This Spoken Word Poem Imagines Suffragettes In A Whole New Way

You Can Thank Susan B. Anthony For Your Fulfilling Sex Life

In her spoken word poem "Suffragette 69" posted by Button Poetry and performed at Macalester College during the 2014 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational semifinals, Anna Binkovitz pays tribute to Susan B. Anthony, Amelia Bloomer and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

However, instead of offering a history less on women's suffrage, she pays homage in an unconventional way: by celebrating the hard-fought battles that allow modern women to ''Let their freak flags fly." For some, those flags are sex positivity.

"I owe these women so much. They're the reason I can swallow safe sex. The reason women can vote for president. The reason insurance does not see femininity as a symptom to be calculated. They're the reason that I," says Binkovitz, and then pauses with a sly grin. "Can be such a whore."

While the sexual revolution wouldn't gather legs until the 1960s, the suffrage movement allowed the 'personal' to become 'political,' and the striking piece serves as a reminder that without the struggles of Anthony, Bloomer, Stanton and so many more, women would still be relegated to a double-standard of opportunity and sexuality.

Binkovitz even manages to throw in a little erotic suffragette fan fiction wink within the spoken word work. Women's and gender studies professors: take note.

Before You Go

What Is a Nice Girl?

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot