Life, 1913-10-16 · page 15 of 44
Life — October 16, 1913 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is satirical anti-suffrage rhetoric presented as if serious argument, authored by the fictional "Mrs. Nance Fluffield Hoodwink"—a transparent parody name mocking anti-suffrage advocates. **The cartoons illustrate the absurdity:** - Top: Three figures labeled "votes for men only," "for women don't vote," and "women" wearing voting boxes, showing the arbitrary restriction - Bottom: A child asks if his mother is a suffragette; father (a "prize fighter") declares she isn't—ironic since the father's physical strength doesn't qualify him politically, yet supposedly disqualifies educated mothers - Right panel: A suffragist poses the logical question about "government of the people" while an anti-suffragist struggles for an answer **The satire targets anti-suffrage arguments** by listing them earnestly—claiming women's brains are inferior, that voting demeans femininity, that child-labor laws are "fool legislation," and absurdly suggesting denying votes to non-millionaire men rather than granting them to women. The author mocks these positions as logically indefensible.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE: Ten Good Reasons Against Woman Suffrage By Mrs. Nance Flufffield Hoodwink. IRST: Woman's place is in the home. Anti-suf- frage speakers are-proclaim- ing this from many public platforms. The millions of working women in ‘ the United States may obtain homes by applying to the anti-suffrage association; or they might solve their eco- nomic problem by choosing to starve rather than to be unwomanly. Second: Women's duties are already too heavy; they have no time for politics. Asa matter of fact, it would be better if men also had no vote, for the arduous duty of supporting families leaves them little leisure for public affair: Third: Woman's brain is inferior to man’s and is not equal to grappling with questions of government. To woman should be intrusted only such unimportant matters as the provision of wholesome food in a well-ordered home, and the training of children who shall be the future rulers of their country. “IS YOUR MOTHER A SUFFRAGETTE?” “yoOU BET SHE AIN'T, ME FATHER'S A PRIZE FIGHTER.” SUFFRAGIST hy Question, How can amis ae A GOVERNMENT oF THE PEOPLE AND BY THE PEOPLE’ IF ANTI SUFFRAGIST. WAITING FOR AN ANSWER Fourth: Any woman can accomplish all that is neces- sary by indirect influence. It is more womanly to wheedle and manage her husband or father than to lower herself by a straightforward vote at the polls. Fifth: Women have made themselves a nuisance wher- ever they have been given equal consideration with men. In colleges they often out-rank the men, and in churches they form the larger part of the congregations and monop- olize the benevolent work. Sixth: Women should not vote unless they are pre- pared to go to war. The fact that a very small propor- tion of all men ever carry arms and that a very large pro- portion of all women risk their lives in child-bearing has nothing to do with the question. Seventh: Where women vote there is always a great deal of “fool” legislation, such as child labor laws, anti- saloon laws, and food-inspection laws. Eighth: The liquor and vice interests of the country are unanimously opposed to woman suffrage, and the opinions of such important groups of persons should be respected. Ninth: Our country is an aristocracy and all safe and sane people must wish to keep it so. It would be better to deprive of the vote all men not millionaires than to give it to women. Tenth: The slogan of our ancestors in the American Revolution, “no taxation without representation,” was nonsense. They would have been better off to remain subjects of Great Britain. comicbooks.com