Audio
And Nothing Less Extras: Suffrage Cat
Transcript
The Suffrage Cat (Episode 1)
(RD & R: Banter back and forth about cats ---)
R: How many cats is too many cats?
RD: ….one cat is too many. (Or maybe she says three?)
R: [Agrees or disagrees] BUT, love em or hate em, cats have always been part of suffrage history.
RD: If you look at postcards and cartoons from the suffrage era -- and there are great exhibits of some of these right now, we’ll link to them on our show notes -- the cat was everywhere!
R: Anti-suffrage groups used cats in their propaganda against the women’s rights movement, comparing suffragists to cats. This happened both here and in England. Basically the idea was that a woman voting was as absurd as a house cat voting.
The cat also was used to symbolize something feminine. So some cartoons would show the potential risks of women in power. I’m talking - men at home, with a cat, doing the laundry and taking care of babies. He’s looking at the viewer like, what a sucker I’ve become, domesticated like this house cat.
RD: And so, if they were going to win back the public’s favor, and cat lovers, the suffs had to take the symbol of the cat and rebrand it.
Two suffragists named Nell Richardson and Alice Burke began to reclaim the cat during a cross-country road trip in 1916. They invited the press to send them off in New York City before hitting the road. Nell and Alice, in a tiny, yellow, two-seater called a Golden Flier, depart for Ohio, Texas and other states before ending in Washington and California. And along for the ride was a mascot -- a little black kitten called Saxon, named for the company that made the Golden Flyer.
Description
Join Retta and Rosario Dawson as they discuss the connection between women's suffrage and the cat.
Duration
1 minute, 43 seconds
Credit
PRX, WSCC, NPS
Date Created
08/05/2020
Copyright and Usage Info