Blog #4

After watching Iron Jawed Angels there were several things that I learned. I would have to say that the first thing I learned was that Alice Paul had to form a different women's group because her tactics and beliefs did not match up with the original suffragists. I also did not know that the women were imprisoned for protesting a war-time president. I found it fascinating that Alice was one of the first to do the hunger strike. What really surprised me, although it really shouldn't have, was that the police really did not give the women proper protection throughout the entire struggle. I would have to agree with the papers of that day and blame the police for the injuries caused during the parade. The themes throughout the movie are pretty clear. Determination and perseverance were two of the major ones to me. The women would stop at nothing and used every peaceful tactics they knew to gain support and awareness. It seems to me that this was one of the first public relations movements with their belief that any press is good press. The tension between the women who worked for the suffrage cause was very frequent. The National Women's Party wanted an amendment to the Constitution while the other suffrage group they were apart of originally wanted each state to pass the law. The older women of the original suffrage group did not want to completely support Alice, so they allowed her to head a committee that she had to raise funding for. When she raised a large portion, they put the money on hold to supposedly investigate her activities to try to prevent Alice from using her outspoken tactics. I also thought that the women struggled for a brief time to keep that cause going. They had to make the difficult decision of protesting a president at war. They ladies were able to overcome it all and complete their goal by standing strong together in prison. To me, when Alice went to prison with the others and began the hunger strike, is when the tides began to change. I also believe that the senator's wife, Emily, help turned the tides when she slipped the note from Alice to her husband for him to leak to the press. I think the outrage of their treatment in prison was a very pivotal part of turning the tides in favor of the movement.