Mixed company

The reformers also tried to tackle political rowdiness with a movement called Safe and Sane Fourth of July. But the real key to nonviolent politics was bringing women into the picture. As we seem condemned to keep relearning throughout history, men are much less inclined to blow things up or knock each other down when they're in mixed company.

When American women first got the right to vote, in Wyoming in 1869, a local paper noted that things had quieted down so fast "it seemed more like Sunday than election day."

[From We (used to) love a parade - International Herald Tribune]