I had the great pleasure of seeing Suffs recently. What an amazing show and tribute to the women who changed the world by fighting for the right for women to vote. The songs of the musical riffing on marriage and questioning “Is it worth it?” to put your life and health on the line for women’s rights, and “How do we stay together as a movement?” were a joy to encounter — the writing being both tremendously insightful, and also quite funny.
What made the most impact for me was not the history lesson, although I learned some new tidbits and details. More striking for me about Suffs was how much the show felt like it mirrored the contemporary struggles for women. Somehow, the players change, but the story stays the same.
Marriage: Solution or Strategic Compromise
Women in 1920’s America, like today, had a quandary to figure out regarding marriage. Suffs asks the big questions about this: is economic dependence on men a solution, or just a deepening and reinforcing of the problem? How do women further the cause for liberation if they lose their independence through marriage, and are then expected to bear children and be subsumed in a life of caregiving? And how do you get anywhere in life without resources, which are, by and large, held by men?
Since we’ve been discussing caregiving recently here on PW, it’s important to note that, as far as we have come for women’s equality in the past century, caregiving needs are still largely placed on women. And as much as philanthropy is aware of the need for attention to equality, it still struggles to fund solutions to the caregiving burdens that women still bear.
How Much Disagreement Can One Movement Survive?
This is another key theme of Suffs that continues to play out today, not only in women’s movements, but in progressive movements in general. Keeping everyone on the same page is a struggle when so many layers of oppression are occurring simultaneously. And yet, compromises get made for the sake of the bigger issue. It’s a terrifying and beautiful thing to witness, and it’s helpful to take a look at historical versions of the same intersectional dynamics we experience today. Racism, sexism, classism, ableism — none of these occur in a vacuum. Consequently, movements that want to address one or another of these issues face the struggle not to erase the other problems that are in the mix.
Some Little-Known Facts About Suffs
There are many parallels in the creating of Suffs that mirror the ongoing creation of feminist advocacy. Suffs was written by Shaina Taub, who handled the book, music, and lyrics. This kind of comprehensive storytelling by one person is still uncommon for Broadway, especially for a large historical musical. Like feminism throughout history, collective efforts are important, but individual women who push hard through the heavy layers of discrimination and oppression can make a big difference.
Another relevant synergy to note: the writing and music were developed over many years, kind of like how women’s rights has developed, and changed over many year. Suffs didn’t make it to Broadway overnight, but went through multiples productions and revisions. The making of this great show required persistence, and repeated recalibration, to make it to the top.
One more salient synergy with feminism: the musical numbers of Suffs focused on movement process, not just individual heroes and heroines. Unlike typical historical musicals, Suffs depicts meetings, strategy debates, and the personal exhaustion many activists felt. That was on purpose. That was telling a story in a new and important way.
The Long Arc of Women’s Political Power: Hillary Clinton as Lead Producer of Suffs
Another not-so-well-known fact: Hillary Clinton was a lead producer of Suffs. How fitting that a former Presidential candidate would be a primary underwriter of feminist art that focuses on political power. Bravo, Hillary Clinton, for lending your credibility and financial resources to make this work possible.
Big Takeaways from Suffs
Suffs reminds us that movements are built and sustained by imperfect people making difficult decisions in near-impossible situations. Mistakes are made. People feel hurt and/or undervalued. Activists suffer public outrage, ridicule, imprisonment, torture, compromised health, and even death in the fight for what they believe in. Lots and lots of time and energy gets consumed for the purpose of creating a world where more representation and respect might be possible.
The passage of the 19th Amendment was a time where long-held hopes were realized in tremendous gains for women. Suffs helps us see how that hope is both fragile and powerful. We can all take note of how much the women who got us the vote sacrificed — and perhaps it will galvanize a few of us to get out there and take some more risks for the sake of increasing women’s power, visibility, leadership, artistic expression, or any number of avenues one can pursue to fight against the erasure of women currently gaining ground in our authoritarian-leaning country.
At Philanthropy Women, we’ve been grappling with all of these questions for years. Seeing them sung out loud on a Broadway stage felt like both recognition and relief. Moving, thought-provoking, and stress-relieving, Suffs is a manifesto of feminist storytelling not to be missed.
