Men had some strange fears when it came to giving women the right to vote. Both Republican and Democratic men shook with fear at the thought of having to convince women to vote for them. Here are some of those early American fears.
1. Women Vote With Their Men
One of the biggest arguments against women voting was the belief that women will simply vote for who their husbands tell them to vote. In other words, men believed that women were incapable of choosing who to vote for and therefore their votes became redundant.
2. Incapable of Change
In 1902, a man did a study on states where women were allowed to vote and he discovered that women were incapable of bringing about positive changes in society through voting. [1]
3. The Family Will Suffer
In a hilarious ad published in Oklahoma, 1902, it was stated that allowing women to vote would endanger families across the United States. Women were supposed to be mothers and their primary jobs were to clean, wait on the husband, and take care of the children. These women did not have the time to vote or know anything about the politics of men, and therefore the women should remain inside their kitchens on election day. [3]
4. Woman Value Domestic Bliss Over Rights
According to Thomas Jefferson:
“But our good ladies, I trust, are too wise to wrinkle their foreheads with politics. American women have the good sense to value domestic happiness above all other, and to cultivate it beyond all other.”
5. The Women’s Vote is Socialism
According to Rabbi Joseph Silverman:
“There is no difference between woman suffrage, socialism and the present feminist movement. The one means the other and, no matter which cause wins first, disaster to matrimony and the home will follow. At all hazards we must oppose these movements; they are subversive to the best interests of the child and will destroy all that God and man have in the past years built up. I call upon you to rise in your might, to use every means at command to grapple with this, the greatest enemy we have today, and sweep it from the face of the earth.”
6. Votes Based on Looks
In 1915, an article in a Nebraska newspaper said that if women are allowed to vote, they will vote for the handsomest man. [4]
7. Compared to Shooting Muskets
One weird reason for denying women the right to vote was that casting a vote was like shooting a musket. It is an act of war. Since women were not allowed to be soldiers in war, they should not be allowed to cast their ballot, either.
8. Politics are too Dirty
Another reason why men did not want women getting involved in politics was because politics were far too dirty for sensible women. Women might become offended or tarnished by the filth of politics.
9. Black Women Would Get to Vote, Too
One of the many reasons why the southern states did not want to give women the right to vote was because black women would also have the right to vote:
“A very popular opposition argument at one time in the south was that to permit the women to vote would be to allow the negro women to vote.” [5]
10. They Don’t Want to Vote
Finally, one of the most common reasons men have given about women’s right to vote was that women really did not want to vote. Women had no idea what was involved in casting a vote. If they did know, women simply would not bother going to the polls. It was all just a waste of time.
