The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage

The Unexpurgated Case Against
Woman Suffrage

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Unexpurgated Case Against
Woman Suffrage
by Almroth E. Wright Copyright laws are changing all over the world.
Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before
downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg
eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage

Author: Almroth E. Wright
Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5183] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on May 31,
2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE
UNEXPURGATED CASE AGAINST WOMAN SUFFRAGE ***

Scanned and proofed by Thomas Pollock of The Men's Tribune,
www.menstribune.com
THE UNEXPURGATED CASE AGAINST WOMAN SUFFRAGE
BY SIR ALMROTH E. WRIGHT M.D., F.R.S.
1913

CONTENTS
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
Programme of This Treatise--Motives from which Women Claim the
Suffrage--Types of Men who Support the Suffrage--John Stuart Mill.

PART I

ARGUMENTS WHICH ARE ADDUCED IN SUPPORT OF
WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE
I
ARGUMENTS FROM ELEMENTARY NATURAL RIGHTS
Signification of the Term "Woman's Rights"--Argument from
"Justice"--Juridical Justice--"Egalitarian Equity"--Argument from
Justice Applied to Taxation--Argument from Liberty--Summary of
Arguments from Elementary Natural Rights.
II
ARGUMENTS FROM INTELLECTUAL GRIEVANCES OF
WOMAN
Complaint of Want of Chivalry--Complaint of "Insults"--Complaint of
"Illogicalties"--Complaint of "Prejudices"--The Familiar Suffragist
Grievance of the Drunkard Voter and the Woman of Property Who is a
Non-Voter--The Grievance of Woman being Required to Obey
Man-Made Laws.
III
ARGUMENTS WHICH TAKE THE FORM OF "COUNSELS OF
PERFECTION" ADDRESSED TO MAN
Argument that Woman Requires a Vote for her Protection--Argument
that Woman ought to be Invested with the Responsibilities of Voting in
Order that She May Attain Her Full Intellectual Stature.

PART II
ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE CONCESSION OF THE
PARLIAMENTARY SUFFRAGE TO

WOMAN
I
WOMAN'S DISABILITY IN THE MATTER OF PHYSICAL FORCE
International Position of State would be Imperilled by Woman's
Suffrage--Internal Equilibrium of State would be Imperilled.
II
WOMAN'S DISABILITY IN THE MATTER OF INTELLECT
Characteristics of the Feminine Mind--Suffragist Illusions with Regard
to the Equality of Man and Woman as Workers--Prospect for the
Intellectual Future of Woman--Has Woman Advanced ?
III
WOMAN'S DISABILITY IN THE MATTER OF PUBLIC
MORALITY
Standards by which Morality can be Appraised--Conflict between
Different Moralities--The Correct Standard of Morality--Moral
Psychology of Man and Woman--Difference between Man and Woman
in Matters of Public Morality.
IV
MENTAL OUTLOOK AND PROGRAMME OF THE FEMALE
LEGISLATIVE REFORMER
V
ULTERIOR ENDS WHICH THE WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE
MOVEMENT HAS IN VIEW

PART III
IS THERE, IF THE SUFFRAGE IS BARRED, ANY PALLIATIVE
OR CORRECTIVE FOR
THE DISCONTENTS OF WOMAN?
I
PALLIATIVES OR CORRECTIVES FOR THE DISCONTENT OF
WOMAN
What are the Suffragist's Grievances?--Economic and Physiological
Difficulties of Woman--Intellectual Grievances of Suffragist and
Corrective.
APPENDIX
LETTER ON MILITANT HYSTERIA

PREFACE

It has come to be believed that everything that has a bearing upon the
concession of the suffrage to woman has already been brought forward.
In reality, however, the influence of women has caused man to leave
unsaid many things which he ought to have said.
Especially in two respects has woman restricted the discussion.
She has placed her taboo upon all generalisations about women, taking
exception to these on the threefold ground that there would be no
generalisations which would hold true of all women; that
generalisations when reached possess no practical utility; and that the
element of sex does not leave upon women any general imprint such as

could properly be brought up in connexion with the question of
admitting them to the electorate.
Woman has further stifled discussion by placing her taboo upon
anything seriously unflattering being said about her in public.
I would suggest, and would propose here myself to act upon the
suggestion, that, in connexion with the discussion of woman's suffrage,
these restrictions should be laid aside.
In connexion with the setting aside of the restriction upon generalising,
I may perhaps profitably point out that all generalisations, and not only
generalisations which relate to women, are ex hypothesi [by hypothesis]
subject to individual exceptions. (It is to generalisations that the
proverb that "the exception proves the rule" really applies.) I may