Women's Suffrage Movement Essay

The women’s suffrage movement was a long and strenuous process. Women desired the right to vote alongside men. This matter was first voiced in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention. However, this was only to counteract the African-American votes being placed at the time. Women supporting the cause became known as suffragettes, and there was much controversy. Anti-suffrage propaganda was circulated to weaken the movement and make it seem like a silly, frivolous matter. The National American Women’s Suffrage Association pushed for a change to the 19th amendment and went about the movement in a softer, more logistical way. But militant tactics were popular at this time because of their abrupt effect. Protests and marches were more prominent and

Those that supported the suffrage movement said that women deserve to be seen and treated as equal to men and that can start with politics. There were many other reasons, however. Despite common beliefs, equality was not the number one reason for women’s urge to vote. Women wanted to be able to vote to have an active decision on who would govern or preside over them because it affected their families. They wanted to have a voice in matters of the home and to be able to bring to voice their opinions about domestic issues and such. As for the anti-suffrage movement, lots of men and women protested the suffrage movement because it was not proper for women. They argued that women were not well-versed in politics and not educated enough to vote. Their place was supposed to be in the home and they needn’t worry about such things. Those supporting the anti-suffrage movement portrayed suffragettes as ugly, masculine, and angry looking. They spread propaganda that hurt the suffragette’s male support and even their female

Women were more inclined to stay home, clean, cook, and have and raise children. Men viewed women as less intelligent and typically not their equals. For women to gain the vote, men would have to acknowledge that women have opinions and lives of their own. This is a revelation that very few men had and it was unthinkable to others. Women gaining the vote would give the impression that women deserve the same rights as men and are their equals. A common misconception was that for a woman to be a suffragette, she had to be masculine, rude, and ugly. A drawing by Katherine Milhous shows an attractive, feminine woman doing household chores and cooking and then going off to place her vote. This drawing contradicts the stereotype that followed suffragettes at the time. It also goes to convince men that all women, not just loud, masculine ones have the desire and need to