Examining social changes occurring in the U.S. at the beginning of the 20 th century, one must admit that the pace and scale gained by the feminist movement were by far among the most impressive ones. By challenging social norms and accepted gender roles, American women transformed the perception of themselves in society, thus, redefining the gender dynamics within it. When considering the legal regulations and policies that allowed for the described change, one must mention the 19 th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. However, the process of enforcing the acceptance of the 19 th Amendment has not been linear and consistent, mainly due to the presence of racism and race-based prejudices in some states. Though the early Suffrage movement lacked diversity and the associated perspectives, it did lay the foundation for the 19trh Amendment despite quite vocal claims against change among some of the more racist Tennessee women, who saw the regulation as the gateway to expanding the rights of African Americans.
Remarkably, the arguments that renowned suffragettes introduced in their discussion of the 19 th Amendment varied significantly. For instance, Belle Kearney, while supporting the liberation of women, focused primarily on White middle-class members, whereas Adella Hunt Logan actively promoted the emancipation of women of all races and ethnicities (Hewitt and Lawson 2019). In turn, the perspective that Kearney offered was quite different from those of other prominent suffragettes. For instance, Addams, who also actively encouraged the introduction of the 19 th Amendment into the sociocultural and sociopolitical environment of the U.S., saw it mostly as a “natural extension of household duties” (666). Therefore, the interpretation of the significance of voting for women that Addams offered did not assign a particularly high value to the change.
The specified idea of viewing the attainment of the right to vote could be seen as trivializing the tremendous change that the right to vote caused for female American citizens. Therefore, Winslow’s representation of the issue is understandably more popular since the latter insisted on the 19 th Amendment being the opportunity to address the tremendous injustice that American women had been suffering. Specifically, Winslow referred to the change in question as the ethical and cultural awakening of the U.S. Specifically, Winslow explains that significant alterations in the social dynamics are bound to happen once “the President realizes that brutal bullying isn’t quite a statesmanlike method for setting a demand for justice at home” (669). Therefore, the perspectives on the subject matter varied significantly, yet the general idea of change was perceived as tremendously positive
Unfortunately, not all women wholeheartedly supported the introduction of the 19 th Amendment into the American sociopolitical and sociocultural setting. For instance, Tennessee women became quite infamous for their efforts to counteract the introduction of the Amendment and, effectively, ban it (Hewitt and Lawson 2019). To dissect the nature of the described conflict, one should point to the presence of explicit racism within American society of the time (Hewitt and Lawson 2019). According to Hewitt and Lawson (2019), Tennessee women assumed that the 19 th Amendment would become the gateway to African Americans, in general, receiving the right to vote, which Tennessee protesters considered inadmissible. The protests of the Tennessee women signified major injustice within American society, proving the importance of the intersectionality of the feminist movement. Specifically, to become a legitimate fight for equal rights and against sex-based oppression, the Suffragette movement had to include African American, Native American, and Latin American women, as well as women of any descent. As a result, the significance of integration and support of African American women emerged, Logan being among the first ones to emphasize the problem directly (Hewitt and Lawson 2019).
At the same time, one could argue that the suffragettes represented by the Tennessee women were in the minority. Specifically, it is likely that prominent feminists of the time would have responded with indignation and the encouragement of supporting African American women, as well as women of other racial and ethnic minorities. For example, Logan’s arguments regarding the importance of supporting all women, including African American, Native American, and Latin American ones, should be mentioned (Hewitt and Lawson 2019). Therefore, the focus on multiculturalism and intersectionality was quite prominent despite the presence of racism in the philosophies of some members of the movement.
Finally, it would be wrong to separate the American Suffragette movement from the rest of social trends observed in the U.S. community on the specified time slot. Namely, the aspects of progressivism, such as the movement against segregation and the focus on the needs of the working class intersected with the Suffragette movement to a rather substantial extent (Hewitt and Lawson 2019). Therefore, the sociocultural and sociopolitical changes observed in the U.S. in the 1920s could be seen as a single progressive movement and positive force.
While not being as inclusive due to the neglect of the specific needs of African American women and the lack of representation thereof in it, the U.S. Suffragette movement of the 1920s created a platform for the further emancipation of American women. However, the problem of racism and the resulting complications in advancing the regulation have proven the necessity of inclusivity and the essential principles of humanity to be seen as inseparable for feminism. Namely, embracing the needs of all women and encouraging the interventionalist perspective, particularly, the union among women of all races, religious beliefs, and ethnic communities, has proven to be the critical focus of the feminist movement. Thus, the described change has predetermined the evolution of the American Suffrage movement.