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Classic Satire Brings Humor And History To Suffrage Movement
By Keith Hagarty
Women should not be allowed to vote.
 | | --Photo By Keith Hagarty Actress Michele LaRue performs her one-woman monologue last week at the Jackson branch of the Ocean County Library system. |
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That was the satirical message delivered to the predominantly all-female audience who crowded into the Jackson branch of the Ocean County Library system last week for a turn of the century, comedic performance on the women's suffrage movement.
Written by Marie Jenney Howe in 1912 as an effort to promote women's right to vote, the satire "Someone Must Wash the Dishes: An Anti-Suffrage Monologue" is a tongue-in-cheek, amusing essay of why women should reject the women's suffrage movement in the early 20th century.
Set in a proper upper-middle-class parlor in 1912, actress Michele LaRue of The East Lynne Theater Company, donned an elegant pink dress and breezy springtime hat, performing the piece which was a classic hit at several prosuffrage rallies nearly 100 years ago.
"We antis do not believe that any conditions should be altered.," LaRue said during her performance. "We want everything to remain just as it is. All is for the best. Whatever it is, is right. If misery is in the world, God has put it there; let it remain. If this misery presses harder on some women than others, it is because they need discipline. Now, I have always been comfortable and well cared for. But then I never needed discipline. Of course I am only a weak, ignorant woman. But there is one thing I do understand from the ground up, and that is the divine intention toward woman. I know that the divine intention toward woman is, let her remain at home."
After her performance, LaRue broke character to give a lecture on the history of the women's suffrage movement and fielded questions from the audience.
Celebrating March as Women's History Month, LaRue's performance was a big hit with the audience.
"I thought it was excellent," said Marie Miller, of the Westlake retirement community. "She had all the mannerisms and demeanor of a lady at that time. The way she delivered the lines and the sarcasm was quite remarkable. What's scary is people really believed all that at the time."
As an avid voter for several decades, Miller, 65, hopes the performance can serve as motivation for women who may not be as familiar with the struggles of women throughout the century.
"I would just hope that women utilize this as a reminder of the importance of voting," she said. "It's important that the younger women know the struggles that the older women went through."
Fellow senior, Diane Naftal, of the Winding Ways adult community, thought LaRue's performance was right on the money, giving a shockingly accurate account of what women have gone through throughout American history.
"We've come a long way, baby," said Naftal.
As a fan of the author Anita Shreve, who writes many stories set in the early 20th century, Naftal said she always surprised at how prevalent the collective mindset was that women did not have the wherewithal to be trusted with a voting ballot.
"It's interesting to see how far we've actually progressed," she said.
Noting that above all, she's a professional actress and not necessarily a spokeswoman for the feminist movement, LaRue said.
"I always learn from the audiences," said LaRue. "They're reminding me that there's still a struggle going on for women's rights."
There's one part of the monologue which LaRue said usually receives the greatest response from the audience.
"The one that gets the most is a little aside about when I look around at the men I see, I feel that God never meant us women to be too particular anyway," LaRue said chuckling.
With a packed house on hand to see her performance, LaRue praised the efforts of the Jackson Library officials and the Ocean County Library
system for putting it all together.
"I have to credit the library system," she said, "because the publicity we've gotten for this has
just been wonderful."
Tying LaRue's performance in with the Women's History Month was a perfect fit, said Meagan Toohey, program coordinator for the Jackson Library.
"Young people especially need to know how much women have struggled for their rights, and how important it is today to vote," said Toohey. "I think a lot of people today are apathetic about voting, and we want to show how important it is to exercise that right."
The sharp humor found throughout Howe's essay was a powerful force in promoting change in American society, with its ripples still being felt today, said LaRue, reciting one of the
monologue's most poignant lines:
"Someone must wash the dishes," she said. "Now, would you expect man- man made in
the image of God- to roll up his sleeves and wash the dishes? Why, it would be blasphemy. I know that I am but a rib, and so I wash the dishes. Or I hire another rib to do it for me, which amounts to the same thing."
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