A look at voting in the 1950s
“Politics Is a Pretty Personal Thing with Women”: A 1950s Look at the Impact of Women Voters
When women first voted in national elections following ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, participants in the women’s movement and others predicted that women voters would be an important factor in a shift toward increased social legislation and anti-corruption in politics. An estimated one-third of the eligible female voters actually voted in 1920, compared to two-thirds of eligible male voters. Women’s impact on national elections was not felt to a significant degree until the 1952 election, when the proportion of women voting for Dwight D. Eisenhower was six percent higher than the percentage the candidate pulled among men. Before the 1956 presidential election, the popular magazine Collier’s sent writer Walter Davenport to bipartisan Marion Country, Indiana, to survey women’s attitudes on candidates and issues. Many of the women whose views Davenport included in the resultant article refuted accepted beliefs of seasoned male politicians. Their paraphrased opinions, however, also employed essentialist gender stereotypes of the time—that “women are all house cleaners at heart” and that “a woman lacks the administrative qualities of a man”—to explain perceived voting tendencies. Davenport’s findings ignored factors that social scientists have considered to be important in accounting for voting patterns, such as education, income level, age, and race. He did, however, report the opinion of two female teachers that the formation of women’s groups during and since World War II—when more women joined the workforce—had resulted in increased political consciousness among women, an opinion that scholars have since found valid. Although by the 1964 election, more women were voting than men, a viable national female voting bloc has not surfaced in the U.S.
Where Men Go Wrong About Women Voters
By Walter Davenport
[Click here to read the article]
Source:http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6563/
When women first voted in national elections following ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, participants in the women’s movement and others predicted that women voters would be an important factor in a shift toward increased social legislation and anti-corruption in politics. An estimated one-third of the eligible female voters actually voted in 1920, compared to two-thirds of eligible male voters. Women’s impact on national elections was not felt to a significant degree until the 1952 election, when the proportion of women voting for Dwight D. Eisenhower was six percent higher than the percentage the candidate pulled among men. Before the 1956 presidential election, the popular magazine Collier’s sent writer Walter Davenport to bipartisan Marion Country, Indiana, to survey women’s attitudes on candidates and issues. Many of the women whose views Davenport included in the resultant article refuted accepted beliefs of seasoned male politicians. Their paraphrased opinions, however, also employed essentialist gender stereotypes of the time—that “women are all house cleaners at heart” and that “a woman lacks the administrative qualities of a man”—to explain perceived voting tendencies. Davenport’s findings ignored factors that social scientists have considered to be important in accounting for voting patterns, such as education, income level, age, and race. He did, however, report the opinion of two female teachers that the formation of women’s groups during and since World War II—when more women joined the workforce—had resulted in increased political consciousness among women, an opinion that scholars have since found valid. Although by the 1964 election, more women were voting than men, a viable national female voting bloc has not surfaced in the U.S.
Where Men Go Wrong About Women Voters
By Walter Davenport
[Click here to read the article]
Source:http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6563/
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