THE SUFFRAGETTES: PAST AND PRESENTLaurence RawBaşkent University, Ankara, Turkey

WHAT IS A SUFFRAGETTE?

Suffragettes - recognizing the desire shared by women for suffrage, or the right to vote in elections – were members of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in Great Britain in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

VICTORIAN WOMEN – THE STEREOTYPES

The Homemaker The Idealized Woman & The

Pauper

The Society Lady

CHALLENGING GENDER ROLES

Women’s rights become prominent in the mid 1850s when some middle and upper class women refuse to accept the roles imposed on them. By 1857 they could take theır husbands to court after a divorce; and by 1882 they could own property

…. But very few of them could vote in national elections

Case Against Suffrage

1. Equality of Opportunity2. Equality Before the Law3. Expansion of Opportunities4. Reduce Discrimination

FOR

The woman’s place is in the home, not in politics

Governments rely on force, to which women cannot contribute, being the weaker sex.

Women have no desire to vote Giving women the vote would

weaken Britain’s position at the center of the Empire

AGAINST

ARGUMENTS OVER SUFFRAGE

METHODS OF PROTEST

Demonstrations

Pageants (in front of London’s National Gallery)

Suicides (To attract Press attention)

Chaining Themselves to Railings

METHODS OF PROTEST (THE SIXTIES AND SEVENTIES)Seeking rights for women is nothing new; but different times produce different responsesExplicit Placards

Burning Bras

Male and Female Involvement

The Suffragettes were perceived as «anarchists» and «terrorists,» a threat to the future of Britain’s stability

DESTROYING OUR HERITAGEIn 1913 Mary Richardson slashed a portrait of the Rokeby Venus in London’s National Gallery. She was given the nickname «Slasher Mary»

WOMEN NEED TO BE «CONTROLLED»Any Suffragette who was jailed was likely to be force-fed so that she could not go on hunger strike and hence gain public sympathy

«CONTROLLING» WOMEN… or forcibly ducked into a river so that Suffragettes would become more «reasonable» (and accept male power) as a result

BY 1918, WOMEN OVER 30 GOT THE VOTE SUBJECT TO PROPERTY QUALIFICATIONS.

TEN YEARS LATER THE REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT GAVE THE VOTE TO ALL WOMEN OVER THE AGE OF 21

EQUALITY IN WORKDuring the First World War (1914-1918) women had filled the jobs left by men who went to France and other countries to fight

«A LAND FIT FOR HEROES»The Government promised to create «a land fit for heroes» once the First World War had ended, that included women as well as men.

People celebrating the end of the War on 11 November 1918 in Birmingham

POLITICAL PARTIES ADVOCATED DEMOCRACY FOR EVERYONEAlthougn not elected as a self-governing party until 1924, Britain’s Labour Party increased its popularity after war had ended

Directed by Sarah Gavron and starring Carey Mulligan, this film recounts the exploits of the Women’s Social and Political Movement

SUFFRAGETTE (2015)

I’M TIRED OF FANTASY WORLDS WHERE PEOPLE OF COLOR DON’T EXIST (IJEOMA OLUO)

THE MOVIE PERPETUATES A CINEMATIC MYTH – THAT OF THE SILENT WORKING CLASS (THE NEW YORKER)

SUFFRAGETTE HAS PACKAGED ITSELF AS AN HONORABLE FILM LOOKING FOR AWARDS (VANITY FAIR)

HISTORY CAN BE BOTH UNREPRESENTABLE AND IRRECOVERABLE THROUGH CINEMADario Llinares, film scholar

OR IS IT?