Matthews's book chronicles the changing fortunes and transformations of the organized suffrage movement, from its dismal period to its final victory that brought women the vote.

Part 1 Acknowledgements ix Part 2 THE WOMAN'S ERA 3 Chapter 3 The "restlessness" of women. "Visible" women and the city. Women on campus. Organized womanhood. Varieties of religious experience. Purifying society-the Women's Christian Temperance Union. The suffrage movement at end of century. Women and Columbian Expo Part 4 THE NEW WOMAN AND THE NEW POLITICS 36 Chapter 5 The "New Woman" as a cultural type. Education and "race suicide." The marginality of the professional woman. White-collar working girls and "bachelor women." Women as the advance guard of the welfare state. Motherhood triumphant and dependent. Part 6 THINKING ABUOT THE WOMAN QUESTION 67 Chapter 7 The problem of the universal dominance of men. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Matilda Joslyn Gage challenge the churches and the Bible. Darwinism and the evolutionary paradigm. The "reproductive sacrifice" and eugenics. Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the dysfun Part 8 FEMINISM AND THE PROBLEM OF SEX 96 Chapter 9 Marriage and careers. The emergence of "feminism." Sexuality, intimacy, and remodeling relations between the sexes. New patterns of heterosexual socialbility and companionship. Elsie Clew Parsons and breaking down conventions. Margaret Sanger and the birt Part 10 WAR AND VICTORY 126 Chapter 11 The suffrage movement gains momentum. Harriot Stanton Blatch and the Equality League. The impact of English militancy and new tactics. Successful campaigns in California and New York. The "antis." Alice Paul and the "Anthony Amendment." Carrie Chapman Cat Part 12 AFTER THE VOTE 158 Chapter 13 What next? Initial successes. Backlash and stalling of the social agenda. Alice Paul and the ERA. The meaning of equality. Postmortems on feminism. Disillusions. The post-vote gender settlement. Part 14 THE FATE OF THE ERA 184 Part 15 A Note on Sources 187 Part 16 Index 205