History

• In Parliament today, under a third of 650 MPs in the House of Commons are women
• Female members of the House of Lords make up 1/4
• In 1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first female PM
• Margaret Thatcher was the longest serving PM of the 20th century
• Social position of women


  What women could and couldn't do within society whether it be work, home or in the community. There were restrictions on women's everyday lives that were not on men's
• Political position of women


  The right to vote for women - voting is one way to have your say in the way your country is run. Women were forbidden to vote in political elections until 1918 and 1928
• Separate spheres


  Men's sphere: Business + trade, Politics + Power

  Female sphere: Child care, Money + Finance, Cooking, Cleaning, House work
• Women and employment


  • Work opportunities for women were improving at the start of the 20th century
• Why women started to protest

  The social and political status of women at the start of the 20th century

  2. Arguments for and against female suffrage (right to vote)
• Marriage bars in employment


  Once a woman got married, she could not keep her job
• Limited access to education


  Women's jobs were low skilled and poorly paid
• Most women worked in poor conditions and were paid less than men even if it was the same job
• Types of jobs held by women in 1900


  • Factory worker
  • Domestic servant
  • Nurse
  • Teacher
• Factory worker


  • Worked long hours in lower skilled work for poorer pay
• Domestic servant


  • Many worked as maids in middle or upper class houses, some lived in the house and were poorly paid
• Nurse


  • Nursing became a popular career for women with over 120,000 nurses by 1900, nursing became more accepted after the work of Florence Nightingale
• Teacher


  • Although a large number of women were teachers, they were usually from middle class backgrounds and stopped working once married
• A divorced woman was shunned by society and treated as an outcast
• As a result of divorce being costly and women unlikely to keep their children


  Many women stayed in unhappy marriages
• Due to employment restrictions, women had to rely on their husband as the 'Bread winner' in the family
• Married Women's Property Act 1882


  This law enabled married women to own property and earnings, before this date everything a woman owned went to her husband upon marriage
• Women had little access to higher education with only a few universities allowing women to attend. Most women were therefore not educated past the age of 11
• The majority denied women the right to graduate
• In 1900 the country was run by men, women had no say on issues they felt related to them, such as divorced rights, better working conditions and access to education
• In May 1867 parliament had discussed the idea of women's suffrage but the majority of MPs did not want to allow women to vote
• Suffrage


  Universal suffrage means all adults, whether male or female, rich or poor, are allowed to vote for parliament
• The NUWSS is like a glacier; slow moving but unstoppable: 'Motto'
• Suffragists


  • Non-violent (constitutional) protest as a form of campaigning
• Tactics used by the suffragists and their impact

  1. Processions - February 1907: 3,000 suffragists campaigned, marched in London known as the Mud March due to torrential rain

  2. Worked with politicians - Up to 1916 suffragists helped pro female suffrage Liberal candidates with their campaigns

  3. 1912: suffragists started to support Labour candidates that were pro-female suffrage
• Role of suffragists' campaign in helping women get the vote
• Millicent Garrett Fawcett


  • 1897, existing suffrage groups merged and formed the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS)
  • 1903; members who were dissatisfied with the progress made by the NUWSS, formed the militant group the WSPU
  • Despite this the NUWSS still attracted large numbers of women and by 1907, it had over 10,000 members and was led by Millicent Garrett Fawcett
• Constitutional


  Working with parliament within the existing political system to gain the vote, legally and peacefully