Poppins vs Iron

The purpose of this blog is to compare and contrast the use of suffragists in the movies Marry Poppins and Iron Jawed Angles. Although these movies are entirely different in reference to their audience they both address the women’s movement of the early 1900’s. Albeit Marry Poppins is rather more subtle with its usage, they both share viewpoints that were prevalent at that time.

The actual word suffrage was used rather differently between the two films. The meaning of the word varies in each film depending on the people who are speaking it. In Iron Jawed angles the women activists use it as a word of passion, strength and awareness. Whereas the men in this movie use it as almost a vulgar, insulting term as if to describe to woman to identify to the word as something undesirable and impure. In the movie Marry Poppins, the term as used as an empowerment word by the women. However, the men of the movie use it in almost a mocking manner, as if to view the movement as something akin to gardening clubs that women attend in their free time.

The activeness of the women in each movie also varied. In the movie Marry Poppins the only woman portrayed as directly active in the movement is the mother. She commonly attends rallies and meetings while the house keepers (women) and nanny (woman) take care of the household and watch the children. This part of the film somewhat bends from reality, in that the mother is active in the movement, yet she still expects other women to behave in a manner of non-complaint and actively take care of “womanly” duties to appease her husband while she is off supposedly fighting for the rights of woman. The women directly showed in the movie Iron Jawed Angles are all active for the most part, although, some were more voiced and flamboyant in their actions (Paul compared to the senators’ wife) all helped the cause in some way or another.

The biggest difference that was reflected in the films was the roles of the men. In Iron Jawed Angles men showed typically an overall hatred towards the women who were fighting for the suffragist cause, whereas Marry Poppins men essentially tolerated the women’s activity in the movement. In essence the film Iron Jawed Angles captured the true nature of the Feminist movement. Looking at it simply from the Marry Poppins perspective woman were expected to fight for the cause after their husbands went to work, then rely on female house keepers to care for their children as you went running through the streets happily cheering for the rights of women. As long as you were home before your husband was to greet him when he walked through the door. Iron Jawed Angles showed that the fight for women rights goes beyond vocal protest; it shows that feminism is not only about equality but according to Megan Seely it is also about empowerment, strength, self-determination, and self-definition. It is an assertion that all women and girls can have not just equality in their lives but also quality of life (Seely 2)”. Although both films indicate the importance of activism in that time, Iron Jawed Angles more accurately depicts the hardships and struggle that women endured to make our voices heard.