The woman suffrage parades of 1910–1913: Possibilities and limitations of an early feminist rhetorical strategy

Abstract

This essay offers a greater understanding of how the introduction of annual parades into the woman suffrage movement created both rhetorical possibilities and limitations for the women's campaign. Through an analysis of suffragists' use of the parades as an innovative rhetorical strategy with formal limitations, I argue that the parades ultimately were successful in drawing attention to arguments for woman suffrage, but proved problematic for achieving the movement's goals, particularly suffragists' efforts to control the image of their movement and its members. I conclude with a consideration of how the parades' contradictions reflected the larger rhetorical paradox inherent in early twentieth‐century gender politics.