women essay Flashcards
intro
context- question first raised by John Stewart mill, an MP, in 1867.
wasn’t until 52 years later when women over 30 achieved the vote by the Representation of the People act in 1918.
factors- changing social/political factors, suffragists, suffragettes, war work
loa- most important changing social and political factors
changing social political attitudes
k- women better educated, Oxbridge admitting women in same terms as men demonstrated their acceptance of having equal intelligence
k- women also getting involved in local politics, understanding and voting in local elections, education act of 1870 meant that women could be ons school boards, showing they are capable of responsibility
a- significant because it shows Britain was naturally evolving and women were being naturally treated as equals by society, this shows that without any of the other factors it would be likely the natural next progression would be to give women the vote
a+ - however idea of women suffrage was put in place by the persistent campaigning of the suffragists and suffragettes. it may never have been discussed or brought up as a pressing matter in parliament just from natural progression
changing attitudes ev
criteria- respect/ opinions of MP’s towards females
(compared with suffragettes)
- suffragettes meant third conciliation bill was lost by 14 votes once they had gone ‘wild’ shows MP’s didn’t support
- changing attitudes meant that more middle class women were working and had far more independence like bikes, allowing MP’s to respect them as individuals with their own political opinions, separate from their male counterparts
shows they were being viewed more by society as responsible individuals capable of voting in their own right
suffragists
k- founded in late 1800’s, NUWSS believed in moderate, ‘peaceful’ tactics to win the vote such as meetings, pamphlets.
k- their convincing arguments meant the 1910 conciliation bill proposed to give over 1mil women the vote was passed with majority of 109.
a- campaign important as showed women could be rational, law abiding and politically minded, leading MP;s to agree with women suffrage
a+ - however because the suffragists didn’t lead their campaign with drastic measures that would gain media attention, instead focusing on discretely changing opinions, whilst the majority of MP’s agreed in practice, the issue was not prioritised and little progress was made.
suffragists ev
criteria- less support from parliament
(compared with suffragettes)
- from suffragist work, two conciliation bills passed with majority votes
- following amplification of militant suffragette campaigning, the third was lost by 14 votes
suffragettes
k- emeline pankhurst, strong, militant approach to tackling womens suffrage, using tactics like changing to buildings and postbox bombs, campaign gained a lot of attention
k- using motto ‘deeds not words’ and occasions where annie Kennedy and christabel Pankhurst interrupted important political meetings and questioning politicians on their views on ‘votes for women’ meant gov couldn’t ignore their campgain
a- came into huge media attention, making sure MP’s heard their campaigns and couldn’t ignore their points
a+ - while politicians couldnt ignore campaign, didn’t persuade them to agree with it. many said the militance showed irrational nature of women and weren’t capable fo responsibility of the vote
suffragettes ev
single factor
-marginally significant
while accounts of forced feeding inspired sympathy as horrified public
-people in power could not be seen to show support with Churchill himself “ladies, your cause has marched backwards”
war work
k- kept country going during war, factories, agriculture, transport, hospitals shows could do anything men could do
k- 950,000 women risked lives working in munitions and 400 died to TNT poisoning, showed huge gratitude to women, government in their debt for their bravery
a- some say representation of peoples act given as a reward for women bravery as government had gained huge respect for women for their work during the war
a+ - less sig as women who worked during war were aged in early 20’s and some accounts of them being 15. shows that as the vote was given to 30+ would be unlikely it was an award as not the ones who did the work were given the vote
war work ev
-gained lots of parliamentary support
(compared with suffragists)
- in other countries women also did crucial war work, France etc but not rewarded with enfranchisement as no history of a pre war suffrage campaign
- whereas in Britain most MP’s were pro suffrage before the war due to peaceful suffragist campaign and therefore post war franchisement natural progression
