Photo of Terence Eden. He has a beard and is smiling.

Anti-Suffragette Postcards

· 4 comments · 150 words

Due to a strange mix-up with an eBay order, I've come into possession of these rather quaint anti-suffragette postcards.

Three postcards. The first shows a toddler girl writing on a blackboard - childishly writing things like "give us our rights" and a hangman showing a man being hanged. The second is of a fat and unattractive woman with the name "Aught To Be Spanked First" - she is saying "We only want what the men have got". The last is entitled Man's Reward and shows a woman using an umbrella to beat a policeman.

I hope it is obvious that I am pro universal suffrage. What amuses me about these cards is how emotional they are! These aren't dispassionate arguments designed to calmly influence the rational man. It is all pure emotion! Looking through the archives of anti-suffragette postcards it's clear that men can't be expected to follow a logical argument; they have to be frightened of humiliation in order to make a decision.

I assume the copyright for these has long since expired - so feel free to enjoy some high quality scans - with bonus view of their backs.

Click to download

10MB: Three postcards. The first shows a toddler girl writing on a blackboard - childishly writing things like "give us our rights" and a hangman showing a man being hanged. The second is of a fat and unattractive woman with the name "Aught To Be Spanked First" - she is saying "We only want what the men have got". The last is entitled Man's Reward and shows a woman using an umbrella to beat a policeman.

6MB Back of three postcards. One of which has tiny cursive handwriting on it.

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4 thoughts on “Anti-Suffragette Postcards”

    1. Jeremy GH says:

      ... and the first (left hand one) in the USA.

      My other thought on them is are they actually 'political', produced to make an argument influencing (one way or other) the debate, or are they commercial, humorous/satirical (?) comments on an issue of the day, and to be seen alongside, and in much the same way, as the classic 'saucy' seaside postcard?

      Reply

  2. Jon Ribbens says:

    My favourite anti-suffragette argument was that if a woman votes the same way as her husband, then his vote has been unfairly doubled. And if she votes against him, then his vote has been unfairly cancelled out. You can't argue with that - it's just logic, innit.

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  3. said on mastodon.xyz:

    @Edent Watching the more recent political "discussions" (say 10+ years) in the USA (and elsewhere - Britain, the EU, Brazil, etc), the arguments directed towards men are incredibly emotional. Mostly they are based in stoking fear (loss of jobs to women! or immigrants! loss of masculinity(?!) you won't be free! you won't be rich!)

    Historically I'm sure this was always the case - it just feels even less nuanced or, maybe, less cautious now.

    Reply | Reply to original comment on mastodon.xyz

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