A poster depicting babies marching for their mothers' right to vote.

Rose O'Neill, the artist of "Give Mother the Vote", was a cartoonist and activist, who became famous through her Kewpie doll creations, which are depicted in this poster as the marching babies. She marched regularly for women's rights and used her status and the popularity of Kewpie dolls to gain support for the suffrage movement. In fact, at a 1914 rally in Nashville, Kewpie dolls wearing suffrage sashes were raised into the air. These cute drawings helped combat the stereotype of the feminist as masculine, old and ugly, but rather to relate suffrage to a doll that is nurturing and motherly. Although the Kewpie doll related to the domestic woman, these dolls brought joy and further attention to the suffrage movement, calling all girls and women to support the cause.

A poster featuring a disgruntled man, and a woman, not fully facing each other or the audience. The bottom text reads “Won’t you let me help you, John?”

Designed by Joan Harvey Drew in 1903, this poster depicts the character of John Bull, who was at the time a widely recognizable anthropomorphic version of Great Britain. Created in the 18th century John Bull was a prosperous farmer and characterized as “the typical English man”, being described as down to earth and hard-headed. In the poster, we see this hard-headedness at play in John Bull’s resistance to the help of the woman, labeled women’s suffrage. A variety of problems surround John Bull, being blasted at him from trumpets. These problems are largely social and political, ranging from old age pensions to peace proposals. This reflects the attitude of women bearing some of the weight and responsibility of decisions that would affect the entire country. The portrayal of John Bull in anguish and being assaulted by problems from all sides, when the figure of women’s suffrage was so unburdened acted as both an expression of feminine strength and a reminder of the many problems faced by English men and women.

Postcard showing a girl holding up a finger to a boy and poem: For the work of a day, for the taxes we pay, for the laws we obey, we want something to say.

The girl on this postcard is depicted as sassy, waving her finger at the boy, demanding her right to have a voice in government. She looks innocent, which is similar to the power behind Kewpie dolls. This allowed the artist to increase support for a controversial cause through non-offensive artwork. The depiction of a little girl demanding more rights isn't seen as aggressive, but rather playful. These postcards became popular during the early 1900s and were sent on all occasions to increase support of the movement. However, these postcards resulted in anti-suffragists sending out their own postcards, in which they changed "Votes for Women" to "No Votes for Women," mocking the movement.

A woman stands at a table surrounded by boys while holding a spoon in a bowl labeled "political help".

Dora Meeson was a cartoonist and illustrator for women's suffrage. She was from Australia but was an elected member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in London, England. She was also a member of the British Artists' Suffrage League. Written on the boys' shirts are different political and social parties and organizations. She is implying that the government only focuses on men's interests and not those of women. Meeson was a very powerful activist and illustrated many other suffrage cartoons. A representation of her banner was used on the design of the Australian 2003 dollar coin celebrating the centenary of women's suffrage. 

A picture of the coin can be found here

Composite of eight caricatures showing women dressing and interacting in society as men; drinking; voting for handsome candidates; driving ugly men from the polls; and a domestic scene showing a man taking care of children.

This poster was created to depict women acting like their husbands, in order to support the anti-suffrage cause. These anti-suffragists believed that women that act like men would take advantage of that power and leave their husband and children behind. Posters such as these grew more vocal as the suffrage movement grew, and anti-suffrage artwork found its way into newspapers and magazines. Joseph Keppler, the artist, was a famous American caricaturist, born in Vienna, Austria. He was the founder of Puck, a magazine known for its witty cartoons. His work covered many political topics, including women's suffrage, and was seen by many, therefore impacting American's views on the suffrage movement.

Stereograph showing posed cliché of a "New Woman" in knickers smoking a cigarette and watching a man wash laundry in the tub.

This Stereograph created in 1897 is a depiction of a man washing clothes while a woman dressed masculinely watches. In the late 19th century laundry was one of the biggest jobs a woman undertook regularly. Often taking multiple days due to the layered nature of clothing at the time, washday was the realm of the woman. In this photograph we see a man doing laundry, which is not only emasculating for the time but also a visceral upset of gender norms. The woman’s clothing would also be considered wildly inappropriate because of their masculine nature, the way her leg is posed on the chair, which highlights her defined ankle, would be reminiscent of the feminist fashion of bloomers, which were scandalous for exposing the feet of women. This image is wholly one of antagonism, to some people it might look rather amusing, but at the time many men (specifically middle and upper-class white men) would find the idea of participating in women’s work terrifying.