At that time the equal rights feminists believed that men and women were equal and so they both should be given the right to vote. McClung embraces a multitude of causes and the way she goes about addressing them are all different. Nellie is hard to define as just one type of feminist. Her notions for various causes were either in the favor of maternal feminism or the opposite, radical. Whether it be her involvement in women’s suffrage or starting prohibition the way she goes about these significant issues differ.
Nellie McClung fought for the rights of women whether it be for political rights or social reform. She was not only apart of the suffrage movement but she was also a prohibitionist, reformer, and a political agitator. Her goal was to strive for not only equality and acceptance but for recognition of women in the workforce. McClung was without a doubt a feminist but labeling her as apart of the first wave feminists is hard. Her ideas of reform are not only maternal nor equality but a mixture of both. Her views and ideas of voting so that the influence of women could be shown in Canadian politics were more conservative and looked upon as maternal feminism. On the opposite…show more content… Nellie grew up In a Christian household and this lead her to the basis of her suffrage argument. Her philosophy mainly derived from the bible, or religious notions, that men and women were created equal in the eyes of god. In the story of creation it states that, “God created man in his own image . . . male and female. He created them.” Nellie argued that if god did create all humankind as equals then the change in equality was made up sometime along the way and it was not right. This was directed towards the church after Nellie felt that women should have a say in the church administration. This challenged the normal way that the church was run making it a more radical approach rather than a conservative or maternal