University of Cebu-Banilad Campus

Banilad Cebu City

College of Law

Administrative Law and Law on Public Officers and Election Law

JD 224

IRON JAWED ANGELS

(Reaction Paper)

Submitted by:

Submitted to:

RYAN SITOY
PAREJA
M4 Thurs-Sat 6:00-9:00 PM

ATTY. JUDIEL M.

February 18, 2016

Professor

I. Abstract
This is a reaction paper on the movie Iron Jawed Angels. This paper will
highlight the implications and realizations derived by watching the movie. Emphasis
is given to the importance of the right to exercise suffrage. Suffrage which is the
expression of the will of the people as a whole and should not only be limited to
what the male population has to say but should include the other half of the
population, which is the women.
II. Synopsis
Frustrated by the failure of the United States to adopt a constitutional
amendment giving women the vote, militant suffragists led by Alice Paul mount an
aggressive campaign demanding suffrage. They used parades and demonstrations
with striking visual messages, campaigned against the Democratic party, which
would not endorse the Amendment, and engaged in sustained picketing of the
White House. The demonstrations were entirely peaceful and the banners often
used the words of Woodrow Wilson, who was president at the time, to argue the
justice of their cause. After the U.S. entered the First World War in 1917, many
people expected all citizens to join together to support the war effort. The militant
suffragists refused, noting that they had not been permitted to participate in
making the decision on whether or not to go to war. They also pointed to the
hypocrisy of a nation that was fighting a war to "make the world safe for
democracy" but which refused to allow the vast majority of its female citizens to
vote.
The response was violent. Angry crowds assaulted the protesters and the
police did little or nothing to protect them. Instead, the suffragists were arrested on
false charges of blocking the sidewalk, convicted without due process of law, and
sent to jail. In jail, they were confined in poor conditions and given rancid, wormy
food. Their claim to be treated as political prisoners was rejected. Other inmates
were incited by the guards to attack them. When some of the women protested
their mistreatment, they were placed in solitary confinement. When the women
went on hunger strikes in response, they were brutally force-fed. The government
tried to have their leader, Alice Paul, declared insane so that she could be
committed indefinitely, but its chief psychiatrist, after interviews with Miss Paul,
decided that she was of sound mind. Word of the women's mistreatment got out
and was publicized by the militants and their supporters. The public outcry was
immense.
The suffragists were applying all of the principles of nonviolent mass action:
meeting violence with peacefulness; generating massive publicity; applying political
or economic pressure; and making arguments that worked on the conscience of the
general public and of their adversaries. The militants' campaign kept the suffrage
issue in the forefront of the national consciousness and was a factor in leading
President Wilson to change his position and work actively for passage of the 19th
Amendment.
III. Discussion
Male dominance is a very predominate theme in the movie, in history, and in
life today. Men were given the right to vote first, men make the decisions because
they are the only people holding positions of power, men control the expenses in a
home so the women have no say in any matter. They are more physical than
women, and are overall viewed as more powerful, more competitive, and put
plainly, just more capable in all aspects of life. The government, being run by men,
is a completely biased entity. The 19th amendment would have a hard time passing
because none of the men saw the reason to change how it was. Everything was
going splendidly for them, why change what isn't broken?

At the beginning of the movie, we can say that there exist government
ignorance of issues on womens right. President Woodrow Wilson did not want to
weigh in on the decision making giving women the right to vote. He did not feel
adequately educated on the subject matter to come to that sort of conclusion.
However, he was not willing to listen and further his knowledge of the mistreatment
of women to help the women of his country. Further in the movie, the suffragists
were thrown into prison for "obstructing traffic" when in all actuality, the
government officials had nothing to actually charge them with and did not want
them picketing in front of the white house any longer. When the ladies went on a
hunger strike they were forcibly fed and lived in rat infested freezing cells. The
government was aware of what kinds of conditions the ladies were in but chose to
ignore it to keep them quiet and out of the public eye.
Men and women are created equal. Women should be accorded the same
rights that men have. There should be no distinction between the two sexes, nor
classification be made as to who will be given more priority or higher stature in the
community. Before the sought for amendment in the Constitution, half of the
population (composed of women) were not allowed to vote. Women in those days,
as citizens of a free country were not given the chance to participate in elections. As
citizens, they are subjected to different administrations and leaders, but they were
mere subjects in those times, they were not even allowed to express their will as to
whom they think is fitting and qualified to assume a public office. This was a clear
manifestation of discrimination against women in the society. Women in those days
have not been given the same opportunities in that society has to offer most
importantly in education. But given the chance, these women would have aspired
greater dreams the way that men did and excelled the way that men did. The group
of young women portrayed in the movie did not only fight for their own rights but
more importantly, for the future women.
IV. Conclusion
Because of this movie, some cultural ideologies were challenge or even were
changed, that men are superior to women. That women should be passive
aggressive beings who not involved in politics, do not hold important positions, and
who do as they are told. In the film the "Angels" fight back when they are attacked,
they do not fall all over attractive men, they hold their ground when told to change
their ways. They are real, strong, inspirational leaders with a true voice, something
that society still has yet to really accept.
Women who have always been thought to belong the weaker sex are equally
intelligent, brave and competent as the men in the society. Discrimination against
women should be stopped. The enfranchising of women to exercise their right to
vote gave way to more opportunities and rights for the women to enjoy. Women can
make a big difference if they want to and they can now have a say in the
government. In a male dominated society, the role of the women is equally
important. No gender should be more superior to the other nor the right of the other
sex be more important than the other. Women should have equal rights as men do
as we are all of equal footing as citizens of the society.
Lastly the very important lesson out of this movie, is for us people of today to
value and appreciate our right to vote in choosing our leaders, simply because this
rights were the results of the hardships, sacrifices and bloods of those who came
ahead of us to which they ensure that we will enjoy this right. As the presidential
election is fast approaching, again as citizen of the Philippines we are called to cast
our votes, may we exercise it wisely so that the essence of this right will not be
wasted.
V. References

http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/iron-jawed-angels.html; last accessed

February 18, 2015.
http://ironjawedangels2010.blogspot.com/p/ideologies.html; last accessed
February 18, 2016.