2007/09/01 by Belinda A. Stillion Southard · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Academic Freedom and Politics #Aesthetics #American Constitutional Law and Politics #Democracy #Gender studies #Identity (music) #Ideology #Law #Media studies #Militant #Militarism #Political science #Politics #Power (physics) #Presidency #Rhetoric and Communication Studies #Rhetorical question #Sociology #Suffrage
paper · doi:10.1353/rap.2008.0003
openalex publication_date 2007/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
In 1917, National Woman's Party members waged a silent protest outside the White House for woman suffrage. This essay argues that these protesters, the "Silent Sentinels," drew strength from restricting ideological forces to constitute a militant identity. First, the Sentinels enacted early twentieth-century gender ideology and provided political voice to women. Second, the Sentinels appropriated the authority of the rhetorical presidency and constituted themselves and American women as part of the U.S. democratic process. Last, the Sentinels incorporated President Wilson's militaristic doctrine into their militant logic, motivating their fight for woman suffrage as soldiers liberating the oppressed.