The Anti-Suffrage Propaganda (Badges)

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I explored the Anti-Suffrage postcards in my previous blog post. Now, I will investigate a slightly different form of propaganda. Badges. So what makes badges significantly different to postcards? What it symbolises. People wear badges, they represent an identity; someone only typically wears a badge if they associate with what the badge represents. However, postcards do not always represent the individual who is reading it, they highlight the artist’s impression/the person that commissioned it. Subsequently from analysing Anti-Suffrage badges we can understand the members of anti-suffrage groups in greater deal.

The first badge I examined was given to members of the Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League in 1908 [1]. The most crucial aspect of this badge is the image. It is very traditionalist in outlook as it features a woman looking after her children with the absence of the father who is presumably at work. It represents “the ‘ideal’ or ‘perfect’ woman as filling the role of wife and mother”[2]. This is significant when compared to the typical anti-suffrage postcards I examined previously. It was not over the top, it was not satirical, it was not trying to undermine the suffrage movement. It was depicting the organisation’s viewpoint. Perhaps the reason for this was because its purpose was to represent the current members’ identity rather than trying to convince others to join therefore it did not need to be extravagant. As I stated previously, the people who wear these badges are going to be members of the Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League. The fact that they would be more than willing to wear these badges suggests to me that the reason the members of this group were against female enfranchisement was because they were traditionalists.

The second badge was also given to members of the Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League; this time between 1908-1910 [3]. There is a lot less to dissect in this badge, however the three different flowers represent the national flowers of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. the one of the left is a thistle (Scotland), the one in the middle is a daffodil (Wales) and the one on the right is a clover (Ireland).This suggests that the Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League were trying to unite the entirety of Great Britain to oppose the vote. If they cared about all of the British nations they would undoubtedly have greater support. Again, this is extremely different to the postcards anti-suffrage groups produced; they are attempting to bolster anti-suffrage support rather than undermine suffrage support.

There is limited academic work produced on British anti-suffrage badges however Kenneth Florey investigated American anti-suffrage badges and he declares that some of the badges incorporated other issues into suffrage, predominantly “temperance societies”[4]. For example, one badge stated “Suffrage Means Prohibition” therefore they were attracting the support of alternative groups (in this case people who were against prohibition). This tactic can be seen with the second badge I examined, they were attempting to gain the support of the rest of Great Britain, not just England.

 

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See my previous blog post here: URL: https://edwinhistorysite.wordpress.com/2017/01/28/the-appeal-of-womanhood/

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Bibliography

[1] Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League, “The Opponent’s View” The British Library,(1908), URL: http://www.bl.uk/learning/images/makeanimpact/suffragettes/large12624.html  (Last accessed 01/03/17)

[2] British Library, “The Opponents View”, Date published N.A., URL: http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/21cc/struggle/suffrage/sources/source7/opponentsview.html – Last accessed 01/03/17

[3] Gillian Murphy, ‘Women’s suffrage,”The first humble beginnings of an agitation…” Helen Taylor, 1866.’ Date Published N.A., URL: http://www.lse.ac.uk/Library/Collections/Collection-highlights/Womens-suffrage – Last accessed 01/03/17

[4] Kenneth Florey, Women’s Suffrage Memorabilia: An Illustrated Historical Study, (North Carolina: McFarland, 2013), P.47

Images

[1] Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League, “The Opponent’s View” The British Library,(1908), URL: http://www.bl.uk/learning/images/makeanimpact/suffragettes/large12624.html  (Last accessed 01/03/17)

[2] Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League, “Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League” (1908-10) URL: http://www.lse.ac.uk/Library/Collections/Collection-highlights/Womens-suffrage – Last accessed 01/03/17

[3] Author not specified, “Suffrage Means Prohibition”, Year Published  N.A., Produced in America, See. Kenneth Florey “Women’s Suffrage Memorabilia: An Illustrated Historical Study”  North Carolina: McFarland, (2013), P.47