The Hysterical Woman

Women were thought unfit for politics because of their sex. Their biology made them prone to hysteria according to nineteenth century doctors. They thought women’s reproductive systems ruled women’s bodies, minds, and morals.

The suffrage movement became linked to hysteria and mental disorder. Stereotyped images of hysterical women worked to keep women at home, in the private sphere.

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The Feminine of Jekyll and Hyde 

A crazed-looking suffragist carrying a yellow woman suffrage banner runs behind an angry hag. The demon-like hag, a militant suffragist, looks dangerous. She runs to destroy, carrying a bomb and a torch. The message? Woman’s biology, her inner nature, cannot be trusted. Militant suffragists are a danger to society and must be treated like criminals.

                                                                               - Anti-suffrage political cartoon

The Feminine of Jekyll and Hyde. Political Cartoon. Photomechanical Print. Artist, U. J. Keppler. Published in Puck Magazine, June 4, 1913. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2011649598/

American Woman and Her Political Peers

An educated, middle- to upper class white woman is shown with her legal and political peers. She is equal in social status to idiots, convicts, American Indians, and insane men. Suffragists sought the vote to change this status. Opponents used women's biology, their sex, to attempt to keep them in this category.

                                                                                              -Pro-suffrage postcard

American Woman and Her Political Peers. Circa 1893. Reproduction of painting by W.A. Ford, designed and copyrighted by Henrietta Briggs-Wall. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.  http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004681894/

Looking Backward

A visibly disturbed modern woman climbs steps on her way to fame, carrying a bouquet of flowers.  In conflict, she glances backs at the Victorian ideal she has left behind. Prone to hysteria because of her sex, going against her nature will cost her happiness, her children, and her home.
                                                                                -Anti-suffrage political cartoon

Looking Backward. Photomechanical Print. Published in Life Magazine, August 22, 1912. American Women : a Library of Congress guide for the study of women's history and culture in the United States. Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002716765/

There's No Retreat

A small girl holds a banner, "Achievement," and stands on a mountain peak with tears in her eyes. Weighed down by a string of boulders labeled "Votes, Equality, Rights," she appears lost and emotional. Now that she has arrived at the summit, the cartoon suggests she would have been happier staying in her ‘proper’ place, at home. 

                                                                                -Anti-suffrage political cartoon

There's No Retreat. Artist, Mabel Lucie Attwell. Photomechanical print. Published in Puck Magazine, May 30, 1914. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2011649789/

Get Out and Get Under

Sitting atop her husband, a hysterical wife screams at him and shakes a rolling pin. A pennant on the wall, "Votes for Women," gives a reason for her hysterical behavior. The other sign, "Bless Our Home," suggests the home is threatened when women don’t act in their own sex role. The verse shows men’s confusion. Should they escape or submit?  

                                                                                           -Anti-suffrage postcard

Get Out and Get Under. Anti-suffrage postcard. Artist, date and publisher unknown. Palczewski, Catherine H. Postcard Archive. University of Northern Iowa. Cedar Falls, IA.

I Want the Vote

Mouth wide open, a hysterical infant spills her milk and wails "I Want the Vote." The image and text stereotype suffragists as hysterical, unreasonable, loud, and infantile. The scene of an infant eating suggests home and motherhood as the ‘proper’ place of woman. 

                                                                                            -Anti-suffrage postcard

I Want the Vote. Anti-suffrage Postcard. Artist, Date, Publication unknown. Palczewski, Catherine H. Postcard Archive. University of Northern Iowa. Cedar Falls, IA.