The Changing Roles and Status of Women

The Changing Roles and Status of Women

In 1903 the suffragette movement was born with the formation of the

Women's Social and Political Union (WPSU) by Emmeline Pankhurst and

her two daughters Christabel and Sylvia.

At first the newly formed suffragettes relied on spreading propaganda

to gain support. However, on the 18th October 1905 they gained

considerable unplanned publicity when Christabel Pankhurst and Annie

Kenney stood up at a public meeting and asked if a Liberal government

would introduce women's suffrage. Receiving no reply they stood on

their seats waving a banner which said, "votes for women". They were

thrown out of the meeting and arrested for causing an obstruction

outside. Instead of paying the fine they went to prison as protest,

causing a great stir and getting the story of the suffragettes into

the newspapers.

The suffragettes gained maximum publicity for their cause by

interrupting and heckling politicians, putting up posters, and

chaining themselves to railings (such as those outside Buckingham

Palace). This left no one in any doubt as to their determination to

get the vote.

By 1909, the suffragette's protests had become much more violent. In

October 1912, Emmeline Pankhurst told the suffragettes, "There is

something that governments care far more for than for human life, and

that is the security of property and so it is through property that we

shall strike the enemy." Windows were smashed, telephone lines were

cut and buildings were set on fire.

The suffragette movement definitely contributed to women being given

the vote. This is because their tireless protesting raised the profile

of ...

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...ckling politicians,

chaining themselves to railings, breaking shop windows, cutting

telephone lines and setting buildings on fire.

However, their violent protests caused them to lose support from many

of their original supporters and also lost them any sympathy that the

government had for them.

In my opinion the First World War was the most important factor in

women being given the vote. It gave women the opportunity to show

every one that they were just as capable as men were. Their work

during the war gained them much support for their cause, including

that of many politicians.

"The vote was won, not by burning churches, mutilating pictures, or

damaging pillar boxes, but by women's work on the war. It was not a

concession to violence, but an acknowledgement of patriotic service."

Charles L Graves, 1922.