Children as Symbols
“Votes for Women” was a heated topic in America during the 19th and 20th centuries. Women started to actively fight for their rights by parading on the street and attending regular meetings held by women’s suffrage organizations. The actions taken by women finally led to the creation of the 19th amendment, a significant mark in American history. However, the 19th amendment only provided us with the result of the suffrage movement. It did not present the daily struggle experienced by each woman. Postcards, on the other hand, give us a more concrete description of the role suffrage movements played in daily lives. Children were a popular subject for postcards, and they were often used as symbols to advocate either for the suffrage cause or against it.
Why were children popular subjects for suffrage postcards? There are mainly three reasons for the presence of children, especially baby girls, on postcards: They are cute characters for commercial postcards; they represent nature and purity, as unaffected by society; and they remind parents of their own children and strengthen the card’s persuasive power.
On some postcards, suffragettes are represented as mothers who have abandoned their children. This played into the fear that traditional gender roles would be reversed or shattered once women gained the right to vote. On other postcards, images of children were used to represent suffragettes. Anti-suffrage cards presented women as needy, aggressive, or submissive babies; while pro-suffrage cards portrayed women as innocent children who should enjoy voting as a birthright. These postcards, used daily and by many, thus captured the dramatic changes happening in the US against a backdrop of a growing women's suffrage movement.
Olivia Wang, Valerie Xu, and Jaylene Yi, curators
What Us Girls Want . . .
The girl holding a box with “votes for wimmen” is walking arrogantly. The sentence on the bottom of the postcard is delivered in a sarcastic tone, which reveals the anti-suffragette position.
What Us Girls Want (verso)
Though the imagery of the "What Us Girls Want" postcard is evocative of anti-suffrage sentiment, the message on the back of the card is surprisingly sympathetic to the suffrage cause:
"Say Cetto are you for womans suffrage. I am - don't tear this up. Show it to Leo."
Would I Win Your Vote?
The girl in the middle wears an extravagant hat and a red sash on which is written “votes for wimmen”. She proudly stands in the middle and two boys solemnly stare at her. This postcard, though designed by the illustrator of the "What Us Girls Want" postcard, could be interpreted to support woman suffrage. Even though they are babies, they look very determined and serious.
I'm a Suffragette . . .
This girl is wearing an extravagant hat and holding a ballot on her hand. She does not care whether people know that she is a suffragette or not, which emphasizes the quality of being determined and independent. Adding to the innocence of the scene is the presence of two hearts.
Man Baby
This trade card contains a negative depiction of Dr. Mary Walker, who was a surgeon, a radical suffragist, and a prominent figure in the dress reform movement during Civil War era in America. By breaking the gender stereotype at the time, Dr. Walker was portrayed as an unnatural looking “man baby” in this trade card, which reflected the fear of those against women’s rights.
Born on This Day One Suffragette
This postcard illustrates a girl holding a pro-suffrage sign brought by a stork, and it reads “born one suffragette.” This card advocated that women’s demand for the right to votewas not an unreasonable request, but rather, people were born equal and thus women should be able to enjoy the right to vote as a birthright.
I Want to Vote, But My Wife Won't Let Me
This postcard, part of the Suffragette Series, depicts the repercussions of women gaining the right to vote in terms of traditional gender roles being at risk, as depicted by a disempowered husband who is forced to do the housework. Furthermore, the innocent baby is left neglected on the floor, tended to by a sinister cat.