Clips from Iron Jawed Angels
The above video shows the recreation of the Woman Suffrage Parade of 1913 at Washington D.C. from the movie Iron Jawed Angels. Organized by Alice Paul of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, or NAWSA, the parade took place exactly one day before the Then-President President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. In the active form of protest, this public demonstration drew general knowledge of women’s suffrage and served as the catalyst in the later days of the movement. The parade was the concrete proof that women could be great leaders both in the politics and at home. This protest also included passive actions where women held and displayed convincing signs about women’s right to vote. This non-violent protest, though ended in riots where the police, mostly of white males, showed little assistance for the women protesters who were harassed by bystanders, was deemed as successful as the unfair treatments of marchers surfaced to the public. This parade played an important role in the women’s suffrage movement as it gained wider audiences and media coverage as well as public attention on women’s right to vote. Women who did not join the march and the parade as volunteers but participated in viewing the parade were thus inspired by such nonviolent protest. Today, because of all the great work these suffragists have done and scarified, all citizens regardless of sexes were granted the rights to vote, even though some still think there is a long way until gender equality is completely achieved, women today enjoy the same basic rights as their male counterparts.
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The above video shows the scenes of movie Iron Jawed Angels where women protesters picketing on the busy streets in front of the White House. Led by Alice Paul who then separated herself from the NAWSA and formed the National Woman’s Party (NWP) with fellow leaders, the group started picketing outside the White House. The group was came to be known as the “Silent Sentinels” as these protesters adapted non-violent civil disobedience while holding signs that questions the President’s support for women’s suffrage, saying like "Mr. President, what will you do for woman suffrage?” and “Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?”. These protests were somewhat ignored by the President as these “silent” banners did not cause any riots or media coverage at the first. Therefore, these protests were ineffective in getting the message to the broader audience. Even though peaceful at the start, many were arrested and jailed on the grounds of “obstructing traffic”, after the start of World War I, as public opinion changed and was agitated by these women’s efforts despite the growing worries at the warfronts. These women chose to be jailed as they refused to pay fines for admitting their minor offends. However, these women surely made the correct decision as throwing into jail made the government look controlling and inhumane. The turn of the protests came when the leader Alice Paul was jailed and threw into solitary confinement for weeks before beginning her hunger strike that eventually led to force-feeding by the wards. Many victims were then beaten up by the guards while some reported the unsanitary conditions of the food and the surroundings. As the condition of the jailhouse surfaced, media played a significant role in creating public’s empathy for these women prisoners who suffered unjust violence inside the jail. President Wilson was under pressure as the Court ruled these arrests and beatings unconstitutional. In 1918, President Wilson announced his support for women’s suffrage in his famous speech “Address Supporting Women's Suffrage Amendment”.
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