4. Women’s Suffrage Would Be Costly But Provide Little Benefit
When making any decision for an organization, a standard tool to use is called cost-benefit analysis. What a cost-benefit analysis essentially does is it forecasts the predicted outcomes of a particular event and weighs them against the cost of the said event. For example, if a grocery store manager wants to buy 100 crates of oranges at $10 each, and he anticipates that they will sell for $20 each, then he should proceed with the purchase because the benefit outweighs the cost. He stands to profit significantly from the decision.
One argument against women’s suffrage fell along the same lines as the cost-benefit analysis and said that the cost would far outweigh any benefit that would be provided. Think of all that will be involved in allowing women to the polls. Public opinion will have to be shifted so that society enables them to get to the polls in the first place. Elections will have to be redesigned to allow women to participate safely. Women will have to be educated because men thought they could not make intelligent decisions at the voting booth otherwise. All of these things and plenty more add up to a significant cost to society.
Benefits of this thinking include double the population now being educated. Furthermore, social issues that mainly concern women, like domestic abuse and unfair wages, would come to the forefront of political discourse. The advantages have far outweighed any costs.