Problem realizacji praw wyborczych kobiet w Polsce międzywojennej: debata na łamach prasy dla katoliczek

Abstract

The women’s right to vote was recognised by the Second Polish Republic in 1918. That led to certain changes in the politics of the country. The Catholic women’s press played a major role in examining what was influencing female voters. There were two points of interest for political journalism: 1) the justification of women’s right to political equality by showing Polish women as heroines throughout the Polish history; 2) popularisation of women’s right to vote. Readers were encouraged to learn how Polish women gained voting experience. The press was particularly interested in Catholic female Members of the Polish Parliament and deputies for the Silesian Sejm. The debate itself was repeating the patterns of the patriarchal system and the archetype of the Polish Mother and the Polish-Catholic woman. Thus, they were shown as defenders of the traditional way of doing politics, assuring that after gaining the suffrage the Polish women would vote for the Catholic National political parties.