Suffragette

A British suffragette (c. 1910)
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Suffragette is a term originally coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for the more militant members of the late-19th and early-20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). However, after former and then active members of the movement began to reclaim the word, the term became a label without negative connotations. It derives from the word "suffrage", meaning the right to vote.

Suffragist is a more general term for members of suffrage movements, whether radical or conservative, male or female. American campaigners preferred this more inclusive title, while those Americans hostile to women's suffrage used "suffragette" as a pejorative, emphasizing its feminine "-ette" ending. In Britain, "suffragist" is generally used solely to identify members of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).

Contents

History

Origins

The suffrage movement was mainly women from middle class backgrounds. These women were frustrated by their social and economic situation and sought an outlet through which to initiate change. Their struggles for change within society, along with the work of such advocates for women’s rights as John Stuart Mill, were enough to spearhead a movement that would encompass mass groups of women fighting for suffrage. Mill had first brought the idea of women’s suffrage up in the platform he presented to British electors in 1865.[1] He would later be joined by numerous men and women fighting for the same cause.

A few historians feel that some of the suffragettes' actions actually damaged their cause. The argument was that the suffragettes should not get the vote because they were too emotional and could not think as logically as men; their violent and aggressive actions were used as evidence in support of this argument.

New Zealand was the first self-governing country in the world to grant women the vote. In 1893, all women over the age of 21 were permitted to vote in parliamentary elections.[2]

Early 20th Century

Suffragettes carried out direct action such as chaining themselves to railings, setting fire to mailbox contents, smashing windows and on occasions setting off bombs. One suffragette, Emily Davison, died after she stepped out in front of the King's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby of 1913. Many of her fellow suffragettes were imprisoned and went on hunger strikes, during which they were restrained and forcibly fed.

The suffragettes campaign reached its height by 1912, and in 1913 the so-called Cat and Mouse Act was passed by the British government to prevent suffragettes from obtaining public sympathy; it provided for the release of those whose hunger strikes had brought them sickness and for their re-imprisonment once they had recovered.

Nevertheless, protests continued on both sides of the Atlantic. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns led a series of protests against the Wilson Administration in Washington that referred to "Kaiser Wilson" and compared the plight of the German people with that of American women.

During World War I, a serious shortage of able-bodied men ("manpower") occurred, and women were required to take on many of the traditional male roles. This led to a new view of what a woman was capable of doing. The war also caused a split in the British suffragette movement, with the mainstream, represented by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst's Women's Social and Political Union, calling a 'ceasefire' in their campaign for the duration of the war, while more radical suffragettes, represented by Sylvia Pankhurst's Women's Suffrage Federation continued the struggle.

Political movement towards women's suffrage began during the war. In 1918, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Representation of the People Act 1918, granting the vote to women over the age of 30 who were: householders, the wives of householders, occupiers of property with an annual rent of £5, or graduates of British universities. American women's right to vote was codified in the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920. Women in the United Kingdom finally achieved suffrage on the same terms as men in 1928.

Colours

From 1908 the WSPU adopted the colour scheme of purple, white and green: purple symbolising dignity, white for purity, and green for hope. These three colours were used for banners, flags, rosettes and badges, as well as appearing in newspaper cartoons and postcards.

Mappin & Webb, the London jewellers, issued a catalogue of suffragette jewellery for Christmas 1908.

In 1909, the WSPU presented specially commissioned pieces of jewellery to leading suffragettes Emmeline Pankhurst and Louise Eates. Some Arts and Crafts jewellery of the period incorporated the colours purple, white and green using enamel and semi-precious stones such as amethysts, pearls, and peridots; however it is rather a moot point whether all such jewellery is connected with the suffragettes, as these stones were already quite common in women's jewellery during the late 19th century, before the WSPU adopted the colours.

It is a popular myth that the colours were green, white and violet, in order to spell GWV as an acronym for 'Give Women Votes'.

Notable people

United Kingdom

  • Rosa May Billinghurst
  • Emily Wilding Davison
  • Norah Dacre Fox (later Norah Elam)[3]
  • Jane Ellen Harrison
  • Annie Kenney[4]
  • Dame Grace Kimmins DBE
  • Lilian Lenton
  • Mary Lowndes
  • Lady Constance Georgina Bulwer-Lytton
  • Ada Nield Chew
  • Dame Christabel Pankhurst DBE
  • Emmeline Pankhurst
  • Sylvia Pankhurst
  • Frances Parker
  • Emmeline, Baroness Pethick-Lawrence
  • Mary Richardson
  • Dame Ethel Smyth DBE
  • Joan Beauchamp
  • Dame Millicent Fawcett GBE
  • Olive Wharry

Ireland

  • Eva Gore-Booth
  • Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington

Australia

  • Muriel Matters
  • Louisa Lawson
  • Vida Goldstein
  • Alice Henry
  • Dora Montefiore
  • Jessie Street
  • Bessie Rischbieth

USA

New Zealand

  • Kate Sheppard

Gallery

Portrait badge of Emmeline Pankhurst
Portrait badge of Emmeline Pankhurst - c1909 - Sold in large numbers by the WSPU to raise funds for its cause - Museum of London 
Suffragette banner
Suffragette Banner - c1910 - Museum of London 
Votes for Women poster
Votes for Women poster - 1909 
WSPU poster
WSPU poster - 1914 - Museum of London 
Pendant presented to suffragette Louise Eates
Silver, enamel and amethyst pendant, presented to suffragette Louise Eates - 1909 - Museum of London 

See also

References & notes

  1. ↑ Rover, C. Women’s Suffrage and Party Politics in Britain, University of Toronto Press, 1967, page 5.
  2. ↑ New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. New Zealand women and the vote. New Zealand History online. Retrieved on: January 6, 2008 .
  3. ↑ McPherson & McPherson 2010, Mosley's Old Suffragette: A Biography of Norah Elam
  4. ↑ http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wkenney.htm

External links