Departmental News
Stillion Southard Authors Study of Suffrage Rhetors
Doctoral candidate and fellow Belinda Stillion Southard has published an analysis of early 20th century suffrage rhetors from the National Woman's Party. Her essay appeared in the Fall 2007 issue of Rhetoric & Public Affairs.
In 1917, National Woman's Party members waged a silent protest outside the White House for woman suffrage. Stillion Southard's essay argues that these protesters, the "Silent Sentinels," drew strength from restricting ideological forces to constitute a militant identity. First, the Sentinels enacted early twentieth-century gender ideology and provided political voice to women. Second, the Sentinels appropriated the authority of the rhetorical presidency and constituted themselves and American women as part of the U.S. democratic process. Last, the Sentinels incorporated President Wilson's militaristic doctrine into their militant logic, motivating their fight for woman suffrage as soldiers liberating the oppressed.
Citation: Stillion Southard, Belinda A., "Militancy, Power, and Identity: The Silent Sentinels as Women Fighting for Political Voice," Rhetoric & Public Affairs 10 (2007): 399-417.
