The Queer History of the Suffrage Movement
Document Type
Presentation
Date of Original Version
3-4-2021
Abstract
Wendy Rouse spoke about the traditional narrative of suffrage history that sanitized the private lives and public personas of individual suffragists, contributing to the historical erasure of the lives and loves of prominent queer suffragists. Her talk will explore how suffragists both reinforced and challenged heteronormative views of gender and sexuality while highlighting the role of queer suffragists in the movement.
Wendy Rouse is an Associate Professor of History at San Jose State University whose scholarly research focuses on the history of women and children in the United States during the Progressive Era. The author of Her Own Hero: The Origins of the Women’s Self-Defense Movement, she is currently researching the lives of queer suffragists.
This event was sponsored by the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, the Center for the Humanities, the Suffrage Centennial Committee, the Gender and Sexuality Center, and the Women’s Center.