Part 1: Gender, Patriarchy, & Women's Suffrage

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Sex

Biological differences between men and women

Gender

socially constructed differences between men and women

What are the 6 ways gender can be viewed

• Created

• Recreated

• Fluid

• Can be hard to notice

• an institution

• ranked

Created

gendered characteristics come from CULTURE that gets passed through socialization

recreated

Practiced daily

• by behaving in terms of a gender, we practice being of that gender

Fluid

gender varies across countries overtime

• the characteristic of women in one country or time may vary from those expected in other country’s

can be hard to notice

can be taken for granted bc/ people are socialized to perform it since birth

ranked

socially constructed relationship of inequality where gendered categories are linked to unequal power

Gender expressions

how we externally express our gender

Evolution of sex vs gender in political science

currently, gender is viewed as a variable BUT is more focused on complexity and power

What took the evolution long

The patriarchy

• systematically structured gender inequality

• what we research, how we research, who does the research

What is the patriarchy?

Social system of men’s domination over women, where men’s domination is built into the social, political, and economic institutions of society

Patriarchal societies are characterized by men’s control over…

• economic resources

• political processes

• positions of authority

Public sphere

men’s domain

• politics, political science, public life (not including women)

Private sphere

women’s domain

• should focus on their family children, marriage, and home

• women are NOT involved in politics

Indirect power

Women

• Mothers, wives, daughters, queens (DEPENDENTS)

• Manages of estates & households

• POWER is based of their MARRIAGE contract

Direct power

Men

• Public authority

• citizens, workers, office holders

• Enter & exit contracts

• conduct BUSINESS & TRADE

Rise of individualism

More individual power

• right to engage as an INDEPENDENT unit in the economic struggle

• further separation between public and private

• erosion of FAMILIAL POWER

Women are excluded from the public world

Women’s Suffrage in the U.S

Wyoming gets suffrage first

• West gave women the right to vote before east did

  • less separation + less people= wanting more votes

  • women were educated and working in public sphere

  • men thought women voters could bring order to public life (Strategy)

• The rights of the people: women are women

Outsider tactics

• Parades

• fair booths

• leaflet distribution

• canvassing

• attempting to vote

Insider tactions

• Candidate campaigning

• legislative lobbying

Justice argument 2001

women’s rights same as men

• right to vote

Expediency 2001

women bring unique skills and perspective to politics

Western states in the US had what two things

Insider tactions + expediency frame

Moral & Progressive expectations

• Women are associated with “Moral purity & their positions as mothers”

  • expectations to support issues like abolition, temperance, and child welfare

Prohibitionist alliance

women’s vote was often linked to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union & the Republican

Southern Democrats

southern suffragists strategically argued that enfranchising white women would “shore up the majority”

Liquid Lobby Opposition

Anti-prohibition groups were anti suffrage

19 amendment

Harry burn was the youngest member of the legislature, and he broke the tie

• said his mother told him to support it

3 MARCO explanations to HOW & WHY theorizing enfranchisement

• Economic modernization

• war & enfranchisement

• womens scarcity

Economic modernization

• More women entered workforce & became greater part of public life

• economic development drove democratization which came with women’s suffrage

War enfranchisement

mass warfare require society wide cooperations and people can extract concession from leaders

womens scarcity

Women gain rights when they are fewer of them

• why the west gave women the right to vote first, because there were fewer of them

2 MICRO explanations to HOW & WHY theorizing enfranchisement

Men’s preferences, Elite Incentives

Men’s preferences

women won the vote when it was good politically for men

Elite incentives

politicians support reform for 3 reasons:

• Elites are split in electoral competition

• Elites are powerful and well insulated

• They want to avoid revolution