In this class we are going to learn about the situation and political position of women at the

beginning of the 20th century.

Welcome to our class on women at the beginning of the 20th century!

As you probably know, women have undergone a very long and hard struggle to achieve
the, though still unegalitarian, current position the have in society. So below you'll find a
very brief summary of their stuggle.

A Brief History: The Three Waves of Feminism

While the roots of feminism are buried in ancient Greece, most recognize the
movement by the three waves of feminism. The third being the movement in which we
are currently residing.

The first wave (1830’s – early 1900’s): Women’s fight for equal contract and property
rights

Often taken for granted, women in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, realized that
they must first gain political power (including the right to vote) to bring about change
was how to fuel the fire. Their political agenda expanded to issues concerning sexual,
reproductive and economic matters. The seed was planted that women have the
potential to contribute just as much if not more than men.

The second wave (1960’s-1980’s): Broadening the debate

Coming off the heels of World War II, the second wave of feminism focused on the
workplace, sexuality, family and reproductive rights. During a time when the United
States was already trying to restructure itself, it was perceived that women had meet.
their equality goals with the exception of the failure of the ratification of the Equal
Rights Amendment (which has still yet to be passed).

Misconceptions…

This time is often dismissed as offensive, outdated and obsessed with middle class
white women’s problems. Conversely, many women during the second wave were
initially part of the Black Civil Rights Movement, Anti Vietnam Movement, Chicano
Rights Movement, Asian-American Civil Rights Movement, Gay and Lesbian Movement
and many other groups fighting for equality. Many of the women supporters of the
aforementioned groups felt their voices were not being heard and felt that in order to
gain respect in co-ed organizations they first needed to address gender equality
concerns.

Women cared so much about these civil issues that they wanted to strengthen their
voices by first fighting for gender equality to ensure they would be heard.
The third wave (1990’s – present): The “micropolitics” of gender equality

Today and unlike the former movements, the term ‘feminist’ is received less critically by
the female population due to the varying feminist outlooks. There are the ego-cultural
feminists, the radicals, the liberal/reforms, the electoral, academic, ecofeminists… the
list goes on.

The main issues we face today were prefaced by the work done by the previous waves
of women. We are still working to vanquish the disparities in male and female pay and
the reproductive rights of women. We are working to end violence against women in
our nation as well as others.

We are still fighting for acceptance and a true understanding of the term ‘feminism,’ it
should be noted that we have made tremendous progress since the first wave. It is a
term that has been unfairly associated first, with ladies in hoop skirts and ringlet curls,
then followed by butch, man-hating women. Due to the range of feminist issues today,
it is much harder to put a label on what a feminist looks like.

Quite frankly, it all comes down to the dictionary’s very simple yet profound definition:
“the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.” If that’s what a
feminist is – who wouldn’t want to be called that?

Ok, after this brief summary we are going to devote our attention to the first wave in
particular which is what this class is concerned with:

The women's suffrage movement

The NUWSS campaigned peacefully - here Mrs Fawcett is addressing a rally

In the nineteenth century women had no place in national politics. They could not stand
as candidates for Parliament. They were not even allowed to vote.

It was assumed that women did not need the vote because their husbands would take
responsibility in political matters. A woman's role was seen to be child-rearing and
taking care of the home.

As a result of the industrial revolution many women were in full-time employment,

Organised campaigns for women's suffrage began to appear in 1866 and from 1888
women could vote in many local council elections. When parliamentary reform was
being debated in 1867, John Stuart Mill proposed an amendment that would have given
the vote to women on the same terms as men but it was rejected by 194 votes to 73.
The campaign gained momentum after this.
Nineteenth century feminists talked about "The Cause". This described a movement for
women's rights generally. It had no particular political focus. But by the close of the
century the issue of the vote became the focus of women's struggle for equality.

The movement to gain votes for women had two wings, the suffragists and the
suffragettes.

The suffragists had their origins in the mid nineteenth century, while the suffragettes
came into being in 1903.

The suffragists

In 1897, various local women's suffrage societies formed the National Union of
Women's Suffrage Societies, under the leadership of Millicent Fawcett. The NUWSS
wanted the vote for middle class property-owning women. They believed they would
achieve their end using peaceful tactics - non-violent demonstrations, petitions and the
lobbying of MPs. Fawcett believed that if the organisation was seen to be intelligent,
polite and law-abiding then women would prove themselves responsible enough to
participate fully in politics.

The leadership of the suffragists was exclusively middle class but some of the more
radical members recognised early on that the movement needed the support of
working class women. The issue of the franchise was drawing women of various
sections of society together and giving them an identity which they had lacked until that
time.

By 1900 there was already evidence that many Members of Parliament had been won
over. Several Bills in favour of women's suffrage gained considerable support in
Parliament, though not enough to pass. Some believed it was only a matter of time until
women would gain the vote.

The suffragettes

The suffragettes, a name given to them by the newspaper The Daily Mail, were born out
of the suffragist movement. Emmeline Pankhurst, who had been a member of the
Manchester suffragist group, had grown impatient with the middle class, respectable,
gradualist tactics of the NUWSS. In 1903 she decided to break with the NUWSS and set
up a separate society. This became known as the Women's Social and Political Union
(WSPU).

Mrs Pankhurst believed it would take an active organisation, with young working class
women, to draw attention to the cause. The motto of the suffragettes was deeds not
words and from 1912 onwards they became more militant and violent in their methods
of campaign. Law-breaking, violence and hunger strikes all became part of this society's
campaign tactics.
In 1907 the Women's Social and Political Union itself split into two groups after
Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel came into conflict with other
members of the WSPU's executive body. Those who left formed the Women's Freedom
League, while the Pankhursts and their supporters established an even tighter grip on
the workings of the WSPU.

The three groups disagreed over tactics but their message was consistent and they
regularly worked together. Despite opposition, the argument for women's suffrage
seemed to be winning support. By 1909 the WSPU had branches all over the country
and published a newspaper called Votes for Women which sold 20,000 copies each
week. The NUWSS was also flourishing, with a rising membership and an efficient
nation-wide organisation.

The rough treatment of many suffragettes arrested and jailed during the course of their
protests also won the suffrage cause increasing sympathy and support from the public.
The commendable behaviour of the suffrage movement during the war - suspending
their protests for the sake of national unity - also proved that the women were far from
unreasonable.