Suffrage: the right to vote in political elections
Suffrage is not suffering!
Theme: Development and Transformation of Social Structures
The right to vote was one of the main factors that kept women socially separated from men. During this time, women were still viewed mainly as mothers and housekeepers, and were not seen as capable of participating in politics. Giving women the right to vote lessened the social barrier between men and women and transformed their traditional place in society. Now they were not only mothers and housekeepers, they were voters and politicians. Their opinions were now of equal value to men. Women's suffrage shifted women's gender roles and for the first time in history, placed them as equals to men.
"Suffrage is a common right of citizenship. Women have the right of suffrage. Logically it cannot be escaped." - Victoria Woodhull
“There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers.” - Susan B. Anthony
"I have given the best of myself and the best work of my life to help obtain political freedom for women, knowing that upon this rests the hope not only of the freedom of men but of the onward civilization of the world." - Mary S. Anthony
"Speaking generally, the women had not only no voice in the management of the country, but she had no control over her property, earned or inherited; no control of her own children; no control even of her own person. If that is not a condition of slavery, it bears a close resemblance to it." - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
"There will never be a new world order until women are a part of it." - Alice Paul