Arguments Against Women's Suffrage

It may often appear that the United States has always been at the forefront of bringing equality to its citizens, but several times this has not been the case. One such issue in which equality was not immediately granted was women’s suffrage. Although several European nations had already granted women the right to vote, the United States had not. The delay experienced by women to gain the right to vote brings into question why a right that seems essential to people in the United States today was so vehemently opposed by many people, and whether such a viewpoint was legitimate and rational. Women’s suffrage was largely hindered due to rigid existing gender roles and fear of change, which suffragists had to combat through reasoning and persistence.
Although pro-suffragists had to use reasoning and rationale to persuade people that women had the right to vote, anti-suffragists could use the already existing preconceptions and attitudes towards women and their capabilities. Making women’s suffrage appear ridiculous and unnecessary was the main tactic of anti-suffragists. Anti-suffragists mainly aimed at trying to make the act of granting women the vote appear too extreme and absurd to create discomfort among people and have them lean towards having no change. Those opposed to women’s suffrage magnified the differences beyond reality so that the idea of granting women the right to vote would seem unreasonable and absurd. They tried to make it appear that the right to vote was not a natural right that women needed to have. They argued “that under the Constitution of the United States, women are not invested with the right of suffrage” (Women Suffrage
Like several men, they believed that women should not meddle in politics. Much of their reasoning was also due to the stereotypes and gender roles that existed then. The strong stereotypes that society imposed caused women themselves to believe that they were in fact mentally incapable of properly handling political power. They, like several men, also believed that women had duties to fulfill in the household whereas it was the men’s duty to manage outside affairs. Allowing women to vote would create a disturbance in these roles as women would be able to have a voice outside of household affairs. Having a voice in political processes would not just be a privilege, but would be a responsibility and bring more responsibilities. The possibility of having another responsibility made women uncomfortable. Some women were already content with their roles and did not wish for any changes. Other women were already overburdened with other responsibilities and gaining a new responsibility as a citizen would burden them further. Poorer women had to manage families and work in factories at the same time to make ends meet. With the gender roles present, women would be expected to manage the household without any help regardless of whether they also had jobs or outside affairs, since the participation in those activities in addition to the duties she was expected to fulfill would be seen as a choice. Having these