A Political Cartoon Analysis
This primary source is a political cartoon that was drawn in 1909 by E.W. Gustin. He named it the “Election Day!” This cartoon was created to show men in America what would happen if they voted for women’s suffrage.
At the time of the 1909 cartoon, there were several feminist movements in the United States. One movement is when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her partner, Susan B. Anthony launched the National Women Suffrage Association (NWSA) demanding the vote for women. Suffragists won victories in Colorado in 1893, and Idaho in 1896. However, women suffered a harsh defeat in a California poll. According to the textbook, Susan B. Anthony’s last word in her last public appearance in 1906 was “Failure is impossible” (Roark 536). Another feminist …show more content…
At the door is a quite intimidating appearing woman ready to go out to vote. She dresses almost like a flapper, with short hair, and a suit with tie. She looks back over her shoulder and sees her husband, who has a look of concern or confusion on his face. He has an apron tied around his waist and holding two crying babies. Additionally, there are plates scattered on the table and a broken one on the floor. The broken plate enhances Gustin’s suggestion that the husband has a significant domestic responsibility in his wife’s absence, and he seems clueless to what he is supposed to do. This also conveys the fears against the set domestic roles of women because Gustin believed that women would involve busily in politics in public rather than concentrating on being a good housewife at home. In actuality, women can be a good mother and important political member. For instance, activist like Margaret Sangers was a devoted mother as well as an important political activist. She became “a national celebrity” (Roark 572) and opened the nation’s first birth control clinic in Brooklyn in October 1916 because she feels that “by having fewer babies, the working class could limit the size of the workforce and make possible higher wages and at the same time refused to provide “cannon fodder” for the world’s armies” (Roark
At the time of the 1909 cartoon, there were several feminist movements in the United States. One movement is when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her partner, Susan B. Anthony launched the National Women Suffrage Association (NWSA) demanding the vote for women. Suffragists won victories in Colorado in 1893, and Idaho in 1896. However, women suffered a harsh defeat in a California poll. According to the textbook, Susan B. Anthony’s last word in her last public appearance in 1906 was “Failure is impossible” (Roark 536). Another feminist …show more content…
At the door is a quite intimidating appearing woman ready to go out to vote. She dresses almost like a flapper, with short hair, and a suit with tie. She looks back over her shoulder and sees her husband, who has a look of concern or confusion on his face. He has an apron tied around his waist and holding two crying babies. Additionally, there are plates scattered on the table and a broken one on the floor. The broken plate enhances Gustin’s suggestion that the husband has a significant domestic responsibility in his wife’s absence, and he seems clueless to what he is supposed to do. This also conveys the fears against the set domestic roles of women because Gustin believed that women would involve busily in politics in public rather than concentrating on being a good housewife at home. In actuality, women can be a good mother and important political member. For instance, activist like Margaret Sangers was a devoted mother as well as an important political activist. She became “a national celebrity” (Roark 572) and opened the nation’s first birth control clinic in Brooklyn in October 1916 because she feels that “by having fewer babies, the working class could limit the size of the workforce and make possible higher wages and at the same time refused to provide “cannon fodder” for the world’s armies” (Roark