Anti-suffrage newspaper in new york
source: article from an anti-suffrage newspaper, the woman’s protest against woman’s suffrage, published in new york by the national association opposed to woman suffrage, in october 1912. the suffragists’ ideal is a kitchen-less house. the suffragist keeps writing and speaking about pots and pans, and denounces housekeeping as degrading. the suffragists teach women to revolt against the daily task of tending child and house, and we sadly see the results in the nation’s poor health and lowered physique. it is the suffragist theory that women’s sphere in life should be the same as the man’s. is it not clear how this hideous feminism is sapping our vitality as a nation? is it too much to say that it lies at the root of half the sickness and disease in our country? there are many wealthy women who support suffragism, and who do a very dangerous thing in preaching to working women that housework is degrading. as long as a working woman keeps her home clean and well tended, she enjoys the high regard of her neighbors. yet, now the more weak-minded have been influenced by the suffragists’ snobbish preaching. such feminism is destroying our national character and warping the natural impulses and beliefs that make a woman’s life such a beautiful work of art.
questions:
1. sourcing: when was this document written? by whom? what do you predict the document will say?
2. close reading: according to this document, why did anti-suffragists oppose suffrage? cite specific passages.