The American society has strongly resisted women's suffrage for so many decades due to the deep-seated sexist beliefs held by both men and women. These beliefs were further reinforced by a good number of secular and religious customs and institutions. Although through these decades, some industries funded the opposition to suffrage campaigns, because they thought women would vote for policies unfavorable to their financial interests, some other industries projected that reform measures supported by women would increase their costs, and thus supported the campaigns.