- Ingrained global traditions kept women out of public, authoritative roles.
- When suffrage was achieved for American women in August 1920, women were no longer political novices.
For decades, women had been organising conventions, giving speeches, campaigning for suffrage. These activities not only at a national level but also a large community level, gave women expertise. As well as a wide network of other female activists and male political leaders.
Suffrage did not grant them social and economic freedom.
- Women still lacked equal access with men to ‘professional’ professions, such as law, medicine and politics.
- Because there were less women in law and politics less could be done to guarantee and uphold their rights.
- In Congress, when women ran for office, (as many did in the election that followed only 3 months after the ratification of the 19th Amendment) they often lacked major party backing, especially if they weren’t from a prominent family.
- Even if women were successful in winning backing, when women ran for office they often had to oppose incumbents, ( people that held the seat for a long time) making it nigh impossible to win the vote anyway.
