posted
I've heard that when the Susan B. Anthony dollar was first designed, they used a a picture of a young Susan B. Anthony and that the picture used was the direct results of feminists complaining that the picture chosen was '...too attractive'.
Can anyone confirm?
Posts: 27 | From: Perth, Western Australia | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
I can't confirm or deny it, but I doubt it. Her presence on any currency at all, no matter how obscure, has always been a sore point for right-wingers here. This sounds like just another manifestation of that. I used to work for a few different members of Congress, and when the new Sacajawea dollar was in the works, we got a lot of whiny letters opposing it for all sorts of straw-man reasons. Quite a few people suggested we use the Statue of Liberty instead, a common remark being "Here is a lady to be proud of!" After all, she is, you know, not a real woman or anything.
-------------------- Another lifetime I'd have fallen in love with you Swept away by my feelings, ashamed and confused But just now it's enough to be walking with you Let the mystery play as it will! -Lui Collins Posts: 2669 | From: Jouy en Josas, France | Registered: May 2005
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posted
That story isn't very likely concidering Susan B. Anthony wasn't very attractive even when she was younger: Susan B. Anthony at age 28Posts: 306 | From: Tacoma, WA | Registered: Sep 2005
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Ok - you probably wouldn't look too pretty either with your head locked in a gripper and told to sit still for a minute or more.
try holding a smile that long by the clock (pretty hard) I think that that's why most of the old pics people look so glum - easier to let your face just go "slack"
and if you look close you can see that she proably could have been a pretty girl in the here and now (make-over time)
Mariassa
Posts: 4 | From: New Bremen, Ohio | Registered: Feb 2006
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That's what I was thinking, Lady Mariassa. She actually has good bone structure and attractive features.
Oh yeah, and TrekkerScout, judge not. We don't know what you looked like at age 28.
-------------------- "This air we're breathing. Oxygen, isn't it?"~I’mNotDedalus, impersonating Vincent D’Onofrio.|"Sometimes trying to communicate can be like walking through a minefield."~wanderwoman "Give people a break. It's not easy doing a life."~Joshua Halberstam Posts: 4020 | From: Oklahoma | Registered: Nov 2005
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I think the problem was that they were trying to take a feminist icon and make her pretty... and the fact is that she was fighting for her rights as an American, and as a human... not as someone who could be someone if they gave her a makeover. The whole women's rights thing was to treat everyone as equals, regardless of what they looked like. So why take an icon and doll her up to be something that she's not? It's saying she's not worthy because she's not as attractive as other women. And that's part of the initial problem, isn't it?
-------------------- It is, after all, the dab of grit that seeps into an oyster's shell that makes the pearl, not pearl-making seminars with other oysters. -Stephen King Posts: 481 | From: North Brunswick, NJ | Registered: Sep 2005
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According to this article from The Numismatist, the story is true:
quote:The last hurdle was approval by the United States Commission of Fine Arts. Initially, the Commission returned the Anthony portrait to Chief Engraver Frank Gasparro, requesting that he "strengthen the design. Members of the Commission wanted less glamor, more toughness, less refinement and more of Anthony's real strong face." Gasparro willingly complied.
Not exactly the same as making her uglier, but the gist is correct. The request to de-glamorize her might also have been confused with the debate over whether or not to use Susan B. Anthony or a portrait of "Miss Liberty" with "flowing hair". That debate is also recounted in the article above.
ETA: The last paragraph
-------------------- "Your name is Thurmon Mermon?" Posts: 244 | From: Chicago, IL | Registered: Aug 2005
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According to this article , she was quite the pistol:
quote: It is said that Anthony, even as a young girl had an independent spirit. She once asked her male school teacher why he only taught long division to just boys. She was not satisfied with his answer: "A girl needs to know how to read her Bible and count her egg money, nothing more." She reorganized herself around he schoolteacher and sat behind him in order to learn long division
If I were to have a daughter, I hope she is as pushy as Ms. Anthony was. Heck, I hope my son is that determined to learn.
-------------------- The Snopester formerly known as RooBug Posts: 556 | From: Pittsburgh | Registered: Jan 2005
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quote:Ok - you probably wouldn't look too pretty either with your head locked in a gripper and told to sit still for a minute or more.
Easy - I think even hardcore feminists would agree that Susan B. Anthony's rack could use a little work.
-------------------- "Excuse me, homes, but could you tell me how to get back to the interstate?" Posts: 1245 | From: North Carolina | Registered: Nov 2002
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According to "The Big Book of Losers" published by Paradox Press, the same company that published "The Big Book of Urban Legends", Graham is correct. Feminists complained that the first engraving made Anthony look to pretty so the US mints engraver made a second design and that is the one you see on the coin. According to the same book, some Feminists argued that the lack of interest in the coin was due to an anti-feminist backlash.
-------------------- Let your TV bleed- Tom Petty Posts: 329 | From: Wiesbaden, Germany | Registered: Oct 2005
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Fine eyes, strong face. The fashions of the period were pretty hideous. And no, hardcore feminists are not going to admit *any* woman's "rack" could use "work". Hardcore feminists would tell a woman to love her body and not have surgery, an expensive and potentially hazardous undertaking, merely to look better to those looking for the most superficial of traits.
Posts: 457 | From: Sacramento, CA | Registered: Jan 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Spc. Sharki: According to the same book, some Feminists argued that the lack of interest in the coin was due to an anti-feminist backlash.
Right, it has nothing to do with the fact that the thing is the same color and nearly the same size as a quarter, and isn't accepted by vending machines.
-------------------- Last year's goat was burned down by vandals dressed up as Santa Claus and the Gingerbread Man. They were never caught. My blog. The Adventures of the Fish O'Thwacking. Countdown: 177 days (or less!) Posts: 4926 | From: NW Ohio | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Minstrel with cherries on top:
quote:Originally posted by Spc. Sharki: According to the same book, some Feminists argued that the lack of interest in the coin was due to an anti-feminist backlash.
Right, it has nothing to do with the fact that the thing is the same color and nearly the same size as a quarter, and isn't accepted by vending machines.
Don't worry Minstrel. I suspect the book merely mis-spelled "some feminists argued that it was typical that Susan B. Anthony's image ended up on such a poorly-designed coin."
-------------------- ~~Ai am in mai prrrrrraime!~~ Posts: 10111 | From: Oklahoma | Registered: Sep 2004
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Really? I've never had a vending machine take one. Not that I have tons of the coins around, of course, but the times I have had, they wouldn't. And as far as I can tell, the gold Sacajawea coins are only taken at the stamp vending machines at the post office.
-------------------- Last year's goat was burned down by vandals dressed up as Santa Claus and the Gingerbread Man. They were never caught. My blog. The Adventures of the Fish O'Thwacking. Countdown: 177 days (or less!) Posts: 4926 | From: NW Ohio | Registered: Apr 2003
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The vending machines in my office break room take Sacajawea dollars, but not SBA dollars.
-------------------- How homophobic do you have to be to have penguin gaydar? - Lewis Black Posts: 8322 | From: Columbus, OH | Registered: Aug 2005
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The fare machines at light rail stations here will give change in dollar amounts (e.g., paying for a $1.75 fare with a $5 bill) via Sacajawea coins. Buses (they and the light rail are parts of the same transit system) have no trouble taking them. I haven't tried the Sacas I got recently from the fare machine anywhere else yet. My husband, who does some cashiering at work, says he sees them occasionally.
Posts: 486 | From: Sacramento, California | Registered: Jun 2005
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