5. Women Don’t Need to Vote Because Men Will Always Vote With Their Interests in Mind
When is the last time that someone assumed that he or she knew what you wanted and turned out to be wildly wrong? Maybe the person was so confident of what you wanted as a Christmas or birthday present and extravagantly got you a gift that was downright repulsive. In fact, it seemed to be tailor-made for the person who gave it to you and didn’t seem to bear any of your interests at all.
One common argument that suffragettes faced was that their husbands, sons, and other male relatives were voting with their best interests in mind. They believed that they were giving lavish gifts to their wives, mothers, sisters, and other female friends, not realizing that these women wanted something else entirely. They also didn’t know that the “gifts” that they were giving were more in the men’s favor and showed little concern for women.
Surprisingly, this argument wasn’t only touted by the men who claimed that they were voting in women’s best interests. Many anti-suffragette groups, which were run by women, also used this argument.
However, as it turns out, what women wanted wasn’t for the men in their lives to represent them well in politics. What women wanted was the opportunity to express themselves by voting.