Iron Jawed Angels and Mary Poppins

There was a time when a public opinion was "that women were not as intelligent as men, that they were weak, tainted with Eve's sin and so forth"(Kirk 9). This was the time when women were not given the most basic citizenship privilege, the right to vote. The United States of America was a land where women and men were legally unequal. Women resisted this oppression. Despite the truth that women were socially and legally ridiculed, arrested, assaulted, and killed, intelligent fearless women affected change commencing the suffrage movement. Iron-Jawed Angels and Mary Poppins portray scenes from the first wave of Feminism. Mary Poppins has a unique way of showing that the suffrage movement wasn't that rough. Iron Jawed Angels is a more realistic portrayal and it shows the gruesome reality of feminist struggle.
Mrs. Banks is the main activist in Mary Poppins. While she seems passionate about getting the right to vote, there are several dynamics of her character that subjugates her identity as a woman. She is a subservient wife who maintains a system of female servant hood in her home. She is a suffragist, but she maintains the notion and role of a woman who must serve her man. As she politely hangs up her sash before her husband gets home, there is no depiction of resilience and resistance.The movie has a satirical tone altogether. It is a musical and everything is happy go lucky. That's cute. Then again, is this the way we want women's history to be portrayed?
Iron Jawed Angels is based on a true story and it even tells one. The movie depicts true characters. The main character Alice Paul is a suffragist. She is intelligent, intellectual, radical, and progressive. She is passionate about women's right to vote and she is shown in the trenches working for this equality. At the same time she is resistant to men and does not have a relationship like Mrs. Banks. In general the men in both movies are equally oppressive. The husband of Mrs. Bank and Senator Leightman are property owners, their wives are subservient to them.Both Mrs. banks and Mrs. Leightman are rebellious women. There husbands are not supportive, but they are still suffragettes.
In the same way, all the actors are not active in both films. We hear about Mrs. Banks activism, but we don’t see any struggle. The main characters in Iron-Jawed Angels were very active and militant. But since this movie shows a realistic version of the suffrage movement, there are some passive activists portrayed too. Alice Paul lead a group of women to separate from the National American Women's Suffrage Association to create the Women's National Party. Alice Paul and the other main characters were not as passive as the older suffragists and patriots in the NAWS and wanted a radical approach against inequality. Iron Jawed Angels actually shows the realities of a hunger strike, daily protesting, back room politics, rallies, and strong women running a day and night campaign for equality. Mary Poppins just sings about it.