On the
National Women's History Museum, Allison Lange, author of National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage quoted Jane Addams, "I do not believe that women are better than men. We have not wrecked railroads, nor corrupted legislature, nor done many unholy things that men have done; but then we must remember that we have not had the chance." This quote is very thought provoking, and provides the reader with a sense of who the author is, and what they believe in before even reading their article. Lange writes that there have been many national suffragist organization since 1869, but there were also anti-suffragist organizations beginning in 1911. She points out that there were people, men and women, who were against suffrage for women. She writes that many anti-suffragists were opposed to the idea of voting for women because they were domestic, they took care of the children and the home, they simply did not have the time to stay informed with politics. They argued women lacked the expertise and mental capacities to offer insight into political issues. These women do not want the burden of having to work in the house and take care of the children as well as stay updated with politics because of the immense pressure that will be put among them if they do gain suffrage rights. Candidates will no longer be calling upon men to vote, but they will start to push women to vote because they have the ability to.
Anti-Suffrage Arguments from the Ohio State University writes that "men and women are fundamentally different and that women should not sully themselves in the dirty world of politics." It was a common misconception that women would not use their voting rights for the right purposes, that their emotions and caring natures would interfere with their ability to make good decisions, "women were different than men and would act out of their 'natural' maternal instinct to prohibit alcohol consumption, interferes with business practices, and regulate working conditions and hours."
In the article, "
Why Women Led Anti-Suffrage Campaigns Against Themselves?" the author, Ella Morton interviewed Dr. Susan Goodier, the author of No Votes for Women: The New York State Anti-Suffrage Movement, said that most of the women were "earnest, intelligent, often educated and professional women who sincerely believed that women, and the nation-state, would suffer when women achieved political equality with men." They argued that in order for the United States to function properly, men and women must remain in separate spheres, "public life for men, and domestic life for women." Some argued that "granting voting rights to women would cause households to breakdown." Morton also writes that "the prospect of votes for women also posed a threat to elite ladies who had grown accustomed to their social status to exert political influence," another reason why some women were anti-suffragists.
Comments
Post a Comment