Module 6

Learning about the First Wave of the Women's Rights movement through primary sources gave interesting and useful insight and perspective to the social milieu of the time, as well as strategies that activists used, and the reasoning behind them. I thought Elizabeth Cady Stanton's parallel of the Declaration of Independence in her "Declaration of Sentiments" was a clever appeal to make an implicit comparison of the power relations between men and women to that of Great Britain and the colonies, pre-independence.

The reading on "Racism in the Women's Suffrage Movement" by Angela Davis was also interesting. I was a little surprised at the racism some of the suffragettes displayed, although I guess in retrospect it isn't that surprising, given its prevalence at the time. Nevertheless, it was disappointing to realize that some of these women's rights advocates, who are well-known and admired today, were prone to racist thought. Davis' observation that these individuals seemed "determined to prevent further progress for black people if it meant that white women might not enjoy the immediate benefits of that progress" reminded me of Barbara Smith's quote from the first module's reading of definitions of feminism:

The reason racism is a feminist issue is easily explained by the inherent definition of feminism. Feminism is the political theory and practice to free all women: women of color, working-class women, poor women, physically challenged women, lesbians, old women - as well as white economically privileged heterosexual women. Anything less than this is not feminism, but merely female self-aggrandizement.

I think that combining the suffrage movements for women and for black people could have been a potentially powerful move, but it seems that some parties or constituents were more concerned with furthering their own self-interests, rather than a true alignment of the causes working to mutually support and benefit each other. The causes were further divided by political parties acting to serve their own interests as well.

I think that suffrage isn't an issue that is "on the radar" for many young people today because it isn't salient. While it is true that there are places in the world where suffrage is an important and relevant issue, it is not a concern in most places. Moreover, when suffrage is discussed in politics or the media today, it is more commonly referred to as "voting rights," which could be a cause of some of the confusion - that, regrettably, people do not know what 'suffrage' is. Also, suffrage may not be so much of an issue as government corruption or the ability to exercise one's right to vote.