Life — May 28, 1914 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of "A Suffrage State Blows Up" This page satirizes woman suffrage in Colorado through both cartoon and essay. The illustration (upper left) shows a woman striking a man, depicting the chaos the author claims results from women voting. The essay argues that Colorado's experience with woman suffrage for twenty-one years proves it harmful to government. The author contends that women lack the physical force necessary to enforce laws and maintain order—a responsibility he claims properly belongs to men. He suggests that when women vote, they select weak or incompetent male officials unable to govern effectively. The piece references Colorado's 1903 suffrage law and uses labor unrest (miners' strikes) as evidence that female voters create governmental instability. The satire attacks woman suffrage as inherently destabilizing to proper masculine authority and state function.