Postcards from another time when powerful men feared women voters

Tomorrow, American voters will decide the direction their country will take for the next four years. One of the major themes of the election has been women’s rights. In the “swing states” that likely will decide which party wins, a Gallup poll demonstrated that male and female voters have very different political priorities. Women’s top concerns included “abortion,” “equal rights/pay/opportunity” and social services, issues that didn’t even show up on the men’s list. Both genders are — obviously — especially concerned with the economy, but “abortion” beat out “jobs” on the women’s list. The mobilization of women voters tomorrow could have a lasting effect on the world.

But 100 years ago, most western democracies did not allow women to vote at all. This collection of early 20th century postcards, curated by Retronaut, illustrates the intense anxiety felt by the male-dominated society about the Suffragette movement that was gaining momentum in Great Britain, the United States, and around the world.

Note the themes…

Men will be socially emasculated:

Women will become more masculine:

Not to mention, “sluts”:

(”Wham, bam, thank you Ma’am!”)

And the children will suffer:

Despite all these threats to the very fabric of society, women in many countries did eventually get the vote. Tomorrow, it will be interesting to see how American women use it.

See the whole collection at Retronaut