Our goal for this project was  to create a space to look at critical analyses of prominent anti-woman suffrage iconography at the time. When we first viewed the postcards, we were surprised to find that they were intended to assign a negative opinion of woman suffrage. We realized that viewers today are often prone to see most images connected with woman suffrage as advocative; we found oppositional images of woman suffrage most intriguing. The Dunston-Weiler postcards are a wealth of information on the opinions of those who opposed woman suffrage at the time.

We were immediately consumed with questions about the images. The following questions prompted our analyses of the images:

– Why were postcards used as a vessel with which to send messages supporting anti-woman suffrage?

– We know that much anti-woman suffrage iconography at the time portrayed suffragettes as old spinsters: why are the women represented in these images depicted as young and beautiful?

– These cards show men in stereotypical female roles and vise versa. What does this say about how traditional gender roles were being perceived in connection with the suffrage movement?

– There was clear attention to the way the clothing is drawn in the postcards. How does the way the clothing is depicted translate to anti-woman suffrage proponents’ goals?