A disturbing and retrograde political movement is gaining traction within the American far-right, with influential figures openly advocating for the disenfranchisement of women. This campaign seeks to roll back a cornerstone of democracy: women's constitutional right to vote, guaranteed by the 19th Amendment in 1920.
The Modern Face of an Ancient Prejudice
While misogyny continually adapts to new technologies—from undressing apps to AI-generated abuse—a strand of the contemporary American right is reviving a century-old prejudice. Following significant Democratic election victories, voices within the Maga movement and the radicalised Republican party are increasingly calling for women to be stripped of the franchise.
This sentiment is not entirely new but has persisted on the extremist fringe. It surged among Trump supporters online before the 2016 election, bolstered by polls suggesting a Trump victory if only men voted. For decades, it was primarily nurtured within ultra-conservative Christian communities that frame women as intellectually and morally unfit for full citizenship, advocating their submission to husbands and withdrawal from public life.
Key Figures and Their Arguments
Prominent figures are now bringing this anti-suffrage ideology toward the mainstream. Pastor and YouTube personality Joel Webbon declared in 2022 that "the 19th Amendment was a bad idea", arguing that politics is warfare for which women are not designed. Another pastor, Dale Partridge, claimed he wants to repeal the amendment to "protect our nation from their suicidal empathy", framing female empathy as a national weakness.
This religious argument is now complemented by a more secular, pseudo-scientific one. Right-wing editor Helen Andrews, in her piece 'The Great Feminization', suggests women's presence in public life threatens civilisation itself, claiming their evolved traits make them unsuitable for institutions. This echoes venture capitalist Peter Thiel's 2009 lament that extending the franchise to women made his libertarian ideal unfeasible.
Undisguised Contempt and Mainstreaming Bigotry
A third, brazenly hateful strain has emerged, dispensing with any paternalistic justification. Influencers like the alleged human trafficker Andrew Tate simply state women should not vote because they hate them, blaming female political power for society's problems.
Although repealing the 19th Amendment remains legally implausible, the underlying sentiment is spreading. This movement is part of a broader effort to scapegoat women's advancement in education, work, and politics for issues from political polarisation to economic stagnation. As commentator Jessica Winter notes, this idea—that women's citizenship is conditional and their empowerment harmful—is now peddled by respectable pundits, not just fringe extremists.
The core assumption unifying these arguments is that women's claim to rights and public participation is inferior to men's. That this notion is gaining currency marks a dangerous regression and a profound insult to women's dignity and hard-won status.
