Opposition to the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the 1910s
Marginalization of women has a long history in the United States and manifests in various ways. Politically, the right to vote was a preserve of male citizens for quite a long time. Although the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments successfully secured voting rights for Black men, women remained generally disfranchised. As a result, the women’s suffrage movement led by the likes of Susan B. Antony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucy Stone continued throughout the last half of the nineteenth century. During the Progressive Era, women suffragists grew more optimistic and somewhat militant as socioeconomic and political reform became necessary. Although enfranchisement of women was achieved after Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919, it came at a great cost and the 1910s were the most difficult for the suffragists.
One of the reasons given by anti-suffragists in the opposition to female political participation was the conservative view that women were naturally suited for indoor duties. In this regard, anti-suffragists argued that if women engaged in political affairs, the family institution would collapse. The social fabric would morally degenerate since children would lack proper parenting. In addition, growing opposition to the women’s suffrage movement stemmed from fear of the communist threat. The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 was greatly influential to women progressives seeking voting rights in the United States. Unfortunately, this “un-American” influence was treated as threatening to national security and American values hence the opposition. Considering that at some point the movement coincided with World War I, suffragists were also seen as undermining the war effort.
It is, however, very clear that none of the reasons were genuine enough. Even the war context cannot be used to justify opposition to the suffragists’ movement. For instance, World War I was fought to ensure that the world remained safe for democracy. It was hypocritical for the government to purport to be fighting for democracy while at the same time denying it to American women. The opposition was nothing but a schema to “to maintain a system that upheld male privilege and male supremacy.” Quite a number Western States had long ago given in to the women’s suffrage cause and the trend was growing internationally. Women played a huge role through political participation in the twenties. Therefore, the opposition was ill-founded.
Bibliography
Chapter 19, “Progressivism and the Search for Order: 1900-1917.” 458-484.
Chapter 20, “Empire and Wars: 1898-1918.” 486-510.
Chapter 21, “The Twenties: 1919-1929.” 512-537.
Mickenberg, Julia L. “New Women in Red: Revolutionary Russia, Feminism, and the First Red Scare.” The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 18, no. 1 (2019): 56-80.