Feminism in England, the Sufragette organisation

Anglais

Feminism could be defined like the belief that women should be allowed to have the same rights, powers and opportunities as men and be treated in the same way.

The first wave began with the Suffragettes.  A suffragette was a member of militant women’s organisations in the early 20th century who fought for the right to vote in public elections. The term « suffragette » comes from « suffragist » and was coined by a journalist for a Daily Mail Newspaper in London to label members of the WSPU. The first public metting promoting women’s suffrage in the UK took place in Manchester in 1868. In the audience there was Emmeline Pankrust. She went on to create the WSPU (women’s social and political union) in 1903 and became one of the most well-known suffragettes in history. In 1905, Christabel Pankrust and an another member of the WSPU interrupted speeches at a political meeting given by Churchill to ask their opinions on women’s rights. Because they refused to pay a fine, they were arrested and sent to prison. In 1912, suffragettes began ressorting to more radical acts of protest by setting fires and breaking windows. In 1914, Emmeline and Christabel called on ceasefire on the suffragetts campaign at the onset of the war to concentrate on war work. Finally in 1928, all women over the age of 21 had the right to vote.  During the second world war, women participed massively in the war effort. They did the work of men while they were at war. This effort was renforced by many propaganda (Norman Rockwell’s painting, Four vagabonds’ song entitled « Rosie the Riverter »). But after the war, the women’s effort was forgotten because of the baby boom.

The second wave began in 1968. In the Ford factory of Dughenham, women workers were seen as unskilled, they didn’t earn the same wage as men. So 187 underpaid women of this factory decided to stop working and went on strike. Then, they went in front of the Parliament and protested against discrimination. This action led to the adoption of the Equal Pay Act 1970.

The third wave is now. Indeed, many campaigns are conducted in favour of Feminism like the video Equals ? which speaks about the inequalities suffered by women in England. For instance, on the video we may notice that thirty thousands women in the United Kingdom would lose their job because of pregnancy and seventy millions girls would be deprived of a basic education.

To conclude with, if the present situation of women has been improved, there are still efforts to be done to change minds for a long time.

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