Anti-suffragette cartoons

(all images from The Week, except as noted)

My brother sent me this link to "12 cruel anti-suffragette cartoons," and 93 years after women won the right to vote, I'm struck by how much has changed,... and how little.

You see, I'm still still seeing this kind of thing, though the details might be different. Take this cartoon:

Right. If we grant equal rights to other people, that means losing those rights ourselves, huh? Now that women can vote, we men can't?

Obviously, that's ridiculous, but I've actually heard right-wingers claim that allowing homosexuals to marry will mean the end of marriage for heterosexuals. That didn't make any sense a century ago, and it still doesn't. So why are we still hearing it?

Here are some other examples:

Maybe you don't think that's insulting? Well, try this:

Ooh, ankles! Can you see the expression on the faces of those men? I think I'm insulted by that one. But it gets worse. I found this cartoon at another website:

(History of Feminism)

Yeah, only ugly women want equal rights, huh? But I frequently hear similar comments today from those loony 'men's rights' advocates. If a woman dares to speak up, you can bet you'll hear negative comments about her appearance (which doesn't, unfortunately, stop the threats of rape, either).

Here's another which could be taken directly from modern misogynists:

(History of Feminism)

Why would women even want to vote? Well, clearly it's just to tear down men, right? Ask any 'men's rights' advocate today and he'll tell you the same thing.

There are lots more of these. A common theme is that families will suffer:

(BuzzFeed)

"America When Femininized"? That sounds like Rush Limbaugh! And it's the "suffragist-feminist ideal family life" to abandon their families? Oh, we poor, poor males who have to take up the slack...

This might be the worst of these, though:

If you can't read that, it says:

For a Suffragette.

The Ducking — Stool and a nice deep pool,

Were our fore-fathers plan for a scold;

And could I have my way, each Suffragette to-day,

Should "take the chair" and find the water cold.

What kind of person would think that's appropriate? Seriously, how sick would you have to be?

But I hear the same kinds of attacks on feminists even today. The style might be different - and they're definitely cruder - but the sentiment hasn't changed.