Britain's suffrage movement is a reflection of a broader movement:suffragettes marching in New York in this 1912 photograph On Friday, August 3, 1832, a very special petition was discussed in the British Parliament:that of Mary Smith, of Stanmore, who argued that, paying the same taxes and being subject to the same laws as any man, she should have also the right to elaborate them by electing representatives and to apply them in the courts. Too much, no doubt, for Sir Frederick Trench. The honorable member points out that if equal juries are established, men and women will be forced into morally ambiguous situations, such as being locked up overnight during deliberations. When he was told that "it is common knowledge that the honorable and gallant deputy spends whole nights in the company of ladies without anything unworthy happening", Trench is content to reply:"Yes. . But we are never locked up. » A subordination of women in the order of things The audience laughs, and so ends the first women's suffrage debate in British history. Defenders of women's rights then represented a minority:the feminist movement was barely born. Women were denied the civic and political rights enjoyed by men, and although single women and widows had more freedoms than married women – who could not own property, write wills or have custody of their children – they were also subject to great restrictions. They could not exercise professions in medicine or law, nor access positions in the administration. And of course they couldn't vote. In the mentality of the time, this subordination was part of the social order. Men, better endowed intellectually and physically, had to take charge of the public sphere, while women occupied the private sphere, placed under their protection. The women shared this opinion, which they transmitted from mother to daughter. There were few marks of protest; in 1825, early activists William Thompson and Anna Wheeler wondered, “You most oppressed and humiliated, when will you realize your plight, when will you organize, protest and demand redress? » Early 19th th century, the right to vote was a minority right in parliamentary systems:in Great Britain, it was restricted to 20% of men. But even those who denounced the injustice of the situation did not consider claiming the right to vote. At the beginning of the 19 th century, it was indeed a minority right in parliamentary systems:in Great Britain, it was restricted to 20% of men. The idea prevailed that only those who had the best capacities and aptitudes were able to elect rulers. Only the most radical circles defended universal male suffrage. But there was a general belief that such a responsibility should rest with well-educated men accustomed to managing properties. This hand-picked minority would know how to decide what was best for the other men and, of course, for the women, who were considered eternal minors. Citizens get organized However, England and the rest of the Western world were entering a time of profound economic, political and social changes, which were soon felt in the cause of women. If, in 1830, feminists were few in number and lacked coordination, 30 years later the movement had gained strength around a major cause:the right to vote. It is only when women participate in the election of their representatives, and therefore in the drafting of laws, that they can repeal those which reduce them to the rank of second-class citizens. Education spreads, and the readership of books and newspapers, the circulation of which increases, widens. Feminist ideals are increasingly gaining publicity and gaining more followers. In the 1860s, associations defending the female vote multiplied. As the philosopher John Stuart Mill said, in a country ruled by Queen Victoria, who had demonstrated her ability to lead, why weren't women given the same rights as men? These first organizations believe they have a golden opportunity to achieve their goals. A new electoral law, approved in 1867, extended the franchise to one-third of adult males. But the articles of the law refer to it as men (men), not males (males), which allows the word to be interpreted as encompassing both sexes. So the suffragettes encourage women to participate in the elections:one of them, Lily Maxwell, appears on the voters register thanks to an error and goes to her electoral college to vote for a candidate close to the suffragettes. To prevent her case from being followed by many others, it was clarified a few months later that the law made no reference to women. They lost their bet, but their cause gained publicity, much to the concern of anti-suffragists. The latter believe that women are represented by their husbands and that, moreover, being extremely influenced by them, granting them the right to vote would amount to giving two votes to the husband. Worse still:if husbands and wives would defend different causes, it would sow discord in the home. On the other hand, the right to vote would only be the beginning:if women started to vote, they fear, soon they would want to be deputies and members of the government. And that would be detrimental both to the interests of the nation and to the health of these women, who would probably suffer, given the intense activity involved in politics. Seize public space Although the opponents are in the majority, support for the cause of women's suffrage is gradually increasing. In 1869, the United States took an essential step:Wyoming approved women's suffrage. At the same time, in Britain, women began to be allowed to sit on district education committees, whose members were elected by ballot. In 1894 this was extended to local councils, making it less strange to see them at a ballot box. In 1881, a new conquest had shown that the vote for women was approaching Great Britain:the Isle of Man, a British dominion, granted the vote to widows and bachelors. More and more eminent personalities then look with sympathy on the organizations which militate for the woman vote, but they do not see themselves capable of compromising their political objectives by defending their cause. Aware of the need to organize to exert pressure and gain support, several suffragist organizations formed the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) in 1897. /i> ), directed by Millicent Fawcett. Suffragettes must break the taboo of public speaking, considered vulgar for well-educated women. Their members mainly devote themselves to trying to win over political representatives to their cause and to organizing street meetings. Although it seems incredible today, it was difficult for a woman to break the taboo of public speaking. Thus, Margaret Nevinson, though a convinced suffragette, considered these speeches in the street as vulgar and violent:women had indeed been educated to be discreet outside their homes, so that becoming the center of attention seemed, at best, strange and shameful. A part of the public shared this opinion, and on certain occasions they received the speakers with a shower of insults, objects, even blows:during one of these meetings, the suffragette Charlotte Despard continued her speech, while she had received an egg in the face. Many were also responded with sexual comments, as these women were morally considered the equivalent of prostitutes. The police often had to protect them from the fury of the mob. The radicalism of Emmeline Pankhurst It was also not easy for women to be part of the public. Thus, when Esther Knowles' father learns that she has gone to a suffragette rally, he gets angry and hits his wife, who has given her permission. But many people became aware of feminist demands through these actions, which at first attracted only a few curious people, and gained importance at the beginning of the XX e century. A century that opens more and more opportunities for women:medical universities begin to admit them into their classrooms, and thousands of them are now part of education and district committees, compared to the few dozen 1870s. Despite these improvements, voting remains a long way off for some suffragettes; This is the opinion of the founders of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU, Women's Social and Political Union ), created in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst with the aim of fighting more effectively for the conquest of the vote. Pankhurst believes that, to achieve this goal, the organization must function like an army:its orders must never be questioned. It rejects any demand for internal democracy and expels those who disagree with its decisions; one of his daughters, Sylvia, had to leave the organization because of her tendency to collaborate with the Labor Party. Because the president has pledged not to collaborate with any political party until women have obtained the right to vote. She also does not accept the militancy of men. In fact, the WSPU lost many members:in 1914, they were 5,000, compared to the 50,000 members of the NUWSS chaired by Fawcett. The WSPU develops militant tactics with great press coverage, such as interrupting meetings of other parties, trying to enter parliament, showing up at the homes of members of the government and even chaining themselves there. These actions frequently result in the detention of their protagonists, who refuse to pay the fine imposed on them and, as a result, are imprisoned. Upon their release, they are celebrated as heroines, which gives them enormous publicity. Their supporters multiplied, and in 1908 a large demonstration in Hyde Park brought together more than 500,000 people in London. The conservative newspaper The Times himself affirms that we have not seen such an important mobilization during the last quarter of a century. Splits and divisions The actions of the suffragettes became more and more spectacular and, at times, violent:in response to the refusal to submit petitions to the king, a right recognized for his subjects, women from the WSPU smashed the windows of the properties of members with stones. of Parliament. This is too much for the NUWSS, which decides to break definitively with Pankhurst:for Fawcett, to try to obtain by violence what must be based "on the growing awareness that our demand is for justice and common sense" is a mistake. Splits also occur within the organization:historical suffragettes like Charlotte Despard disapprove of violence and the refusal to collaborate with other parties. The division in the movement is also reflected in the designation of those who integrate the radical wing, the suffragettes, and the moderate, the suffragists. The reaction of the government is not long in coming. Hundreds of suffragettes are imprisoned and subjected to harsh conditions of detention. To obtain the status of political prisoners and the improvement of their living conditions in prison, they go on hunger strike. This poses a problem for the authorities, who want to avoid at all costs that they become martyrs of their cause. The solution is force-feeding, a painful and dangerous process, which only arouses sympathy in the population towards the suffragettes. To put down the suffragette demonstrations, police from the slums of London are called in:they repress it with beatings and sexual assaults, in which a large number of passers-by come to participate. The crackdown on protests in the streets is getting worse. Parliament had discussed a plan to grant the vote to celibates and widows, and in November 1910 a demonstration was organized to demand that the plan be continued. To subdue the protest, police officers from the slums of London are called in:they repress it with beatings and sexual assaults, in which a large number of passers-by come to participate. Three protesters die of their injuries, and the photograph of a woman on the ground about to be hit scares public opinion. The official response to this “Black Friday” is to blame the suffragettes, who encouraged anyone who wanted to join the protest. As a result, a legal reform is introduced which improves their penitentiary situation a little. Violence against violence During this time, the project arrives at the final parliamentary debate. Several ministers of the Liberal government, thinking that the profile of women to whom it is addressed – single owners and widows – will vote predominantly Conservative, oppose it. Thus, the project that had raised so many hopes was rejected in 1912. For Pankhurst, it was the signal that the time had come for the most powerful political argument:that of broken glass. A minority are resuming the property damage campaign in a more vocal way than before, including setting off bombs and setting fires to empty homes. In response, the government sent more and more suffragettes to prison and, to avoid the dangers and unpopularity of force-feeding, approved in 1913 the so-called "cat and mouse law", which freed the prisoners weakened by hunger and to confine them once they have recovered. The government's strategy met with success with a public opinion that disapproved of broken windows and bombs. Acts of violence tarnish the image of the movement and provide arguments to those who think that women are beings too emotional to vote. Because, even if the order was to harm property and not life, any error in the preparation of the attacks could have caused irreparable damage. We will never know what would have happened if things had continued in this way, because the Great War interrupted the activity of the WSPU. Pankhurst embraces the patriotic cause and puts himself at the disposal of the government. However, the NUWSS continues its action. The political activity of this group and the contribution of women in the rear, while the men fought in the front, convinced Parliament and much of society that they deserved to vote as much as their fellow citizens. In February 1918, the law was approved granting suffrage to women over 30 and extending it to all men over 21. Happiness among the suffragettes is immense, but incomplete. The campaigns continue until in July 1928 the age of the female vote is raised to 21 years, as for the male vote, during a parliamentary session attended by the protagonists of the struggle, such as Fawcett and Despard, respectively aged 81 and 84. Charlotte Despard then affirms:“I never thought that I would see the granting of the vote. But when a dream comes true, you have to look for the next one. » Find out more Suffragists and suffragettes:winning women's suffrage in the United Kingdom and the United States directed by Béatrice Bijon and Claire Delahaye, École Normale Supérieure, 2017.Suffragette. Genesis of an activist, by Emmeline Pankhurst, Ampelos Editions, 2015. The Royal Family and Women's Suffrage "Let women be what God wanted:a good companion for man, but with totally different duties and vocations", wrote Queen Victoria in 1870. The one who was at the head of the Great Bretagne from the age of 18, between 1837 and 1901, rejected the vote for women:"If women 'stripped off' themselves by claiming equality with men, she said, they would become the most odious, the most pagan, the most repugnant and, without male protection, they would surely die. The attitude of her daughters was different, especially that of Louise, who associated with the suffragettes (in private, given her mother's position) and whose sister-in-law, Lady Frances Balfour, was a prominent suffragist. /P> Suffragists, comrades in the fight Among supporters of women's suffrage at the beginning of the XX e century, men took part in meetings and demonstrations, and even participated in the militant campaigns of the WSPU, the organization of Emmeline Pankhurst. Many members of the Liberal and Labor parties acted as suffragist candidates in elections; a few, like George Lansbury, gave up their seats to force suffragist-centered elections in their districts. They were ridiculed, called “hysterical” and forced to eat when they went on hunger strikes. But their support was invaluable in demonstrating that the cause of women's suffrage concerns all of society. Ever more spectacular actions Aware of the need to attract the attention of public opinion, the actions of the suffragettes were increasingly spectacular. From an airship, Muriel Matters launched thousands of leaflets over London. Two suffragettes had themselves sent by parcel to Downing Street, to present a request to the Prime Minister. On the wall of a corridor in Parliament, Marion Wallace Dunlop wrote a passage from the Bill of Rights (Bill of Rights), while Leonora Cohen smashed the display case containing the Crown Jewels, in the Tower of London. One of these actions had a tragic end:Emily Wilding Davison died in 1913, after being knocked down by the king's horse, while trying to hang a suffragist ribbon on him during the Epsom derby. Holloway:the shameful government prison July 5, 1909, Marion Wallace Dunlop, WSPU activist detained in Holloway Jail for tagging the Bill of Rights on a wall in Parliament, was the first suffragist to go on a hunger strike to demand that she be considered a political prisoner . She fasted for 91 hours before being released, considering her life to be in danger. Many activists followed the example of Marion, who made this decision on her own initiative. In response, in September of the same year, the government introduced forced feeding under medical supervision. Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of the WSPU, who was also detained there, wrote:"Holloway became a place of horror and torture with repulsive scenes of violence at all hours, as the doctors went from cell to cell performing their terrible work. I will never forget as long as I live the pain I suffered during the days when these cries rang in my ears. »
