Of Suffrage and Kewpies
In 1913, artist and suffragist Rosie O’Neill patented the Kewpie. These cute, little creatures with “rosy cheeks” quickly became a national phenomenon. The Kewpie increasingly was featured in pro-suffrage magazine cartoons, popularized as dolls, and incorporated into advertisements. O’Neill used the popularity of the Kewpie and its innocent, pure image to justify and support women’s suffrage, often portraying suffragettes as Kewpies in cartoons and postcards. This aligned with a broader trend in women's suffrage postcards to include illustrations of children. The Kewpie and images of children helped to promote a vision of women’s suffrage that was non-threatening and pure, while countering anti-suffrage characterizations of suffragettes as manly and ugly. These motifs helped minimize the animosity of the pro- and anti-suffrage conflict, and advanced or subverted the suffrage cause in different ways.
Ivy Xun, curator
Kewpie: Votes for Women
Rosie O’Neill’s popularized Kewpie stands on a white cloud, campaigning for votes for women while donning a yellow “Women Suffrage” sash. The cute, pure effect the Kewpie imagery evokes counters anti-suffrage portrayals of suffragettes as manly and ugly, ultimately characterizing the movement for women’s suffrage as natural, comforting, and positive.
Ambition
This postcard features a suffragette leader as a child, who gestures at an England banner during a suffragette gathering. The imagery of children here, to present the suffragette meeting, deemphasizes the militancy of the suffrage movement in England and presents women’s suffrage as patriotic and non-threatening.
She's Good Enough for Me!
This is one in a series of six postcards by Emily Chamberlain. It features a little boy, representing Uncle Sam, who says “She’s good enough for me!” to a little girl dressed in yellow, the symbolic color of the national suffrage movement. The use of children to represent notions of suffrage and patriotism conveys a less radical view of women’s suffrage, and one rooted in traditional American values.
Let's Pull Together!
This postcard, part of the same series by Emily Chamberlain, features two children working together to raise a yellow “Votes For Women” flag. The accompanying caption reads “Let’s pull together!” The postcard supports the women’s suffrage movement by characterizing it as a collective effort. Showing children working towards the movement, the postcard encourages the audience to join the cause while making the action seem less threatening.
Votes for Women: I Want to Speak for Myself
This pro-suffrage postcard features a girl, dressed in feminine clothing, declaring, “I want to speak, for myself at the polls.” This could be a response to anti-suffrage arguments that wives were already represented at the ballot box by their husbands. The innocent and pure imagery of a child to represent suffragette voices characterizes women’s suffrage in a way that was acceptable for audiences of the time. The card also accepts traditional gender roles of motherhood and nurturing.
Votes for Men: I've a Dandy Hubby
Featuring the same image and artist as the previous card, this postcard changes the “Votes for Women” heading into “Votes For Men,” with an alternate, anti-suffrage caption: “I’ve a dandy hubby, who works and votes for me. I should worry!” Here, the image of the child subverts the women’s suffrage movement, by portraying suffragettes as naïve and characterizing their demands as frivolous.