Societal Critiques in Suffragette is a 2015 historical drama directed by Sarah Gavron and written by Abi Morgan. The film follows through the crucial moments of the women’s suffrage movement in Britain, 1912. The main character, Maud Watts, is a working-class laundress who has first-hand experienced the injustices faced by the women in her community. Soon, her involvement in the movement becomes unavoidable and she begins to aid in fighting for the right to vote. Suffragette employs components of narrative structure to criticize various aspects of society. Elements of acting, plot, and camera technique are used to shed light on the ineffectiveness of peaceful protest, brutality of law enforcement, and the inescapable inequality faced by women. …show more content…
Cause you've beaten us and betrayed us and there's nothing else left!” With this statement, Maud captures the frustration and disappointment felt by her and her fellow suffragettes who had for many years peacefully advocated for women’s rights, only to be met with ridicule and further oppression. One form of peaceful protest used in the film was hunger strike. Women sent to prison for protesting would participate in hunger strikes, lasting the length of their sentence. In one scene in the film, a woman was forcefully strapped into a chair, several people worked to shove a tube connected to a funnel down her throat, and then milk was poured down the tube into her throat. This disturbing portrayal of force-feeding hunger-strikers serves as the perfect representation of the lengths the authorities were willing to go to suppress the rebellion. Emmeline Pankhurst, the leader of the suffragettes, emphasized the need for action in the pursuit of women’s suffrage during one of her rallies. During her address, she says, “Deeds, not words,” and “We do not want to be law breakers. We want to be law makers.” With these statements Pankhurst fortified the theme that radical methods were more effective than the peaceful …show more content…
If one of them dies, we'll have blood on our hands, and they'll have their martyr.” However, his concern appeared to be limited to the fear of creating martyrs. In another instance, Steed explains his concern about the barbaric treatment of the women in prison to Haughton. However, Haughton practically tells Steed that they have no other choice and walks away, leaving Steed by himself. The camera angle switches to be positioned at the top of the staircase, pointing down on Steed, serving as a visual metaphor for how those who challenge the prevailing hierarchy are looked down on in society. Finally, the film confronts the systemic inequality faced by women in society, particularly in the early 1900s in Britain. Women were not only paid less but additionally subjected to workplace assault and harassment, with little recourse for justice. For example, Maud burns her boss who had been assaulting her and her minor coworker with an iron and is arrested for it. During questioning, Maud tries to explain why she did it to
...st through a 22-day hunger strike. During this time, however, doctors tortured her and forcibly fed her. When reporters released stories regarding her situation and the many others who followed in her footsteps, the public was outraged and “the women received widespread sympathy from the public and politicians” (18). Though militant in her tactics, Alice Paul accomplished what she set out to do – gain the public’s attention by any means necessary.
The women’s job in that era are meant keep her house clean and feed her children (Doc C). They are also dependent on the city administration to make their lives decent (Doc C). The women’s suffrage movement fought because woman needed to fulfil her traditional responsibilities in the house and to her children, which makes it a must to use the ballot and have the home safe (Doc C). All women needs to have a chance to voice their opinion to help the community strive, and one way to do that is making them able to vote.
Women throughout the suffrage act were faced with many challenges that eventually led into the leading roles of women in the world today. Suffrage leaders adopted new arguments to gain new support. Rather than insisting on the justice of women’s suffrage, or emphasizing equal rights, they spoke of the special moral and material instincts women could bring to the table. Because of these women taking leaps and boundaries, they are now a large part of America’s government, and how our country operates.
Women, like black slaves, were treated unequally from the male before the nineteenth century. The role of the women played the part of their description, physically and emotionally weak, which during this time period all women did was took care of their household and husband, and followed their orders. Women were classified as the “weaker sex” or below the standards of men in the early part of the century. Soon after the decades unfolded, women gradually surfaced to breathe the air of freedom and self determination, when they were given specific freedoms such as the opportunity for an education, their voting rights, ownership of property, and being employed.
By 1913, the suffragette movement had exceeded a decade. The growing desperation of the suffragettes is clear in their calls for the aid of working men, echoing Emmeline Pankhurst’s “Freedom or Death” speech in November 1913. This appears as a change of heart in the operation of the WSPU, which had decreed to exclude men from their organisation and broken with the Labour Party in the previous year.
This movement which was inspired by the ideologies of courageous women and fueled by their enthusiasm and sacrifice is often unacknowledged by most historians in the chronicles of American History. Today the movement is often misunderstood as a passive, white upper class, naive cause. But a deeper study would reveal that the women’s suffrage movement was the one that brought together the best and brightest women in America, which not only changed the lives of half the citizens of United States but also changed the social attitudes of millions of Americans.
Gaining woman 's rights and establishing woman suffrage were the obstacles that woman activists of the nineteenth century faced back then. Women 's rights are said to be universal and that means that it concerns all women. Most of the policies and laws in the nineteenth century highlighted the importance of men and their rights. However, women strived and struggled to fight for their rights. There was a similar group of people who fought for their rights who were African Americans. Voting rights and worker recognition was the main focus of women, as well as African Americans. Moreover, women 's rights and abolition often clashed together, but both events worked together as women were supporters of abolition. There were numerous rights that
This short story was written in 1892, at that time, there was only one women's suffrage law. Now, because of many determinant feminists, speakers, teachers, and writers, the women’s rights movement has grown increasingly large and is still in progress today. This quite recent movement took over more than a century to grant women the rights they deserve to allow them to be seen as equals to men. This story was a creative and moving way to really show how life may have been as a woman in the nineteenth century. Works Cited Eichelberger, Clayton.
Although they were fighting for a worthy cause, many did not agree with these women’s radical views. These conservative thinkers caused a great road-block on the way to enfranchisement. Most of them were men, who were set in their thoughts about women’s roles, who couldn’t understand why a woman would deserve to vote, let alone want to vote. But there were also many women who were not concerned with their fundamental right to vote. Because some women were indifferent in regards to suffrage, they set back those who were working towards the greater good of the nation. However, the suffragettes were able to overcome these obstacles by altering their tactics, while still maintaining their objective.
Through the history, women have always fought for their rights creating a new space for their participation as citizens. After the First World War during the 1920s and 1930s new histories of women suffragettes have been written. During that period of time some activist groups were created, for instance, the Edwardian women’s suffrage movement that created in women a ‘Suffragette Spirit’ with the same goals and purposes even with the same militant procedures such as radical feminism that involved hunger strike and forcible feeding. This argument have become controversial due to different points of view in recent years. Another samples are the formation of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), a group led by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst under an autocratic system; Women’s Freedom League (WFL), a self-proclaimed militant organization and National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). These groups were formed in Britain giving way to creation of some texts that explain the actions of the feminist groups and were the basis to achieve the right of suffragettes. Furthermore, the author of this article talks about a second narrative published in 1914 by Constance Lytton that explain about her own experiences in a militant period and personal sacrifice in an attempt to vote. Finally, her experience of militancy had become the archetype of suffrage militancy. In addition, she became in a feminist and kept touch with important members of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). According to Lytton (cited in Mayhall, 1995: 326) She said that whilst she felt sympathy towards men, children and even animals – those that she said were ‘down-trodden’ – she had completely ‘been blind to the particular sufferings ...
The late nineteenth century was a critical time in reshaping the rights of women. Commonly this era is considered to be the beginning of what is know to western feminists as “first-wave feminism.” First-wave feminism predominately fought for legal rights such as suffrage, and property rights. A major hallmark of first-wave feminism is the concept of the “New Woman.” The phrase New Woman described educated, independent, career oriented women who stood in response to the idea of the “Cult of Domesticity,” that is the idea that women are meant to be domestic and submissive (Stevens 27). Though the concept of the New Woman was empowering to many, some women did not want to give up their roles as housewives. These women felt there was a great dignity in the lifestyle of the housewife, and that raising children was not a job to scoff at. Mary Freeman's short story “The Revolt of 'Mother',” tells the story of such a domestic woman, Sarah, who has no interest in leaving her position as mother, but still wishes to have her voice heard in the private sphere of her home. Freeman's “Revolt of Mother,” illustrates an alternative means of resistance for women who rejected the oppression of patriarchy without a withdrawal from the domestic lifestyle.
By dissecting the film, the director, Jennie Livingston's methodology and the audience's perceived response I believe we can easily ignore a different and more positive way of understanding the film despite the many flaws easy for feminist minds to criticize. This is in no way saying that these critiques are not valid, or that it is not beneficial to look at works of any form through the many and various feminist lenses.
The Suffragettes was associated with violent measures as well as passive resistances. An important aspect of the Suffragettes tactics was to attack the government leaders at by-elections days. By doing these attacks, some women were arrested and thrown into prison. During, their imprisonments, Suffra...
The women’s suffrage movement was the struggle for the right of women to vote, run for office, and is part of the overall women’s rights movement. In the 19th century, women in several countries most recognizably the U.S. and england formed organizations to fight for suffrage. Beginning in the mid 19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and participated in civil strike to achieve what many Americans considered a revolutionary change in the Constitution.
Being traumatize means being deeply distressed or remembering a really bad disturbing experience. Children have the capability in remembering their traumatic experience through certain sounds or images, because it recalls them to remember their situation. Trauma can also make them feel hostage; instead of the freedom of being and behaving like children. It impacts children to use certain objects to imitate their disturbing situations with their peers and/or objects. Although children’s brain can use trauma as a sign to be more aware, children with traumatizing involvement will affect their behavior.