The suffragette movement

Résumé du document

We commonly assume that the first feminist demands and protests appeared in the 19th century in Great Britain. However, this feminist spirit of rebellion already existed at that time, with for instance Olympe de Gouges who wrote La Déclaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne in 18th century France or with Mary Wollstonecraft in England who fought for gender equality and wrote A Vindication for the rights of Woman in 1792, a book that influenced the 19th century feminist movements. In the mid-19th century in Great Britain, feminist movements in search of gender equality and emancipation of women got themselves organized around the women's suffrage issue, fighting against census and exclusive male suffrage.

This huge movement is at first called the « suffragist movement » because of their fight for women's suffrage. But, in the early 20th century, a part of it, refusing inaction and peaceful persuasion of the government, separated itself from the suffragist movement in reason of their militantism and their aggressiveness: it was named the « Suffragette Movement », a pejorative phrase coined by the Daily Mail newspaper used then by the movement itself and becoming a real label without derogatory connotations.

We can therefore wonder to what extent the Suffragette Movement, by using non-peaceful methods to make its demands heard, constitutes a progress for women's condition in Great Britain but also all over the world, since it inspired feminist movements particularly in Europe and in the United States.

Extraits

[...] A militant and violent movement that broke with legal and peaceful methods used by women's suffrage organizations: Millicent Fawcett, the leader of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, believed in a peaceful and constitutional protest. She thought that any violent action would have strengthened men in their belief that women could not be trusted to have the right to vote. Her plan consists in waiting and holding meetings using logical arguments to convince people. But the slow progress left many women angry and led to the creation of the Women's Social and Political Union, prepared to use violence to get their right to vote. [...]

[...] An article from the Morning Post, 8th May 1913. It accused the Suffragette of attempting to bomb St. Paul's Cathedral. Photo of Emily Wilding Davison's action An article from the Daily Sketch relating that Emily Wilding Davison threw herself under the King's Horse. She is said to have been nearly killed but she died a few days later. [...]

[...] It was unclear why she did such a gesture. One theory was that she was trying to attach a flag to the King's horse, so when the horse crossed the finishing line, it would literally be flying the Suffragette flag. But she died four days later due to the incident: the Suffragettes had their first real martyr. However, Great Britain and the whole Europe were plunged into World War One in August 1914. Out of patriotism, Emmeline Pankhurst asked the Suffragette movement to stop its militant campaign and to support the government and its war effort. [...]

[...] We can therefore wonder to what extent the Suffragette Movement, by using non-peaceful methods to make its demands heard, constitutes a progress for women's condition in Great Britain but also all over the world, since it inspired feminist movements particularly in Europe and in the United States. I The Birth of the Suffragette Movement: from feminists to Suffragettes: A. Early origins lying in suffrage movements : Suffrage is defined as the right for citizens to participate in the decision making process of the society they belong to through their ability to vote within elections, either national or local. [...]

[...] They started to attack politicians in 1909, they attacked shops on Oxford Street, Regent Street, and The Strand by smashing windows in 1912, they damaged paintings at the National Gallery in 1914, they burned mailboxes, churches and houses and attempted to bomb David Lloyd George's house and St. Paul's Cathedral in 1913. Many suffragettes went to prison but most of them were quite happy with it: here, they went on hunger strikes in order to become martyrs. The government, afraid the women might starve to death and achieve their goal, ordered the forced feeding of hunger strikers. [...]