Voting Station

Katharine Houghton (Hepburn)

Please vote to return to collections.

Advocate

The Resume

    (February 2, 1878-March 17, 1951)
    Born in Buffalo, New York
    Birth name was Katharine Martha Houghton
    Nicknamed 'Kit'
    Leader of the suffrage movement in the United States
    President of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (1910-17)
    Co-founded the American Birth Control League (later Planned Parenthood) in 1916
    Married Dr. Thomas Norval Hepburn in 1904
    Mother of Katharine Hepburn

Why she might be annoying:

    She was an old money socialite - who was also an avowed socialist and Marxist (her own daughter said she was a Communist).
    She took sides in the growing rivalry between the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and the newly formed National Woman's Party.
    She resigned as CWSA president, declaring it (and by extension all of NAWSA) to be 'old-fashioned and supine.'
    Google searches for her name inevitably turn up results related to her daughter - or her granddaughter of the same name.
    Ironically, she regarded movies as lowbrow entertainment and looked down on her daughter's film stardom, often professing ignorance about Hollywood in general (reportedly telling Kate 'Cary Grant? Clark Gable? I can never keep them straight').
    She is indirectly referenced by Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty during his onscreen meltdown ('Anyway, I'm here with Katherine Hepburn's mom! Tell me, why did you throw the blue heart of the ocean jewel over the railing of the Titanic!? Did you feel bad at all letting Leonardo DiCaprio drown while you were floating on the big door!?')

Why she might not be annoying:

    Her father committed suicide.
    She campaigned for birth control with Margaret Sanger.
    She successfully graduated from college despite her family's objections, earning a Bachelors and a Masters.
    She brought young Katharine on several 'Votes For Women' demonstrations.
    She and her husband raised their kids to exercise freedom of speech and encouraged to think and debate on any topic they wished.
    Hepburn said she realized from a young age that she was the product of 'two very remarkable parents' and credited her 'enormously lucky' upbringing with providing the foundation for her success.
    She turned down calls for her to run for the Senate because her husband wasn't supportive of her holding political office.
    She was targeted by the Congressional House Committees on Un-American Activities (HUAC) for her political activity.
    She was portrayed by Frances Conroy in Scorsese's 'The Aviator.'

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 19 Votes: 47.37% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 179 Votes: 54.75% Annoying