Iron Jawed Angels

 

In this film, there are many internal divisions highlighted. We see segregation within the women’s suffrage movement with the confrontation of Ida B. Wells and Alice Taylor. While black women led civil rights and women’s suffrage organizations, they often did not receive the same amount of credit as white women and black men. They were often pushed to the side or considered an afterthought. In the modern day, we see that black women are still very underrepresented. Black women are less than 5% of office holders in the United States legislatures, no Black woman has ever been elected governor, and only two black women have ever served in the U.S. Senate. 

 

            Alice Taylor also interacts with working-class women. Although the working-class women first shut down Alice Taylor, by hearing about how their labor conditions could improve by having a right to vote, they changed her mind. In order to change their labor conditions or "get a fire escape", they need to vote. Women still face many issues in reaching equality in their workplace. Although many refuse to believe/acknowledge it, there is still an age gap between men and women. (The refusal to believe that an issue against women exists is reminiscent of “insanity” in this film). White women earn 83 cents for every dollar white men earn and black women earn 64 cents for every dollar white men earn. 

 

  

 

In the film, Alice Taylor represents the young, white, and educated group of women that have started to take charge of the women’s suffrage movement in this film. This group was not afraid to attract attention and stir up “controversy”. Often, women are shunned when they “cause a scene” or stand up to men. Modern day, we see political figures like Donald Trump and Brett Kavanaugh get away with harsh words and actions against women without repercussion. Women who stand up to them are shut down or delegitimized.

 

An important part of this film that is not addressed in the discussion questions, but I would like to mention, is the conflict of love. A quote of Hilary Swank that stuck out to me in this film was, “When you're alone you can make any choice you want. But when someone loves you, you lose that right. I won't give anything away until we have it all. I can't.” A constant theme we see throughout the movie was the fight between looking for love and liberty. Alice’s friends were constantly bringing up the conversation of looking for a man to love them. In Emily Leighton’s character, although fictional, we also saw the struggle between remaining a housewife and fighting for the rights of women. Emily faced difficulties in leaving the security of her household. She did not know her own capabilities as a person outside of being a mom and wife.

Update: Written by Sierra Loiselle

Comments

  1. David BernellFebruary 7, 2023 at 12:15 PM

    This post points out the ways in which gender, class and race all intersect in the struggle for equal rights to vote, as well as social equality to this day. The point about having to choose between liberty and love is really insightful in that it clearly points to a set of expectations for women's roles at the time, and also how such expectations may or may not have changed over time.

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