“From One Voice A Chorus”: Elizabeth Cady Stanton's 1860 Address to the New York State Legislature

The State of the Art in Feminist Scholarship in Communication

“…Moreover, in recent years, such work is distinguished not only by its focus on feminist public discourse, but also by its use of the critique of that discourse to understand the possibilities and limitations of historical and contemporary feminist projects. From an early focus on orator studies (still a considerable focus in current scholarship, see Anderson, 2002;Behling, 2002;Brookey, 1998;Gutgold, 2001;Hayden, 1999aHayden, , 1999bHuxman, 2001;McGee, 2003;Miller, 1999;Olson, 1998;Shepler & Mattina, 1999;Suzuki, 2000;Voss & Rowland, 2000), scholarship on feminist discourse has expanded to include nonoratorical forms, such as books, newspapers, manifestos, letters, and petitions (Gring-Pemble, 1998;Gring-Pemble & Blair, 2000;Pearce, 1999, Pearson, 1999Ray, 2003;Stormer, 2001;Zaeske, 2002) and nondiscursive forms such as cartoons, posters, parades, marches, and violent protest tactics (Borda, 2002;Demo, 2000;Foss & Domenici, 2001;Kowal, 2000;Ramsey, 2000).…”

Math = male, me = female, therefore math ≠ me.

“…When the New York Times interviewed the three living female descendants of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the focus was not on the indisputable mark she had left on American society but rather the effect she had had on her own family (Bumiller, 1998). The accomplishments of this housewife who organized the historic 1848 Seneca Falls convention to demand the right of women to vote were visible even in the careers of her own daughters and their daughters.…”

Discursive Identity Formation of Suffrage Women: Reframing the “Cult of True Womanhood” Through Song

“…While many aspects of the suffrage movement have been examined, including public address (Campbell, 1989a;Cathcart, 1972;Huxman, 2000;Japp, 1985;Linkugel, 1962Linkugel, , 1963Miller, 1999), audience construction (Welter, 1966;Zeaske, 1995), parades (Borda, 2002;Moore, 1997), petitions (Zaeske, 2002), cartoons (Dow, 2002), and dress reform (Torrens, 1997), suffrage songs have not been analyzed by rhetorical scholars to understand their contribution to the movement, the persuasive limitations of suffrage music, or contextual challenges in the use of the music by women seeking the ballot. Most significant for this study, suffrage songs may either reify or challenge the ideals depicted by the Cult; songs may thereby serve to sustain existing discursive identities for women or to develop new ones.…”