Vote 100

This year marks 100 years since the law was passed that allowed women to vote.

100 years.

Is that it? Only 100?

On the 6th of February, 1918 the Representation of the People Act came into effect, seeing all men over the age of 21, and women over the age of 30 able to vote (Vote100.uk, 2018).

Figure 1- Emmeline Pankhurst is the historical figure most particularly admired by British women (Dahlgreen, 2015)

But there was a catch, not only did women have to wait 9 extra years than men to vote, they also had to own property valued at £5 or more, and be the head of their household, not to mention the implica women of ethnic minorities. Leaving nearly a quarter of women who met the age requirements still unable to have their say (Vote100.uk, 2018). And yet, this Act gave ALL men the right to vote.

It was ONLY another 10 years until women were granted the same voting rights as men.

Of course this is not to say that we shouldn’t celebrate the 100 year anniversary, any step towards gender equality is a victory for all women kind. When an upcoming election looms, the amount of times I hear ‘women didn’t fight for the right to vote for nothing’ from one female to another sparks a pride fuelled fire for the women who helped give me this right. And I do think it influences a lot of others, Emmeline Pankhurst was British women’s top historical figure, after all (Dahlgreen, 2015).

Perhaps an indication of the influential nature of the Suffragettes is the percentage of women vs. men that have voted in past elections. Given the rocky and unequal playing field in the early 1900s, one would expect this to have a detrimental effect on the turn out by female voters. On the contrary, as a majority, the turn out of women has been equal, or greater, than the turnout of male voters (Sharrocks, 2017).

Figure 2- Fig. 1 in: In what ways does gender matter matter for voting behaviour in GE2017? (Sharrocks, 2017)

So you might be wondering why someone so young has such a seemingly pessimist view. Well, for a few reasons.

We seem to be overlooking all the flaws that lie within the Suffragette movement. Firstly, whilst it was a fight for women, it was a fight for white, middle class women who took advantage of the fact that their social position would benefit the preservation of conservative values against the “ignorant masses” that were the working class (Bryson, 2016). This group of women only ever intended on extending the vote to a limited number of people, leaving the rest of womankind in the UK disenfranchised.

Furthermore, the suffragette movement happened in a time where racism wasn’t highlighted as an issue as it is now. Within the US racial divides were much more evident, with racial segregation being regarded ‘the norm’ in some states, but with suffragettes in the UK  it is much more complex (Sanghani, 2015). Historian Jad Adams claimed:

“I don’t know of any British black women being involved in the movement. It’s probably because they were not very public, they were working class people” (Sanghani, 2015)

However, during the production of the movie Suffragette, Hollywood actresses came under fire for sporting t-shirt with a slogan direct from Emmeline Pankhurst herself. Can you see the issue here?

 

All white, all rich, all ignorant to the comparison of white middle class women to black slaves.

Secondly, while the suffragettes weren’t perfect, we’re all subjects of the culture and social values of the time we live in, after all. I still can’t help but become enraged with the ordeals these women had to put themselves through before men finally afforded them the vote; shouting at politicians over the right to vote, and being met with imprisonment; when in prison, being force fed during hunger strikes are amongst some of the mistreatment in attempting to resist. Experiences no woman should have to go through in an attempt to be equal to men. Mary Richardson’s testimony on forcible feeding grants us with a harrowing insight in to just how violently the suffragettes were treated.

Of course, as a woman, I owe a huge debt to the women who risked there lives which led to the chain of events affording me the right to vote within my country, but I can’t help but feel we all have a lot more to learn.

So here I pass some thoughts on to you:

Be grateful to these women, remember them the next time you tick that box at the polling station. But also remember that there is always room for growth and acceptance of people. Learn  from past mistakes, don’t let the fight for your political rights diminish the rights of others.

 

 

Bibliography:

Bryson, V. (2016) Feminist Political Theory. 3ed. London: Palgrave

Dahlgreen, W. (2015) Emmeline Pankhurst- British Women’s number one heroine [Online] YouGov.co.uk. Available at: https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/10/08/emmeline-pankhurst-top-historical-figure-women/ [Accessed 15th April 2018]

Sanghani, R. (2015) The uncomfortable truth about racism and the suffragettes. The Telegraph. [Online] Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11914757/Racism-and-the-suffragettes-the-uncomfortable-truth.html [Accessed 15 April 2018]

Shorrocks, R. (2016) Modernisation and government socialisation: Considering explanations for gender differences in cohort trends in British voting behaviour. Electoral Studies. 42(1) pp. 237-248

Shorrocks, R. (2017) In what ways does gender matter for voting behaviour in GE2017? [blog] British Politics and Policy. Available at: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/gender-and-voting-behaviour-in-ge2017/ [Accessed: 15 April 2018]

Vote100.uk (2018) Welcome to Vote 100 UK. [Online] Available at: https://www.vote100.uk/ [accessed 12th April 2018]

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