{"id":45607,"date":"2016-11-08T11:04:34","date_gmt":"2016-11-08T17:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=45607"},"modified":"2016-11-11T14:18:45","modified_gmt":"2016-11-11T20:18:45","slug":"wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/","title":{"rendered":"#WearWhiteToVote celebrates\u00a0women\u2019s suffrage struggle on Election Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Anna Foley <\/strong><\/p>\n

Wearing white after Labor Day has long been considered \u00a0a fashion faux pas in many circles. Yet Paola Aguilar is donning the out-of-season style today for a very specific reason: to pay tribute to the feminist movement when she casts her vote in the 2016 election.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a feminist, I believe that part of wanting the advancement of gender equality is also recognizing what has already been done by other women,\u201d said Aguilar, a University of Idaho student. <\/span><\/p>\n

The color white, has <\/span>deep roots<\/span><\/a> in the feminist movement. It was one of the main colors suffragettes wore as they fought for the right to vote at the turn of the century. The color played into certain cultural perceptions of women in the early 20th century, according to Kate Haulman, a history professor at \u00a0an American University.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWhite played into the Victorian ideals of purity and virtue,\u201d Haulman said. \u201cBut it also signified that the suffragettes wanted to be visible. They were reviled by many, and their movement was seen as too public. They wanted to be seen.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Since then, female politicians have worn white to stand in solidarity with the women fighting for the right to vote. Shirley Chisholm wore the color when she was elected the first African-American woman to Congress in 1969. Geraldine Ferraro, the first female candidate for vice president, wore white when she accepted the nomination at the 1984 Democratic nomination. Hillary Clinton also wore white when she accepted her nomination at the 2016 convention. <\/span><\/p>\n

Haulman said the choice to wear white is intentional.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFashion is political; clothing is political,\u201d Haulman said. \u201cThe clothes we wear as women act as a platform for our beliefs. We wear our morals on our bodies, quite literally.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Quite a few women plan to wear their morals on their bodies on Election Day. Under the Twitter hashtag #WearWhiteToVote, several women expressed plans to stand in solidarity by wearing the storied color. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

#WearWhiteToVote<\/a> 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com\/CFIFs2mb4W<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Liz DiCorpo-Ross (@ShaneandlizRoss) November 8, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

I am wearing white to vote today in honor of the suffragettes who worked tirelessly for the right to vote! #WearWhiteToVote<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kathleen Rupert (@katerupert) November 8, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

My 1st #Vote<\/a> as an American-> @BarackObama<\/a> my 2nd->the 1st woman running x presidency @HillaryClinton<\/a> #ImWithHer<\/a> #IVoted<\/a> #WearWhiteToVote<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/3hQ0oifklt<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Maria Riboli (@Maria_Riboli) November 8, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

#WearWhiteToVote<\/a> I’m honoring Black Suffragists like Mary Church Terrell today and wearing white – https:\/\/t.co\/Vecs1YAdHN<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/qC3EYSMp2o<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Denise Oliver-Velez (@Deoliver47) November 8, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Did the damn thing with my lady friends. 🇺🇸👸🏼📢\u2705💖\u2728#WearWhiteToVote<\/a> #ImWithHer<\/a> @smrtgrls<\/a> @HillaryClinton<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/6Nqa6wf9az<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Lauren Koontz (@lauren_koontz) November 8, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Haulman noted that while modern efforts to wear white as a feminist symbol has been widely adopted, the suffragettes were often not so accepting. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe color white meant purity, often in the racial sense, too,\u201d Haulman said. \u201cSuffragettes could be quite racist.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

As a woman of color, Aguilar said that particular point in feminist history was troubling for her. Still, she decided to wear white on Election Day. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I understand that the women\u2019s suffrage movement in the United States was not very intersectional, I am still benefitting from the work of the suffragettes,\u201d Aguilar said. \u201cToday, I am privileged to be studying at a higher education institution, I get to speak publicly about my political opinions, and I get to vote. Someone had to work for me to have these privileges and wearing white is a simple way to pay homage to the work of those women.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Given the language of this particular election, women standing in solidarity with other women is refreshing to Haulman. She can\u2019t help but draw parallels between the past and today. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps the suffragettes were the \u2018nasty women\u2019 of their day,\u201d Haulman said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Photo at top:\u00a0Vintage photo of suffragettes wearing white in 1912. \u00a0\u201cThe color white meant purity, often in the racial sense, too. Suffragettes could be quite racist,\u201d according to Kate Haulman, an American University historian. \u00a0(Photo by Ambrose Fowler)<\/div>\n

Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Anna Foley Wearing white after Labor Day has long been considered \u00a0a fashion faux pas in many circles. Yet Paola Aguilar is donning the out-of-season style today for a very specific reason: to pay tribute to the feminist movement when she casts her vote in the 2016 election. \u201cAs a feminist, I believe that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":45629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,1145,766,2951,675],"tags":[3296,3295,648,1149,3294,192,3293,3297,1198,704],"class_list":["post-45607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-election-2016","category-election2016","category-politicsnational-security","category-social-justice","tag-wearwhitetovote","tag-election-day","tag-fashion","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-mary-church-terrell","tag-promo","tag-suffragette","tag-victorian","tag-voting","tag-womens-rights"],"yoast_head":"\n#WearWhiteToVote celebrates\u00a0women\u2019s suffrage struggle on Election Day - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"#WearWhiteToVote celebrates\u00a0women\u2019s suffrage struggle on Election Day - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Anna Foley Wearing white after Labor Day has long been considered \u00a0a fashion faux pas in many circles. Yet Paola Aguilar is donning the out-of-season style today for a very specific reason: to pay tribute to the feminist movement when she casts her vote in the 2016 election. \u201cAs a feminist, I believe that […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-08T17:04:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-11-11T20:18:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/11\/suffagettes.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anna Foley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anna Foley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/\",\"name\":\"#WearWhiteToVote celebrates\u00a0women\u2019s suffrage struggle on Election Day - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/11\/suffagettes.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-08T17:04:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-11T20:18:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/46230783db7437078937cbd5decb7ca3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/11\/suffagettes.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/11\/suffagettes.png\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":706,\"caption\":\"Vintage photo of suffragettes in Long Beach, N.Y. (Ambrose Fowler)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"#WearWhiteToVote celebrates\u00a0women\u2019s suffrage struggle on Election Day\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/46230783db7437078937cbd5decb7ca3\",\"name\":\"Anna Foley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/026331652d3cf358472c1b09126ac60fcfcc90e8fff6a284429910481650528a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/026331652d3cf358472c1b09126ac60fcfcc90e8fff6a284429910481650528a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anna Foley\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/annafoley2017\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"#WearWhiteToVote celebrates\u00a0women\u2019s suffrage struggle on Election Day - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"#WearWhiteToVote celebrates\u00a0women\u2019s suffrage struggle on Election Day - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Anna Foley Wearing white after Labor Day has long been considered \u00a0a fashion faux pas in many circles. Yet Paola Aguilar is donning the out-of-season style today for a very specific reason: to pay tribute to the feminist movement when she casts her vote in the 2016 election. \u201cAs a feminist, I believe that […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2016-11-08T17:04:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-11-11T20:18:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":706,"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/11\/suffagettes.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Anna Foley","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anna Foley","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/","name":"#WearWhiteToVote celebrates\u00a0women\u2019s suffrage struggle on Election Day - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/11\/suffagettes.png","datePublished":"2016-11-08T17:04:34+00:00","dateModified":"2016-11-11T20:18:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/46230783db7437078937cbd5decb7ca3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/11\/suffagettes.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/11\/suffagettes.png","width":1100,"height":706,"caption":"Vintage photo of suffragettes in Long Beach, N.Y. (Ambrose Fowler)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wearwhitetovote-celebrates-womens-suffrage-struggle-on-election-day\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"#WearWhiteToVote celebrates\u00a0women\u2019s suffrage struggle on Election Day"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/46230783db7437078937cbd5decb7ca3","name":"Anna Foley","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/026331652d3cf358472c1b09126ac60fcfcc90e8fff6a284429910481650528a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/026331652d3cf358472c1b09126ac60fcfcc90e8fff6a284429910481650528a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Anna Foley"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/annafoley2017\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}