Antisuffragists__Conservative_and_Antifeminist

Antisuffragists: Conservative and Antifeminist As one of the largest reform movements in the Progressive era, the debate over women’s suffrage drew much controversy and sparked fervent support both for and against the movement. Suffragists radically challenged the idea of natural rights with the right to vote, and the Antisuffragists shot back, refuting that women belonged in their political and social sphere and should not overstep their boundaries. Antisuffragists played strongly on the prejudice towards females present at the time and emphasized conservative ideals to raise support against women voting. Antisuffragists argued that women naturally belong in the home as homemakers, and should not spend their energy elsewhere. This shows a strongly conservative belief. Men traditionally belong in the public whereas women traditionally belong in private. Both the men and women against suffrage disliked such a radical change. They wished to keep gender roles in their respective places where they had always been. Making men and women equal would deprive society of the specialized roles taken by women such as raising children. Shoving women in to the public, political world would take away their femininity. Conservatives did not want such tasks aspects of women to be lost. For this, Antisuffragists won the support of many conservative men and women alike at the time. Antisuffragists also used Antifeminism to argue against women voting. In order to retain appropriate gender roles, those against suffrage portrayed women as unintelligent, naïve, and too ignorant to make effective use of a vote. This effectively played on the natural prejudices against women at the time. Most men already felt it proper to keep women out of the political sphere and Antisuffragists used this to raise support for their cause. Some women were also content with their role in society as mothers and wives, and disfavored any proposed change to those roles. It is the “natural order” of civilization, they argued to keep women in their places within families and out of the political world of men. Their arguments are built on substantial sexism and paints women as inferior and incompetent compared to men. In addition, Antisuffragists cited the woman’s inherent ignorance of political issues and lower intelligence as a reason to keep them away from the ballots. Arguing that voting women would cause political chaos and impedance was sexist and set women as less intelligent than men. This image portrayed about women effectively won the support of many men, who at the time already held a prejudiced, inferior view of women. The fight against women’s suffrage was only powerful because it used preexistent conservative views and prejudiced feelings to their advantage. Women were meant to belong in the privacy of the home and perform duties generally regarded as womanly, such as raising children, cooking, and cleaning; men, however, belonged in the public, political world with responsibilities such as voting. Conservatives wished to keep these specific roles intact as they traditionally were, and Antisuffragists used this as an argument against the women’s right to vote. In addition, their arguments were fueled by the prejudice against women, leading people to believe women had no place in voting due to their innately naïve and unintelligent nature. Antisuffragists used a two part argument to support their cause: first, a nationalistic appeal to conservatives, and second, an approach to undermine to validity of a woman’s vote. Works Cited "The Arguements of the Antisuffragists." Rochester University. Web. 14 Feb 2010. . Winslow, Barbara. "Sisters of Suffrage: British and American Women Fight for the Vote." History Now. Web. 14 Feb 2010. . "Women Argue on Suffrage." New York Times 10 Mar 1910: Web. 14 Feb 2010. .