Iron Jawed Angels is a movie that centers on the life and struggles of suffragists during the final years of the American woman suffrage movement. Its main characters are the driven
Alice Paul and her loyal comrade Lucy Burns who fiercely come up with strategies to convince
President Woodrow Wilson to support a constitutional amendment that would guarantee women the right to vote. Tensions between the more conservative veteran activists and the “radical” new suffragists ensue throughout the movie. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns have a falling out with the NAWSA (National American Woman Suffrage Association) and decide to split from the organization to form their own, the NWP (National Woman’s Party). The NWP’s tactics eventually lead to the…show more content… The prison mistreatment and brutality against these women who have done nothing wrong turns the general opinion towards support. President Wilson finally agrees to back the constitutional amendment and it is approved by Congress. On August 26th, 1920 the 19th amendment becomes constitutional law. This movie did a good job in portraying the first wave of feminism and depicting how these brave women paved the way for women and society.
The movie definitely showed how when you get down to it, feminism is really just all about equality that helps one pursue self-actualization and thus help ensue happiness. The truth of the matter is that in this society the perception of what it means to be a feminist is more warped than a fun-house mirror. The word feminist has become a dirty word that to most people means being a crazy judgmental, hairy man-hating bitch. By portraying Alice Paul and Lucy Burns as more modernistic with their casual manner and lightheartedness of speech and attitude this movie debunks some myths about feminism and has a message that many young women and new audiences can relate to and learn from. Before I watched the movie I had a vague idea of