Final answer:
The anti-suffrage movement cartoons portrayed women's primary role as domestic caretakers, suggesting political involvement would lead to societal chaos and the neglect of their homemaking duties.
Step-by-step explanation:
An examination of the anti-suffrage movement's editorial cartoons reveals the perceived role of women in the early 20th century. The anti-suffrage movement leveraged stereotypes and sentiments that portrayed women as inherently unfit for political involvement. In these cartoons, the suggested role of a wife is primarily domestic, focused on childcare and homemaking, and any deviation from this role is depicted as comical or detrimental to society. This reflects the opposition's fear that women's suffrage would lead to the abandonment of these traditional roles, resulting in societal chaos. The cartoons show women neglecting their households and adopting behaviors like gambling and drinking, which were considered masculine vices.
The anti-suffrage propaganda implies that the most important role of a wife during this era was to remain apolitical, selfless, and dedicated to the home. The cartoons ridiculed both the suffragists and their male supporters, emphasizing an upside-down world where the natural order was disrupted.