Women's Suffrage In The Film Iron Jawed Angels

It was reported that they were called "the shrieking sisterhood," "unfeminine," and "immoral drunks." Even with all of this opposition, the women continued to hold meetings, and went on speaking tours to inform the public about their vision for the future. These women were not treated well at all. They were criticized, but as well as verbal abuse, they were also often the victims of physical violence. Their meetings were very often interrupted and disbanded by gangs (Microsoft 2000). Through all of this, the women remained true to their cause, and although it was not said, their determination and devotion, accompanied by their willingness to put up with any form of hatred that they were subjected to, helped their cause tremendously by showing people, particularly other women, how truly strong the members of the female gender could be.

    Similar to the narrator's "freedom" from the suppression of her husband in the conclusion of the story, women's' effortful battle lead to a victory in 1920, when women finally won the write to vote and be included in the political decisions affecting society.  The narrator went through mental as well as physical struggles as did the women of this era.  During the progressive movement, they continued an effortful battle

Iron Jawed Angels is a film which portrays the women's suffrage movement during the 1920's. The film is a documentary and a drama which uses live action and music to deliver the sympathetic and distressful mood the film creates. An example of the distressful mood is when the suffragists refuse to eat when they go to prison. This shows how passionate and distressed the suffragists are to get the 19th amendment passed, which would give women the right to vote. The films message, which is the hardships and adversity women had to withstand to get the 19th amendment passed, is effectively portrayed because the struggle the suffragists faced is accurately and beautifully depicted. As a tool of communication, the strengths

In order for women to be taken seriously the NWP’s leaders Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, who were the party’s main leaders, produced many creative forms of campaigning for the public. The first idea that they developed was on March 3, 1913, and was an organized parade in Washington D.C, purposely the day before President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. Washington was filled with visitors due to this occasion so it was a perfect opportunity. The parade consisted of about eight thousand willing women marching onto Pennsylvania Avenue convincing bystanders to take consideration. They wore sashes and banners, one of the banners in the march said, “WE DEMAND AN AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION ENFRANCHISING WOMEN” (Behring). These demanding banners angered the people, men began to hang outside their windows and come out of their cars to yell at the women which turned into a violent riot. Many women were injured and police officers didn’t bother to protect the women or stop the riot, it looked more like they were enforcing the situation. This caused the super

It was January 11, 1885 and in Moorestown, New Jersey what I would call a rook in the chess game of women’s suffrage, was born. It’s hard to believe that such an overwhelming infatuation in equality could be so deeply immersed in a woman only twenty-seven years of age. However, when you know that this person is none other than Alice Paul, believing gets easier. It was the defiance caged up inside this fire-cracker of a woman that led her steadily through the great battle of woman's suffrage.

Remember your Ladies” (Revolutionary Changes and Limitations) is what Abigale Adams told to her husband John Adams when he was signing a new federal document. She was one of the earliest woman suffrage activists and her words towards her husband would eventually snowball into one of the most remembered suffrage movements in the history of the United States (Revolutionary Changes and Limitations). The women’s suffrage movement picked up speed in the 1840-1920 when women such as Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Alice Paul came into the spot light. These women spearheaded the women suffrage movement by forming parties, parading, debating, and protesting. The most renowned women suffrage parties that were created during the 1840-1920 was the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), and the National Woman’s Party (NWP). The parties not only had similar names but similar goals: women will one day receive the right to vote. Each party had its own unique agenda of how women will receive the right to vote, the NWSA had Susan B. Anthony’s dedication, the NAWSA had Catt’s “Winning Plan” (Carrie Chapman Catt) and the NWP had Alice Paul’s perseverance to go to extremes by captivating people’s attention. Eventually the goal of the parties was reached when the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified. The Amendment granted women the right to vote, granting them all the same rights that were held by men. Women would have never

The battle for suffrage was a long and slow process. Many women tried to initiate the fight for suffrage, like Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. “These were the New Suffragists: women who were better educated, more career-oriented, younger, less apt to be married and more cosmopolitan than their previous generation.” (pg 17) Eventually, in 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified; allowing women to vote, but it was not any one person or event that achieved this great feat. It was the confluence of certain necessary factors, the picketing and parades led by Alice Paul, militaristic suffrage parties and the influence of the media that caused the suffrage amendment to be passed and ratified in 1920. But most importantly, they successfully moved both

In the cartoon, it states “20,000,000 American Women Are Not Self-Governed” (Doc 7). This cartoon establishes the idea of women not taking part in the process of developing their own government. This is a necessary part to uphold as the equality of women leads to the right to vote, a key point in basic American rights. Two major women that fronted women's suffrage movement were Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Lucretia Mott initially started this movement with Elizabeth Stanton, in Seneca Falls, NY. In the letter to Elizabeth Stanton from Susan B. Anthony, she asks the question, “If only now--all the women suffrage women would work to this end of enforcing the existing constitution--supremacy of national law over state law over state law” (Doc 2). The idea of women's suffrage is not a simple task, as enforcing this law is a difficult task to continually maintain within both the national and state

The division between NAWSA and NWP was portrayed in the film and it has relevance to the course because it ties into what the article “breaking down barriers for women” revolved around. The older women were not on board with the strategies and because of that asked Paul to raise the funds for the parade she wanted to conduct. The split was based on tactics. The NAWSA led by Carrie Chapman Catt wanted a state by state approach while Alice Paul, who led NWP had more aggressive techniques. Picketing the white house was considered an aggressive approach to NAWSA. Although they were aggressive, they were not violent. There was more determination coming from the NWP. NAWSA waited patiently as asked by President Wilson. The President ignored the issue and said it was because he had no knowledge nor was he familiar with the issue.

courage they were. The women were willing to do anything for them to be heard and make a

Iron Jawed Angels, an inspirational story that withholds perhaps one of the most important movements in time. Until I viewed this movie I did not fully comprehend the depths of the struggles of the woman’s suffrage movement. This movie contains a powerful message about what women can do using their rights and skills in organizational leadership. Determination which one woman carried, and many supported allowed a national change to take place. Before watching this movie I had heard of Susan B. Anthony, but never of Alice Paul or the other suffragists. I also never realized how hard it was for a woman to get ready; we take our pre-bought makeup for much granted. The parade that takes place is an extremely important event. It shows the many different types of women and how far they’ve come. It also shows how many people were interested in the topic that no one showed up to the see Woodrow Wilson, because everyone was at the parade. Not alone his lack of knowledge of the subject, since he himself did not attend. It shows the intense anger that people felt against this issue, and how the government failed to offer protection during the parade; that men were

National Women’s Party was one of the popular organizations that focused more on dramatic tactics like hunger strikes, picketing the White house and other

The National Woman Suffrage Association was founded in 1869, one of the main suffrage organizations in the US during the 19th century. It was a unification of the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). The (NAWSA) became the parent that combined all of women’s suffrage small and stated organizations. It was one of the largest and most important suffrage organizations as well as being the primary promoter to woman's right to vote. Women during the gilded age, progressive Era received many injustices and suffered from inequality. The National Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) main goal is to pursue the right to vote in different ways. The organization was established in 1890. In 1890 it became necessary to combine the efforts to try to pursue their goals. Their strategy is to pressure federal government to offer women the same constitutional protections in the Fifteenth Amendment (Keyssar,2009). After establishing (NAWSA) it became the mainstream and the most nationally visible women suffrage organization. NAWSA was the largest women's organization established to help pass woman suffrage legislation. For decades the woman suffrage movement story has been written as national stories. It’s a story that has been written through individuals and collective biography (Sneider, 2010).

This new generation of activists fought with this new agenda for almost 20 years until a few states in the West began to extend the vote to women. The Eastern and Southern states still refused to give in, but this didn’t stop the National American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1916, Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the NAWSA, worked vigorously to get women’s organizations from all over the country together and fight side by side. “One group of activists, led by Alice Paul and her National Woman’s Party, lobbied for full quality for women under the law” (Divine). She used mass marches and hunger strikes as strategies, but she was eventually forced to resign because of her insistence on the use of militant direct-action tactics (Grolier). Finally, during World War 1, women were given more opportunities to work, and were able to show that they were just as deserving as men when it came to the right to vote. On August 18th, 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified, allowing women to vote. This drawn-out and arduous battle opened a new window of opportunity for women all over the country. Significant changes in both social life and job availability began to create what is now referred to as the “new women.”

The film begins with Alice Paul, played by Hilary Swank, and Lucy Burns, played by Frances O'Conner, arriving from England where they had formerly been involved in the women's suffrage movement. They arrive in the United States with the goal of using what they learned in England and applying similar strategic techniques to their campaigns. Initially, the duo are active members of NAWSA, led by Carrie Chapman Catt played by Angelica Huston, however, as their approach and tactics become more aggressive, and they become independently successful as a branch of the organization, Catt voices her displeasure with Paul and Burns' approach, which leads them to separate from the organization in order to establish their own, politically aggressive party, the National Women's Party, whose sole agenda is to focus on making women's suffrage an issue within politics and society and getting an amendment passed that guarantees people the right to vote regardless of sex (Iron