For all these naive men believe that the reason women cook and sew so well is because they do not have the right to vote. And in every woman tainted with the right to vote they see the archetypal councilor of confusion, a woman they deem capable of adding newspaper pages rather than parsley leaves to soup and of boring fish with political speeches rather than frying them. They have absolutely no doubt, however, that there is a link between deficits in housekeeping money and the involvement of women in tax and budget matters.
How is it, though, that the scientific, industrial, or artistic employment of a man goes so well with his political activity? Does one deem composing immortal Wagnerian operas, painting canvasses in the style of Kaulbach and Richter, authoring numerous learned volumes, and participating in the exciting game at the stock market less time-consuming and significant than the cooking, sewing, fluttering, wrangling, and washing of children done by women? And aren’t these gentlemen of the quill, the paintbrush, and the stock market prepared at all times to fulfill their political duties without writing, painting, speculating, and meditating less often and less well for that matter? [ . . . ]
If voting is unfeminine, then it is also unfeminine to pay taxes; it is unfeminine for a widow to feed her children through the toil of her hands; it is unfeminine to go begging, etc. Habit turns things into second nature in such a way that even the warmest heart and the wisest mind overlook their senselessness, harshness, and injustice. [ . . . ]
Because she is a woman. This means because political and scientific activity, because the development of intelligence would likely rob woman of the female charms that men regard as one of life’s pleasures and to which they feel entitled.
This view, taken to its logical conclusion, ends in the harem. [ . . . ]
(pp. 159ff)
We have discussed several major reasons advanced by men against women’s right to vote; now let us turn to some of the arguments upon which women base their political demands.
1. Women demand the right to vote as a right to which they are naturally entitled.
2. They demand it as a moral necessity, as a means to refine themselves and humanity.
[ . . . ] The central point, however, is this:
Granting the right to vote equals a step across the Rubicon.
Only with the granting of women’s right to vote can we begin to agitate for those
magnificent reforms that represent the goal of our efforts.
Participation in political life will open up all other questions.
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