Impact of Women's Suffrage and Gender Roles: Iron Jawed Angels Essay

This essay examines the film "Iron Jawed Angels," focusing on the women's suffrage movement and its impact on gender roles and societal expectations. The essay begins by discussing the historical context of the suffrage movement, highlighting the struggles women faced in their fight for the right to vote. It explores the film's portrayal of key figures like Alice Paul and the strategies they employed, including protests and hunger strikes. The analysis delves into how the film depicts the changing identity of women, their increased opportunities in education and careers, and the shift in societal perceptions. Furthermore, the essay examines how the media and social norms communicated expectations to women and influenced their behavior. It references the movie's depiction of gender roles before and after suffrage, the influence of socialization, and the impact of increased migration and the internet. The essay concludes by emphasizing the lasting significance of the suffrage movement in redefining women's roles and shaping their identities in modern society.

Running head: IRON JAWED ANGELS 1
Iron jawed angels
Name
Institution affiliation

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Essay one
For a long-time, there was a constant debate on whether women should be allowed to
vote or not. Eventually, the campaign travailed and all people who are considered adults
including women are allowed to vote. In different ways, this right has impacted on the identity
of women and also redefined the gender roles in some ways hence changing the way women are
perceived in the society.
Through the movie Iron Jawed Angels, it is evident that women went through a lot before
they were allowed to vote. One of the most famous quotes in the text is that saying “oranges in
women is often mistaken for insanity” and this refers to the mental state of Alice as she keeps on
to protest in prison and more so goes on hunger strike. The suffrage movement was a doorway
that has helped many women in the society today perform beyond there expectations (Garnier et
al ,2004). To begin with, in the social setting, women have been permitted to join university and
train to become professionals even though their numbers remain less as compared to men. The
men controlled occupations such as law, medicine, and more so the business world has received
an almost equal share of both men and women. To add on this a bunch of new institutions within
the society has been authored by women which are a great milestone. The producer of the movie
worked to show that women are much more resilient and through this they have been able to
secure their place in the society (Hooks, 1988).
Economic roles for women have also greatly enhanced and this is because there are more
educational opportunities. Having more meaningful careers has increased the salaries earned by
women unlike in the previous days when they couldn’t vote. This has established them making
them much more independent from men unlike before.

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The producer of the movie refers to suffrages as angels and this phrase mainly worked to
to prove that they weren’t angelic little darlings but fiery fighters who were bodily asserting a
basic human right. The resistance that is portrayed by women in the movie while fighting for
their right to vote is incredible and shows a lot of strength (Garnier et al ,2004). In the aftermath
women have gained high levels of political power and they are able to vie for various sits like the
men. This is evidenced even by the fact that Hillary Clinton a former contestant in the American
presidential race was a woman. Women continue to grow their opportunities within the society
and more so have aimed more influenced over the years. By most of the women being able to
rise in the political arena, they have worked to create more opportunities for their counterparts
(Hooks, 1988).
As a result of this, the gender roles of women in the society have greatly changed over
time within the people. Instead of staying in the house and taking care of the family needs
limited to home chores, most women are found in the workplace. This then shows that the
identity of women has changed since it is often described using gender roles. Instead of being
seen as weak and fragile, they are identified as strong beings that can content for their own cause
(Hooks, 2000).

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Essay two
The society often describes different ways in which particular matters are to be
accomplished. It is in this same case that women also learn ways in which the society expects
them to behave concerning certain matters. Women are expected to speak, act and dress in a
particular way and this is shown through different mediums.
One of the major avenue through which the society speaks to women is through the use
of media. Marielena Zuniga states that “women’s voices are still absents from mainstream
media”. In the movie, it is evident that the media expected women to behave in a totally different
manner and hence the news was reported in that manner (Garnier et al ,2004). All media
platforms currently have been used to note what exactly women should do and those that go
contrary to this expectations are negatively criticized. With such, media has had a great influence
on beauty and things such as body image and this has forced many women to adopt different
measures as a means to attain these standards. From the movie, Ben Weissman, who works as an
editorial cartoonist in the fight for suffrage and he mainly works to show the negative side of
Alice Paul. One pf the major questions that he pauses is “what will women do with their votes,
reform politics?” (Garnier et al ,2004)
Secondly the society communicates its expectations to women through the gender roles.
Before the suffrage in the movie, women were not allowed to vote and this was among the many
ways that was used to tell them that they have no right to make decisions (Garnier et al ,2004).
Later on women were allowed to vote and hence this changed their status in the society once
more. Every culture had a list of unspoken dos and don’ts that they ought to abide by. This is
true even as indicated by Hooks (2000) that most women suffer in the hands of sexist tyranny

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and this is common for most of the women in the society. This tyranny’s tend to determine the
right and wrong in the society and hence the need that they are effectively checked.
Lastly, socialization is another means through which the society communicates to women
regarding the different aspects that are connected to them. Socialization is one of the medium
through which we learn the norms and beliefs of our society. It helps in describing means by
which people understand societal expectations and thus follow suite. Socialization has hence
affected gender roles and this has brought out new definitions of what freedom is as expressed by
Hooks (2000) where these refers to the choice of women being allowed to decide their destiny
which surpasses the society’s oppressive restrictions and also being able to express their thoughts
fully and act as they wish. Through increased rates of migration and more so the movement of
people from one place to another, people have learned new cultures and new definition are what
feminism and gender roles. With this, the society continues in some parts to enforce an
oppressive mandate on the role of women, while in other better cultures is being adopted. More
the internet has also contributed to the advancement of the gender roles off women as depicted in
different places.
There are still many other ways through which the society communicates to women. This
goes along way in contributing to what women become in the end and how they react to certain
issues in the society.

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References
Garnier, K. ., Robinson, S. B., Bostwick, S. E., Singer, R., Friedes, J., Swank, H., O'Connor,
F., ... HBO Video (Firm). (2004). Iron Jawed Angels. New York, NY: HBO Video.
Retrieved from (1st half) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzoXTo4-hws Movie (2nd)
half): http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xxwx6v
Hooks, B. (1988). Talking back: Thinking feminist, thinking black. Toronto: Between the Lines.
Hooks, B. (2000). Feminist theory: From margin to center. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.