Abstract
This article considers the popular custom of depositing "I Voted" stickers at the grave of Susan B. Anthony. Focusing mainly on the 2016 election, this article treats Anthony's grave as the locus of a ritualized social process, and suggests that the stickers can and ought to be understood as ritual votive objects, or "ex-votos," from the Latin ex voto—meaning "from a vow." Drawing on the connections among votives, voting, and devotion, Conley demonstrates how the stickers are elucidated by theories of materiality (particularly the contributions of so-called new materialisms scholars)—scholarship that is shaped by feminist approaches. Relatedly, in raising questions regarding what constitutes a votive, and about the gendered dimensions of devotional practices more broadly, the article explores the agentive role of the stickers, with their social and material entanglements, in the construction and destabilization of cultural memory related to the women's suffrage movement.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.