Dueling Representations in the Woman Suffrage Debate
Representations attempted either to keep or change the meaning of the feminine norm. Meanings were attached to drawings or photographs of a woman's body.
Anti-suffragists represented suffragists with a medical stereotype. They implied suffragists' bodies made them hysterical. Seeking the vote made women's bodies man-like and took away their womanly virtue. Voting women were thus unsexed, or unsuitable for womanhood. Therefore they were a threat to the home and the future of the race.
Suffragists countered these representations. They represented themselves as evolving women as they tried to create a new type of feminine ideal. They revised and expanded the feminine norm by combining women's traditional duties with new opportunities in education, the professions, and politics. They represented themselves with heroic figures from history to counter the medical stereotype.
Anti-suffragists represented suffragists with a medical stereotype. They implied suffragists' bodies made them hysterical. Seeking the vote made women's bodies man-like and took away their womanly virtue. Voting women were thus unsexed, or unsuitable for womanhood. Therefore they were a threat to the home and the future of the race.
Suffragists countered these representations. They represented themselves as evolving women as they tried to create a new type of feminine ideal. They revised and expanded the feminine norm by combining women's traditional duties with new opportunities in education, the professions, and politics. They represented themselves with heroic figures from history to counter the medical stereotype.
