ARTICLE REVIEW

 "Mary Kate Hunter:  Small Town Texas Suffragist," by Professor Kevin C. Motl

 The struggle that suffrage brought to women as Motl illustrates it indicates that it has a long history in Pennsylvania. According to Motl, despite the fact that the founding Society of Friends had regarded men and women as being equal to the extent of granting women the rights of airing their voice in some functions, the truth is that they were not granted any political rights. For instance, during the colonial period which lasted from 1681 to 1776, women were deprived the rights of owning properties or voting. It was only the male counterparts who owned properties that had the political rights of voting. Upper class women were given the mandate of taking care of their social affairs and their families. Conversely, the role of the middle and lower class women involved participating managing their family business in farms and shops. This indicates that although men and women were partners in work and hardship that was not the same in government and politics. Thus, as a state and an independent republic in the union, women had no rights to participate in politics.

However, as Motl explains, as time went by there were some individuals who had tried to champion the rights of women to vote. Similarly, the suffragists also had recognized that gaining the voting rights for women would not be any easy task. This is because as much as women had not been able to vote for a long period of time, the majority of them acknowledged that there was no need of disturbing such a status quo. It is also evident that their customs and traditions had postulated that the government was ultimately the prerogative of men thus making it to be outside the sphere of women. Likewise, the majority thought that making women participate would make them neglect their families or their social affairs.

Nevertheless, the affirmation of women rights also demanded to have the same emphasis as the declaration of the rights of slaves.  Because of that, the advocates of women suffrage finally managed to make the legislature approve the referendum that demanded both male and female to have equal rights. As a result of that, after the termination of World War I and the amendment of the women’s suffrage constitution gave women the opportunity of participating in business, medicine, politics, receiving the same wages and salaries as men, and so on.

 

Reference

Motl, K. (2007). Mary Kate Hunter: Small Town Texas Suffragist.