Suffragettes

Question 1

who were suffragettes?

Answer 1

Women demanding to vote (suffrage)

Question 2

who were the leaders of the suffragette movement?

Answer 2

Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst
Wife of lawyer
1903 started WSPU (woman’s Social and Political Union)
Takes protests to the streets when letters delivered by husband are ignored
Annie Kenney and Christabel Pankhurst were others

Question 3

what did the WSPU do? what are they?

Answer 3

Form branches over Britain (start in Manchester and London)
Mainly middle class but some working class
“deeds, not words” motto
supported child workers and wanted to speak out more (working women had less of a say than middle class women)
Aims to persuade Liberal Government to give women the vote but PM Herbert Asquith was against this
Labour Party was seen as too radical and therefore not popular
Peaceful campaign at start- letters, posters, banners

Question 4

what was the women’s militant campaign?

Answer 4

Peaceful methods didn’t work
Break the law and gain publicity: break windows, smoke bombs etc.
Arrested women and put them in nasty prisons
Disrupted political meetings and leading Liberal politicians and harassed MPs
Smashed windows, painted slogans, cut telephone wires, slash paintings in galleries
Chained themselves to rails near parliament
Set fire to letter boxes and empty public buildings

Question 5

what death did the militant campaign lead to?

Answer 5

4th June 1913 the Derby horse race was run at Epsom Racecourse
King George V’s horse was running in the race and was doing well
Emily Davidson was run over by the king’s horse
Dies in hospital
Horse fell, jockey dragged along but survived

Question 6

what happened when women were imprisoned?

Answer 6

For breaking law
In prison women went on a hunger strike to draw attention
Force fed them so prisons would not look bad by them dying- dangerous for health. Can rupture throat and drown them
In 18 months, at 50 (quite old), went through 10 hunger strikes

Question 7

what was the Cat and Mouse Act in 1913?

Answer 7

People were horrified by force feeding
Liberals lost support so Temporary Discharge of Prisoners Act (1913)
Hunger strike, released to recover, hunger strike
Hard to re-arrest those who were released- police beaten up, women shielded

Question 8

when did women get the vote in England? who?

Answer 8

1918
Women over 30 who were householders, wives of householders, occupiers of property with annual rent of 5 pounds annually and graduated from British universities

Question 9

the did Australia get the vote and states?

Answer 9

Australia
Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 enabled women to vote in federal elections and stand for election

South Australia
1895

Western Australia
1899

New South Wales
1902

Tasmania
1903

Queensland
1905

Victoria
1908

Question 10

what do the sash colours symbolise?

Answer 10

Green: hope
White: purity
Violet: loyalty

Question 11

when did Indigenous women get the vote?

Answer 11

Indigenous women did not get this until 1962 (SA before)

Question 12

when did each state have a suffrage society?

Answer 12

1880s-1890s each state had one suffrage society.

Question 13

what happened in 1891?

Answer 13

1891: suffragettes including Vida Goldstein gathered 30,000 woman’s signatures and presented them as a petition to the Victoria Parliament (Monster petition).

Question 14

why did women want the vote? why did people think they should not get that?

Answer 14

Argued that women would be able to vote, be elected so that their wishes could be elected.
19th century a woman’s place was still in the home. Few went to uni.
Many men thought it was impossible for women to focus on politics.
Some women were opposed.
Women were seen as emotional, weak and too busy running the home.

Question 15

what was the electoral act in 1863?

Answer 15

Gave all people the right to vote

Women were therefore allowed to own land and vote

Question 16

who were influential women?

Answer 16

Edith Cowan was the first woman to be elected to parliament in 1921
First women to be in federal parliament (1943)
Julia Gillard and governor general Quinton Bryce at the same time.
First indigenous woman in parliament Nova Paris 2013.

Question 17

when was the contraceptive pill introduced? who could have it? what kind of tax was on it? what did this give women?

Answer 17

1 feb 1961
Only available to married women
Catholic doctors could deny
Had to be given by a doctor
Had a 27.5% luxury tax
Gave freedom 
More women in the work force, greater social visibility
Then we can get maternity leave

Question 18

what was the Roman Catholic Chruch’s view on contraceptive pill?

Answer 18

Conference on birth control, St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney 29 July 1968
From 5th century, Roman Catholic Church has taken a stance against contraception and continues in the 21st

Question 19

who are Australian female legends?

Answer 19

Professor Eva Cox
Dr Germaine Greer
Justice Elizabeth Evatt
Dr Anne Summers

Question 20

what were issues for women in the 21st century?

Answer 20

Equal pay
Equal opportunity
maternity/paternity leave
Planned parenthood/reproductive rights
Domestic violence and abuse
Violence against women
Indigenous women: closing the gap
Global status of women

Question 21

when was the first feminism? who were they? what did they aim for? what did they achieve?

Answer 21

First feminism: 1880s and 1890s
woman’s christian temperance union (WCTU) and Victorian Women’s Suffrage Society (both 1884)
Aimed to vote and protect women and children.
Supported prohibition
Raised consent from 12 to 16 to protect
opposition: too stupid, did not fight in wars, already had influence through male relatives
Given vote under commonwealth franchise act in 1902
Ability was removed from Indigenous people to vote where the franchise was available (voted in 1962)

Question 22

what happened with WWI and the depression and women’s work?

Answer 22

WWI: worked as nurses overseas and started charity groups.
Due to male deaths, there were more jobs- woman became “flappers”
Depression in 1930s caused bankruptcy and ruined families
Men left women to look after families
Women had cheap labour jobs

Question 23

what happened with women and WWII? who were the first women in federal parliament?

Answer 23

WWII: nurses, Australian Woman’s Army Services, Australian Woman’s Land Army, work in factories
After the war, jobs were given back to men
Woman had tasted freedom and wanted it
Enid Lyons was first woman elected into Australian parliament in 1943 to house or reps and Dorothy Tangney to the senate

Question 24

what did women chant?

Answer 24

‘Men like birds; birds live in cages,
They have done for ages; on second-class wages;
Women’s Liberation’s going to smash that cage,
Come Join us now and rage, rage, rage.’

Question 25

when did women begin challenging the patriarchy?

Answer 25

1950s and 1960s women were confined to a ‘perfect’ home
1960s and 1970s protests over Vietnam war, hippy culture, media access and improved education (free uni) gave women more voice.
First liberation groups in Sydney and Adelaide in 1969 gave women a community
Led to Australian International Woman’s Days March on 8 March 1972 (70s and 80s)
Marches brought to light abortions, rape, premarital sex etc.

Question 26

in response to the second wave of feminism’s outcries what was made?

Answer 26

Created rape crisis centres, women’s refuges, women’s health centres, improvement in legal and economic position.

Question 27

which women were heard and which were not?

Answer 27

1970s, only white middle and upper class women were heard
Some liberation groups fought for all ethnic and socio-economic groups but not all
Migrant women, indigenous women and lesbian women struggled

Question 28

when was there more feminist literature?

Answer 28

70s and 80s

Germaine Greer

Question 29

why were women paid less? during WWII how much were women paid?

Answer 29

Women earn less due to being considered wives and mothers, not employees
1907 the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration reinforced the idea of men being breadwinners and women adding extra- Justice Higgins: ‘women were not legally responsible for the maintenance of a family.’
men paid for themselves and three dependents
WWII women paid 60% of what men were- that way until 1970s
Marriage was necessary

Question 30

when was there equal pay and equal treatment for equal work? (4 acts) why do women still get paid less?

Answer 30

1969 Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration after protests introduced ‘equal pay for equal work’ but only in some occupation.
1947 Labour government made the male minimum wage an adult minimum wage
The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunities for Women) Act 1986 made things easier
Women still earn less because: female-dominated industries are paid less, choosing part time to support children, discrimination and taking time our to have children

Question 31

1970s Logan?

Answer 31

Slogan 1970s: ‘Better dead than wed’

Question 32

what laws were surrounding marriage, divorce and children? what acts began to change this?

Answer 32

Marriage was pinnacle of female life
Confining, pregnancies, physical and sexual abuse
Divorce laws created in UK in 1857 (Marital Causes Act)
Before people paid to have marriages annulled
In Australia, rape within marriage was not rape until 1970s
In Australia divorce laws were introduced but favoured men over women
Commonwealth Matrimonial Causes act 1959 identified 14 causes for divorce- made divorce consistent
Family Law Act 1975- had only one cause (breakdown) for divorce and no one was blamed- made divorces cleaner

Question 33

what was the sexual revolution?

Answer 33

1970s fought for ending of double standards that forgave men for sex but punished women
In 1960s women had to worry about STDs and pregnancies (backyard abortions)
Contraceptive pills and condoms allowed women to be more equal
Marriage was not seen as the only option

Question 34

what was the AS IF wovement?

Answer 34

Movies showed females as sexual objects and scenery

Anarcho-Surrealist Insurrectionary Feminist group tried to change male gaze