E.S. Frazier: Response to Iron Jawed Angels

E.S.Frazier
October 30, 2005
Eng 281
Iron Jawed Angles

This movie was great from jump! I have always enjoyed movies that talked about history. Frequently I watch the history channel and A&E to watch the recreations that are done on historical events. This film impresses me! This was the first time I’ve heard of this movie and I would recommend it to anyone. The movie did a wonderful job of showing what women had to go through to earn the right to vote.

Lucy Burns and Alice Paul were the main characters in the movie. They were women that were educated and very strong willed. They went after what they wanted and they attacked the issue of women voting with an “iron jaw”. What I found disturbing is that even while women were trying to come together for a very good purpose, there were those that were trying to bring then down within their organization. When the girls first went to the factory to talk to the women about voting some just looked at them like they were crazy. Women were still in the mind set that their place was the home and everything else should be left up to the men. When the senator’s wife was first approached she turned the other cheek….. Only because she was looking out for the interest of her husband not because she did not believe what the women were saying. She knew that women did not have equal rights and that is why she eventually joined the organization.

I was a little upset because I expected more about the role that African American women played in the fight for women to vote, but I have always thought “African American history” is not included in “American History”. The film showed Ida B. Well showing up at the headquarters saying that she will march with her peers or not at all and again making their way into the middle of the parade. Yes, they wee invited but only to march in the back of the parade. I’m sure there were other times when African American women were just as much involved in the fight for women to have the right to vote.

The music in the movie was very modern! I would have thought that for a history piece you would use period music, but to keep it interesting and appeal to other generation’s pop music was used. I’m not to sure how much it worked because the content of the movie keep me interested and not the music. The music added drama to the film but I don’t believe that using pop music closed the generation gap.

I think the women were brave for what they had to endure and I thank them for what they did! I enjoyed the part when they were standing in front of the White House quoting President Wilson and throwing the papers in the fire. That was a powerful statement, it showed that the president’s words meant nothing and were nothing more than just that….words. IF those ladies’s did not bring this issue to light women would probably still be fight for the right to vote. The whole reason this country being found was religious and political persecution, taxation without representation. Women were not being represented; they were not receiving that equal protection under the law. During the demonstration the police were walking off and leaving the lady’s to be beat and trampled on, yet they were arrested and given a harsh sentence for a traffic violation.

During class I was almost in tears when the women were in prison! They were being beat, food contained worms and the conditions were deplorable! Something went through me when she was being forced fed the raw eggs with the speculum (for those that don’t know that instrument is used when a woman has her annual exam). I wanted to stand up and smack just about every man in the room. I also wanted to beat up the women that worked in the prison for not standing against their treatment.

I’m glad we watched this movie; it did a wonderful job to education the masses about what many women had to go through to get the right to vote. The next time I got to the precinct to cast my vote I will remember Alice Paul and Lucy Burns!