Favor Of Female Suffrage example essay topic

A major political issue in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was the "woman question". It was directed towards the rights of women, focusing on whether they should be allowed to vote or not. Those in favor of female suffrage wanted to break the chain of male supremacy, so women could advance in society. Those against female suffrage wanted women to keep their judgments within the confines of the home; because if they were given the right to vote, there would be total chaos.

A common ideology amongst the people who supported universal suffrage was the belief that men and women were equal. Julie Dabi'e, a French political activist, believed that women were "equal to men as French persons", and "equal before the taxes". Women's separation from the polls was a "gratuitous insult for women", according to Julie Dabi'e (D. 2). Ideologies like the one of Julie Dabi'e, gave feminists a burning desire to break away from male supremacy within the household and in politics. They believed this could be done through a universal suffrage. According to Arabella Shore, a representative of the London National Society for Women's Suffrage, women had very few legal rights as a way for men to keep "the supremacy in every sphere to himself" (D. 5).

Stuart Mill also explained the necessity for equality between both sexes in The Subjection of Women. He states that "the moral regeneration of mankind will only really commence when the family is placed under the rule of equal justice" (D. 1). A petition from the peasant women of Nogatikino to their deputy in the Russian Duma wants to end a reign of male dominance. The petition calls for legal rights and better treatment (D. 9). Unlike zealous protesters, it was deemed by feminists, that if women were given the right to vote, it would be for the betterment of society, not for its destruction. These advocates thought that by ending complete male authority, women could truly progress in society.

An Italian feminist by the name of Anna Mozzoni affirmed the benefits of equality in The Question of the Emancipation of Women in Italy. She stated that the ideals of the woman question "discredits the rule of force", and "advances women in the economic sphere", by weakening "the power of traditional prejudices" (D. 4). Clara Zetkin, a German socialist leader, asserted the importance of universal suffrage in Women's Right to Vote. Zetkin stated that "the obtainment of suffrage helps the bourgeois women to tear down the barriers in the form of male prerogatives which tend to limit women's educative and professional opportunities". It is evident that Zetkin realized that by gaining the right to vote, women advancement would ensue at a much greater pace (D. 10). Those who opposed woman suffrage did not think a woman was capable of making a sensible judgment because they only received knowledge from second-hand accounts.

Henry James exemplified this point of view in a speech in the House of Commons. He affirmed that the clergy would have an enormous influence over a woman's vote because "women would have to make judgments on the basis of information obtained second-hand, and not from practical experience" (D. 3). Promoters of female suffrage profoundly thought both sexes were equal. However, contrary to the supporters' beliefs, many opponents to universal suffrage deemed a woman's judgment impulsive, and therefore, women should not be allowed to vote. It was best for women to "influence the more highly trained and developed judgment of men", according to Mrs. Humphrey Ward, a popular novelist (D. 7). Ward's statements were rather biased due to her position as a notorious novelist during the late eighteen hundreds.

In order to maintain revenue for her books, she must appeal to the public, which at that point in time was less open to female suffrage than during the nineteen hundreds. Protesters to women voting believed that it was best that women kept their opinions within the frame work of the home, because their ideas would only lead to turmoil. A speaker for a French Senatorial Commission typified this principle by examining a bill on women's suffrage. The speaker believed that women were better off using their hands to pleasure their husbands than using them to tamper with the ballots (D. 12).

Francesco Crispi, a liberal politician and future prime minister, believed that if women were to participate in public business, there would be war and grave problems. Crispi thought that it was necessary for women to stay at home to comfort the man. Clearly, Crispi's view is biased because he is a liberal. Liberals retained the belief that men alone were socially, politically, and economically equal (D. 6).

Pope Pius XI shared this thinking in his encyclical, On Christian Marriage in Our Day. He believed that the husband of a household demonstrated unnatural equality, which would only be bad for the woman. A woman should stay within the confines of her home, for if she doesn't, she will only become a mere instrument of man (D. 13). Count Reventlow, while addressing the German League for the Prevention of the Emancipation of Women, announced that "women want to rule and we don't want to let them".

He believed that women could take over and possibly ruin the German state if they were given the right to vote. Count Reventlow was unmistakably biased in this bold statement. It was biased because he was speaking in front of a group that was in favor of outlawing woman suffrage. Therefore, his beliefs were obviously biased to bolster his claim against woman suffrage (D. 11). A call for woman suffrage was a most important affair during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The major points of view concerning suffrage and the ways in which individual commentators believed woman suffrage would affect the political and social order, were very different.

The men and women in favor of this female suffrage customarily believed it would better society. While those against it, thought it would be detrimental to society.