100 Years of Voting Rights; Emmeline Pankhurst and Women’s Suffrage
Named by Time as one of 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, Emmeline Pankhurst was a significant figure in the suffrage movement, known best as the founder of the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union). A statue of Pankhurst can be found in the Victoria Tower Garden — close to the Houses of Parliament — commemorating her efforts to gain women the vote.
The suffrage movement consisted of two groups; suffragists and suffragettes, which although are often referred to interchangeably, had very different ideas regarding how to get women the vote. While the suffragists were responsible for the establishment of the suffrage movement, many campaigners believed their lack of successful political change was due to their peaceful approach (The British Library). As a result of this, the suffragettes were formed and the protests for women suffrage took a more violent form.
In Emmeline Pankhurst’s 1914 biography My Own Story — the basis of the 2015 film Suffragette — Pankhurst shares her experiences with the political movement, including how the cause affected her personal life. Throughout the campaign, Emmeline Pankhurst chained herself to railings, disrupted public meetings, damaged public property and was jailed a total of 11 times; where she went on hunger strike each time (The British Library).
Despite her lifelong commitment to the suffrage movement, Pankhurst died just weeks short of the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 being passed in parliament. This bill was a development on the Representation of the People Act 1918 which had previously granted women over 30 — who fitted specific requirements — the right to vote. The 1928 version of this law saw an extension to all women aged 21 and over — the same voting age of men at the time (Myers).
Although it is the suffragettes who are often seen to be the reason for women gaining the right to vote, a number of different organisations were responsible for the overall gain with these including, but not limited to, the Women’s Social and Political Union, the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies and Women’s Freedom League (Holmes). Each of these organisations were not limited to women, with many having male members in. It is possible that, without the inclusion of these men, the power of the suffrage movement may not have been so strong or powerful.
Women’s suffrage was a strand of first wave feminism which began in the 1800’s and ended in the 1920’s and largely covered political injustices of the time. Following this was second wave feminism (1960’s — 1980’s), also referred to as Women’s Liberation, which focused mainly on sexually liberating women but also worked with the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam in their subsequent protests. During the 1990’s, third wave feminism came — nicknamed Girl Power — which focused on reclaiming beauty ideals from the patriarchy. Currently in it’s fourth wave, modern day feminism takes the form of Hashtag Activism which sees campaigns such as The Women’s March, #MeToo and Free The Nipple attempt to raise awareness of social injustices by using social media platforms (Hall).
While some draw similarities between the suffragettes and 21st century feminists, others argue that the social media activism approach — which many fourth wave feminists partake in — is feeble in comparison to the militant tactics used by suffragettes (Whelan).
Although the violent approach of the suffragettes has, throughout history, been frowned upon, it cannot be said for definite that women's suffrage would have been victorious without their militant — and radical — tactics. Without the initial fight for women’s suffrage in the early 1900’s, the issues which modern day feminists fight for wouldn’t be able to be addressed.
References:
Hall, Harriet. “A comprehensive guide to the feminist waves.” The Evening Standard, 6 March 2018, https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/international-womens-day-a-comprehensive-guide-to-the-feminist-waves-a3780436.html
Holmes, Rachel. “Which branch of feminism won women the vote? We all did.” The Guardian, 6 February 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/06/feminism-women-vote-suffragette-democracy-protests-political-theatre
Lethbridge, Lucy. “The women’s march: how the Suffragettes changed Britain.” The Financial Times, 2 February 2018, https://www.ft.com/content/22776930-05f6-11e8-9e12-af73e8db3c71
Myers, Rebecca. “General History of Women’s Suffrage in Britain.” The Independent, 28 May 2013, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/general-history-of-women-s-suffrage-in-britain-8631733.html
“What is the difference between the suffragists and the suffragettes?” The British Library, 6 February 2018, https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragists-and-suffragettes
Whelan, Ella. “No, today’s feminists are not The New Suffragettes.” Spiked, 9 February 2018, https://www.spiked-online.com/2018/02/09/no-todays-feminists-are-not-the-new-suffragettes/
