Idea of progress : the suffragettes

Idea of progress

I am going to talk about the notion « IDEA OF PROGRESS ». The idea of progress can be defined as an improvement – a technical, scientific or social advance which contributes to making the world a better place.

First, we are going to see how british women fought for the right to vote, the suffragettes, then we will see that during the 70’s, women were seen as wives, mothers and most of all : maids, housekeepers and even nurses.

1 - “British women : “Deeds not Words!”

The document we are going to study is called  “British women : “Deeds not Words!” and contains 3 pictures which shows how the suffragettes fought for the right of women to vote.

1903 until 1928

1 picture : women are throwing rocks at windows to show how angry they are to not even have the right to vote

2 picture : a woman has chained herself to a gate

3 picture : several men force-feeding women on a hunger strike

These pictures show how violent were the fights of women to vote.

There were 2 associations : WSPU and NUWSS

Women were tired and fed-up of not being listened to  so they used radical methods (like the ones on the pictures) and even voluntary burned buildings and went on a hunger strike in jail where they were force-fed. They were sent to jail for civil disobedience but they weren’t afraid of death or of risking their lives to fought for what they believe for. They showed that they can also be listened, be brave and  violent for what they want and deserve. During WWI

as they supported the national unity and worked in armament factories instead of men who were at the battlefield, they were judged worthy of the suffrage. Then, thanks to their hard work, it changed the mentality of men who saw what women were capable of. I think it’s a big progress because without all the fights and actions women did, we wouldn't be able to vote today and thanks to them, it changed in1928. Thanks to their determination and their courage, they showed that women were also capable being as brave, strong and stubborn as men.

2 - Why i want a wife

This text was delivered as a speech by Judy Syfers in august 26th 1970 during a celebration of women’s suffrage in the USA. In this text, the author denounces the inequal vision of husbands and wives by society. She shows that women were only seen as housekeepers, maids, cooks, dressmakers which are called “wifes duties”  and requested to stay at home. She shows that a male friend of hers only wants a wife for the purpose of taking care of his child, women were seen as objects that could be easily replaced. The inequality is huge and we can see it with the fact that divorced women were really badly perceived however for men it was acceptable

All of this shows that women weren’t seen as human beings but as objects and that they weren’t listened to which fortunately changed today , women are not obliged to be married, can go out whenever they want and be independent and have the job they want.

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