4 ms·

uh... in what manner are the women's rights movement connected to the tea totallers and other moralists? (that's not a rhetorical question, i have never heard

uh... in what manner are the women's rights movement connected to the tea totallers and other moralists? (that's not a rhetorical question, i have never heard of any such connection, but i am certainly willing to admit that i am not an expert in that period of history)

_delirium 16y ago
They're not necessarily required to be connected, but as a historical matter there's some overlap, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One strain is a certain kind of social progressivism, which sought to clean up social ills: abolish slavery, abolish drunkenness, achieve equality, improve literacy, etc. So a bunch of the early suffragettes were also active in the temperance and abolitionist movements, among other things. From a different angle, there was also a perceived connection with domestic violence (since most alcoholics were men). Prohibitionism isn't really mainstream anymore, and abolitionism has thankfully become irrelevant thanks to its total victory, but some vestiges of that coalition remain in the anti-porn feminists (though that's very controversial even among feminists; there are probably at least as many "sex-positive feminists", esp. among younger women).
- knowtheory 16y ago
  Sure, the 1st, 2nd and purported 3rd wave feminists all have different takes on gender roles and society. But given what i know about the 1st wave feminists and the suffragettes, i'm surprised to hear tell that there was involvement that would be worth mentioning (in the sense of the entire movement) any more than you could claim that all republicans are pro-life, or that all democrats are pro-business.
  - sprout 16y ago
    Suffrage only passed as a result of a curious alliance between hard-left socialist feminist types and hard-right temperance/religious purity movements. The left's goal is obvious. For the right the fantastic thing was that most women were actually fairly conservative and would dramatically increase their base for stuff like alcohol prohibition. A similar trend was responsible for the fall of the Spanish Republic in the '30s and the rise of Franco's regime.
  - _delirium 16y ago
    Well, it wasn't everyone, but it was a large enough segment of the movement to be worth mentioning, I think, including many of the prominent leaders: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, Frances Willard, etc. Many organizations overlapped, as well; for example, the Women's Christian Temperance Union was heavily involved in suffrage organizing after Willard became its president.
    - knowtheory 16y ago
      Cool, the more you know! Thanks :)

_delirium 16y ago

They're not necessarily required to be connected, but as a historical matter there's some overlap, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One strain is a certain kind of social progressivism, which sought to clean up social ills: abolish slavery, abolish drunkenness, achieve equality, improve literacy, etc. So a bunch of the early suffragettes were also active in the temperance and abolitionist movements, among other things. From a different angle, there was also a perceived connection with domestic violence (since most alcoholics were men). Prohibitionism isn't really mainstream anymore, and abolitionism has thankfully become irrelevant thanks to its total victory, but some vestiges of that coalition remain in the anti-porn feminists (though that's very controversial even among feminists; there are probably at least as many "sex-positive feminists", esp. among younger women).

knowtheory 16y ago
Sure, the 1st, 2nd and purported 3rd wave feminists all have different takes on gender roles and society. But given what i know about the 1st wave feminists and the suffragettes, i'm surprised to hear tell that there was involvement that would be worth mentioning (in the sense of the entire movement) any more than you could claim that all republicans are pro-life, or that all democrats are pro-business.
- sprout 16y ago
  Suffrage only passed as a result of a curious alliance between hard-left socialist feminist types and hard-right temperance/religious purity movements. The left's goal is obvious. For the right the fantastic thing was that most women were actually fairly conservative and would dramatically increase their base for stuff like alcohol prohibition. A similar trend was responsible for the fall of the Spanish Republic in the '30s and the rise of Franco's regime.
- _delirium 16y ago
  Well, it wasn't everyone, but it was a large enough segment of the movement to be worth mentioning, I think, including many of the prominent leaders: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, Frances Willard, etc. Many organizations overlapped, as well; for example, the Women's Christian Temperance Union was heavily involved in suffrage organizing after Willard became its president.
  - knowtheory 16y ago
    Cool, the more you know! Thanks :)