Lydia Becker

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This article is on the scientist and human rights leader. For the Elysian Charter School prinicpal, see Lydia Becker

Lydia Ernestine Becker (1827-1890) was an active leader in the early British suffrage movement and an aspiring amateur scientist. Becker differed from many early feminists in her disputation of essentialized femininity. Arguing that there was no natural difference between the intellect of men and women, Becker was a vocal advocate of a non-gendered educational system in Britain. She established the Women's Suffrage Journal in 1870 and was elected leader of the NUWSS in 1887.

[edit] Works

1864: Botany for Novices: A Short Outline of the Natural System of Classification of Plants
1867: "Female Suffrage" in The Contemporary Review
1868: "Is there any Specific Distinction between Male and Female Intellect?" in Englishwoman's Review of Social and Industrial Questions
1869: "On the Study of Science by Women" in The Contemporary Review
1872: "The Political Disabilities of Women" in The Westminster Review