women-led activism and more focus on women-oriented policies.
When women gained the right to vote in 1920, it signified a shift in American democracy; however, the immediate impacts of the 19th Amendment being ratified were more about social perceptions than actual influence on politics. The media began to target women as powerful figures of democracy, especially in women-centered publications. In August and September 1920, Leslie’s Magazine published two cover illustrations of women holding an official voting ballot and standing in a voting booth, both looking very serious and committed to their new roles of independent voters. The August edition depicting the woman holding the ballot says, “What Will She Do With It?” which indicates women began to think more about the power they held and the futures they could shape (Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, Aug. 1920). Not only did these magazine illustrations represent a change in the perception of women’s roles in society, but they also encouraged women to step up and take direction action now that women’s suffrage had successfully opened the door for them.
The editorial “Women As Voters” in the September 1920 issue of Leslie’s defines how women’s suffrage impacted the way women voters would and should be perceived by society in the twentieth century. In the editorial, they argue that society will try to paint the narrative that women should vote as women and not as citizens, as women have had to fight for citizenship for their entire lives. “Now that the fight is won it will take some time to shut off the power and shift the emphasis from womanhood to citizenship,” (“Women As Voters, para. 3). The shift in thinking of women as a collective to women as individual people who will split down party lines and have different beliefs as men do would be one women continued to face after suffrage. The editorial acknowledges that women still have a ways to go to achieve other factions of equality with men, such as economic equality, but the way for women to continue fighting sexism in society is to use their newly-gained political power of voting. “Citizenship is not a sex problem. It is a moral problem. If, then, the enfranchisement of women is to mean anything to the nation it will be because these new voters will bring a fresh point of view and a new moral force to the handling of public affairs,” (“Women As Voters, para. 9). Leslie’s editorial on women voters in the 1920s helped shape the perception of what it meant to be a woman participating in politics, which would not have been possible without women’s suffrage.
Women’s suffrage directly impacted women-led activism. The League of Women Voters was founded in February of 1920, before the ratification of 19th Amendment. Throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the League has been at the forefront of major American political movements, helping to change the course of American culture and society. The suffrage movement has a history of supporting politicians and their political agendas to get their own initiatives passed. For example, the suffragists supported President Woodrow Wilson’s push for the United States to enter World War I, which later helped them gain support from Wilson for the suffrage movement. Similarly, between 1944 and 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt encouraged the League promoted a national campaign to create the United Nations and have the United States become a member (“History”, League of Women Voters). Women activists were again rewarded by the president for their support when the League was invited by President Harry Truman to consult for the U.S. at the United Nations Charter Conferences (“History”, League of Women Voters).
Organizations like the League of Women Voters gained more political and social ground after women’s suffrage and continued to make their presence known. In 1993, the League supported President Bill Clinton’s “Motor Voter Act”, which helped create more accessibility for people to register to vote at motor vehicle agencies. Becky Cain, president of the League at the time said, “this victory is particularly important to the nearly 17 million unregistered Americans with disabilities,” (C-SPAN, Motor Voter Passage). As a result of women’s suffrage, women-led organizations were able to influence politics and make impacts on American society, often through federal support that was not previously there. The right to vote gave these organizations more opportunities to campaign and gain support from a larger and more diverse audience, including focusing on representation for minority groups like Americans with disabilities.
The right to vote brought about an expanded political role for women. During the 1970s, the Congresswomen’s Caucus was formed in the U.S. House of Representatives, later changing its name to the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues (Godfrey and Berman, para. 13). The caucus is made up of a bipartisan membership of women in the House and works toward protecting and improving the lives of women and families. The expansion of women’s suffrage after 1920 allowed the political landscape to make room for women-oriented politics, and with it women politicians making these decisions. Throughout the late-twentieth century, the Women’s Caucus was involved in the passage of significant pieces of legislation, including the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Violence Against Women Act in 1994 (Women’s Congressional Policy Institute, 2019). In the article "The Real Turning Point for Women's Political Power" from The Atlantic, Pat Schroeder, a former democratic representative of Colorado, said “There [were] so many things that dealt with family issues or women’s issues, and they never came up unless we would bring them up,” (Godfrey and Berman, para. 22). Not only was there an increase in women participating in politics after women’s suffrage, but women were now creating laws that would change the way society aided and protected them.
The impacts of women’s suffrage on American politics and society cannot be understated. Women’s suffrage and the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 helped advance the social images and political standings of women throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Through a changed media portrayal of women to enforcers of democracy, increased presence of women-led activism and greater prominence of women-centered politics, women’s suffrage created a lasting legacy of strength and independence for the American woman.
Leslie's Magazine August and September 1920 issue covers and September 1920 editorial, "Women As Voters"
Becky Cain, President of the League of Women Voters on the passage of the Motor Voter Bill, 1994
Works Cited
Leslie's Magazine cover issues and editorial, August-September 1920: http://suffrageandthemedia.org/source/leslies-magazine-7-august-and-11-september-1920/
League of Women Voters: https://www.lwv.org/about-us/history
The Atlantic, "The Real Turning Point for Women's Political Power" by Elaine Godfrey and Russell Berman: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/07/how-women-remade-american-government-after-suffrage/591940/
Women's Congressional Policy Institute: https://www.wcpinst.org/our-work/the-womens-caucus/caucus-history-and-accomplishments/
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