Secret Leaders Introducing: The Wrong Side of History — The Women Who Fought Against the Vote
A note from Secret Leaders: This week, we’re sharing the first episode of The Wrong Side of History, a new show from former Secret Leaders producer Jay Singleton.
On Wrong Side Of History Jay helps you understand history’s bad guys the way they understood themselves.
Each season takes the perspective of a person or movement that ended up on the wrong side of history to learn what they feared, what they valued, and why their ideas made sense to them.
If you’re the kind of person who likes playing devil’s advocate, testing your assumptions, and trying on perspectives you don’t necessarily agree with, this is for you.
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Why did so many women oppose women’s suffrage?
Before 1916, suffrage was never backed by a majority of women, and for years men were more progressive on the issue than women were.
In this episode, we enter the worldview of the American anti-suffragists and begin with their core idea: separate spheres. To them, the vote was never just a ballot. It was a sign of a much larger social change, one that threatened women’s moral authority, sex-based protections, and the family as the basic unit of society. Many of these women did not see themselves as powerless. They believed they already had influence, just not partisan influence. This episode is about what they feared, what they thought they were protecting, and why their position made sense to them at the time.