---
title: '"In Belgium and yet when she wanted the vote they told her a woman''s place was in the home" (cartoon, 1914)'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/in-belgium-and-yet-woman-wanted-the-vote-1914/
description: A woman feeds two children from a pot on a stove inside a room wrecked by shellfire, as another figure stands in the doorway.
section: Collection
---

1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/)
2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)
3. "In Belgium and yet when she wanted the vote they told her a woman's

[!["In Belgium and yet when she wanted the vote they told, 1914 US cartoon: A woman feeds two children from a pot on a stove](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/in-belgium-and-yet-woman-wanted-the-vote-1914.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/in-belgium-and-yet-woman-wanted-the-vote-1914.jpg)

# "In Belgium and yet when she wanted the vote they told her a woman's place was in the home" (cartoon, 1914)

A woman feeds two children from a pot on a stove inside a room wrecked by shellfire, as another figure stands in the doorway. The tell: the war ruins the argument that her place is in the home, since the home itself is what has been destroyed.

Rollin Kirby, probably for the New York World, drew this cartoon, which the Library of Congress dates [1914?], for a US domestic audience during the woman suffrage campaign. A woman feeds two children from a pot on a stove inside a room wrecked by shellfire, as another figure stands in the doorway, under the title "In Belgium and yet when she wanted the vote they told her a woman's place was in the home". The catalogue note says a general strike in Belgium in 1913 won suffrage for men but not for women, and the cartoon uses the German invasion of 1914 to argue about votes at home. Appeal to emotion is the first tag: pity for the ruined household carries the point that the home argument has collapsed. Whataboutism is also tagged: the argument about a woman's place is answered by pointing to a different situation, Belgium under invasion.

## Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

[Appeal to emotion](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/appeal-to-emotion/) [Whataboutism](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/whataboutism/)

## Full record

Region, Country, Medium, Issuer type, Regime, Leader, Audience, Purpose, Themes, Event, Source, Rights

[← 'Frohe Weihnachten und glückliches Neujahr' Austro-Hungarian Christmas postcard (1914)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/frohe-weihnachten-kriegsjahr-postcard-1914/) [यह सिपाही हिन्दुस्तान की हिफ़ाज़त कर रहा है (This Soldier Is Defending India), Indian Army recruiting poster, Bombay →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/indian-army-hindi-recruiting-poster-1914/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- ["General Antonio Maceo, the Hero of Peralejo" (Sahm & Co., New York, 1898)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/general-antonio-maceo-hero-of-peralejo-sahm-1898/) (United States · 1898 · Appeal to emotion)
- [Uncle Sam looks at "Cuba" holding a "Cuban Revolutionist" baby (Bartholomew cartoon, April 1898)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/startled-uncle-sam-cuban-revolutionist-baby-bartholomew-1898/) (United States · Apr 1898 · Appeal to emotion)
- ["Handicapped!" (Artists' Suffrage League poster, London, 1909)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/handicapped-artists-suffrage-league-1909/) (United Kingdom · 1909 · Appeal to emotion)
- ["Justice Demands the Vote" (Brighton & Hove Women's Franchise Society, 1909)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/justice-demands-the-vote-brighton-hove-1909/) (United Kingdom · 1909 · Appeal to emotion, Transfer)
- ["Shall Women Vote?" (Puck centerfold, 31 March 1909)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/shall-women-vote-puck-1909/) (United States · Mar 31, 1909 · Appeal to emotion, Card stacking)
- ["Votes for Mothers!" (The Suffragist, cover, 13 June 1914)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/votes-for-mothers-suffragist-1914/) (United States · Jun 13, 1914 · Appeal to emotion)
- [Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War?](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/daddy-what-did-you-do-1915/) (United Kingdom · 1915 · Fear appeal, Appeal to emotion)
- [Enlist](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/enlist-lusitania-1915/) (United States · 1915 · Fear appeal, Appeal to emotion). Content note: A mother and infant drowning in the Lusitania sinking.