Will the Circle be Unbroken?

by Gabby Veyna

The FEMINIST THEORY, also known as feminism, is the philosophy that men and women should be politically, emotionally and socially equal (Henslin, p 241). Feminism was profoundly seen in the early 1900s, which is when the movie “Iron Jawed Angels” took place. This film is based on a true story of two young women activists, Alice Paul & Lucy Burns, who put their lives at risk for the women’s right to vote.

The gender stratification in this film refers to the women not being able to vote solely on the basis of their sex. During this time, women also couldn’t buy property, serve on a jury and create a legal contract. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns were tired of being seen as second class citizens and were ready to take a stand. In 1917, Alice Paul, Lucy Burns and their fellow suffragists began picketing in front of the White House. After 6 months of picketing, the women were arrested. Alice Paul played a big role in being the leader of what is now known as, the first wave of the women’s movement. She is also recognized as one of the forgotten sociologists of this period (Henslin, p 10).
 

 

 

In this scene from the film, Alice Paul, who is played by Hilary Swank, was forcefully brought out of solitary confinement to eat lunch. When Alice sits down, she takes one look at her plate and pushes it aside. As she does this, every other woman follows. However, what is not shown in the clip is that Alice didn’t only push her plate away because they were being imprisoned, she did that to take a stand on the discrimination the women were receiving. The women at the time were being treated worse than the men in the prison.
 

The film also showed the CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE, which stresses that in order to understand society; we must understand the struggle between groups (race, gender, age, social class, etc.). The power groups will always try to maintain their status through manipulation, exploration and control. The conflict is between the women and the government. Because this group of women were backing down, the government’s answer was to lock them up in hopes they will give up the fight. The government was sadly mistaken because these women were not going to back down. The women were tired of the social inequality and would go to drastic measures of being tortured and force fed. These women conquered their goal. We can thank these women today for the passing of the 19th Amendment, where no citizen will be denied the right to vote on the account of sex.

 

References:

Henslin, James M. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, 12th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014.

"Iron Jawed  Angels - Forced Feeding Scene" YouTube. uploaded by HellamundYPP 26 Apr 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO70ZjZ0wrw

Chief Journalist
Gabby Veyna

Gabby is currently going back to school to get her Master's in Occupational Therapy. She graduated from CSUF in 2014 with a Bachelor's in Business Finance. She is taking Sociology 101 because it is a prerequisite for the Master's program. She further believes sociology will help her better understand culture and the way people are. It is all a new and exciting experience She is a simple, reliable woman and has the ability to take any endeavor to the next level!