Women Suffragists in Two Different Lights

The women sufragist movement has been depicted in many different lights through many different movies. This blog entry takes a look into two movies, "Iron Jawed Angels" and "Mary Poppins". "Iron Jawed Angels" tells the story of the ordeal that the women sufragists went through to ratify the 19th admendment. "Mary Poppins", on the other hand, tells the story of a family who, disconnected at the beginning of the film, are brought magically back together through the quirky nanny that comes unexpectedly into their lives. While both movies have totally different themes, they both have women suffragists in them.

The word suffragist in both films was used in the same way when you look at the core meaning of the word. The suffragists in both films fought for women's right to vote. They were both admired by those who supported the cause and looked down on by those who opposed the cause. Most of the suffragists in "Iron Jawed Angels" took a very active approach to trying to ratify the admendment. The only exception was Senator Leighton's wife who gave monotary donations to the cause, but did not actively participate for fear of risking her husbands career. Mrs. Banks in "Mary Poppins" took an active role in the movement. She boasted and bragged about how much work her and her fellow suffragists accomplished that day to the housekeepers when she came home. As soon as Mr. Banks arrived home though she hid her suffragist sash and did not speak of her day with her husband because he did not support the cause.

The representations of the suffragist movement in "Iron Jawed Angels" was more realistic than "Mary Poppins". "Iron Jawed Angels" follows the herstory of the ratification of the 19th admendment with close accuracy from the marches, protests, picketing, hunger strikes, and strife that the women had to go through in order to fight for their right to vote. Mrs. Banks and her fellow suffragists in "Mary Poppins" were painted in a different light though. "Mary Poppins" made it seem like all that the suffragists did was throw rotten food at the prime minister and and sang songs all day long. While these things might have gone on at some time or another, that was not the only thing that these women did to fight for their rights. Let's face it, some rotten food and a positive, powerful song isn't going to earn equal rights for women all on their own.

By the end of "Iron Jawed Angels" the women still continue to be suffragists. They know that their fight is far from over. Through all of their hard work and struggle they were able to get a bill passed that helped 35 states ratify the admendment. There was still much more work to go. It seemed though that at the end of "Mary Poppins" Mrs. Banks quit the fight because her family was back together and to her that was all that mattered. She felt that staying home and being with her kids while her husband went off to work to be a far more wise choice.