Why is Women’s Suffrage a Social Movement?
An Organized Collectivity
A social movement is at least minimally organized, there has to be a degree of organization. The Women’s Suffrage movement was very organized under the efforts of Alice Paul in terms of the marches, protests, and the publicity they received. There campaign was to get women the right to vote involving multiple organizations such as the National Women’s Party (NWP) and National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).
Uinstitutionalized Collectivity
A social movement is an uninstitutionalized collectivity. Movements, like Women’s Suffrage are populated by ordinary people. They have no power of reward or punishment beyond disruption such as their ability to picket at the White House. Women’s Suffrage sole means of accomplishing their goals is to use persuasion to convince the public to provide women the right to vote.
Large in Scope
In the Women’s Suffrage movement, they assumed a national scope across the United States. They sustained their efforts for decades until their wish was granted. They selected leaders such as Alice Paul and Elizabeth Cady Staton to be the face of the movement. They conducted continuous membership drives to get more and more females involves while carrying out many campaigns such as petitions, picketing, and marches. The women also employed a wide variety of strategies such as songs, slogans, posters, newspapers, and letters to get their point heard.
Women’s Suffrage was an innovative movement because it tried to alter the existing values with new values. The existing values at the time did not allow women the right to vote, and in being innovative, leaders like Alice Paul pulled forth their efforts to get a new amendment passed granting women the right to vote. The change being advoacated for was a revolutionary movement hoping for total change in womens rights by using confrontational and coactive strategies of worth and right.
progressiveeradotcom 