Abstract The women's suffragemovement began before March 4th, 1912 in London, but it was on that day that the world understood that suffrage was no women's tea-party discussion, it was now a violent rage against the male oppression of women that had been in evidence since God stripped Hagar of her son and turned her back to slavery. It is the purpose of this paper to examine the suffragemovement at the turn of the last century within the context of Victorian England and to demonstrate that the ability to participate in the political system was only the tip of an iceberg that would eventually lead to a woman holding the highest public office in Great Britain.
Abstract This paper examines in-depth the suffragemovement which started in 1832 when Mary Smith, an unmarried property owner started the struggle for equality. This paper contains a wealth of facts and dates pertaining to women's voting rights, as well as a detailed history of the many protests and accomplishments for women's rights.
Topics covered in this report include:
Introduction
Why - Reasons for the Protest
Who - Types of People Involved
How - Methods of Protest
What - Accomplishments of the Protest
References
From the Paper "The first recorded hunger strike of a suffragette in prison was staged by Marion Wallace in 1909. Many others followed, such that the hunger strikes drew the sympathy of the public and the press, which were jolted from their own long-held belief that women's place was in the home. This growing feeling of sympathy turned to outrage when it was reported that prison authorities resorted to force-feeding the inmates by shoving a steel tube down their throat or nose."
Tags: popular, protest, rights, suffrage, vote, women, law, movement
Abstract In this article, the writer looks at the Women's Movement in the United States. The writer discusses the history of the Movement. The mobilizing structure of the Movement is also examined in this paper. The writer looks at the related political opportunities and the ideology of the Women's Movement. Further, the writer discusses the future of the Movement.
From the Paper "The research topic selected for this report focuses on the American Women's Liberation movement, specifically the Second Wave of the movement. The goal of the study is to determine the extent to which the Movement succeeded in mobilizing a broad coalition of women and to which it continues to play a role in American society. The study is approached via qualitative narrative historical analysis using a literature review to answer the research questions below. Research ... "
Abstract This paper focuses on the women's suffragemovement in the United States, noting that this reform movement not only concerned itself with extending the right to vote to women, but also addressed women's rights and privileges. Paying particular attention to the years between 1910 to 1915, the author follows the movement's progress from discussions in parlors to outdoor parades where the political views can be heard. The paper highlights the difference in tactics and strategies that were employed for the promotion of the movement pre and post 1910 and explains why it was this difference that helped propel the women's suffragemovement during this time.
From the Paper " Yet, it was a process that was accomplished in stages. During the beginning of the movement, suffragists focused on education and persuasion of key political individuals through personal connections. And, this did work, until the end of the 19th century. The beginning of the 20th century saw a need for a change to the suffragists' strategies. Although it was socially unacceptable for women to actively participate in public arenas, once women entered this sphere through street speeches, it was only a matter of time before they were holding organized marches with hundreds and even thousands of marchers, and even more spectators, each step in their parade a step closer to women securing the right to vote."
Abstract This paper reviews the book "In the Company of Women: Voices from the Women's Movement," and its discussion of women's feelings, beliefs, and convictions toward feminism. Included in this paper is a discussion of Gloria Steinam's foreword to the book, the women profiled in the book, and the author's purpose for writing the book.
From the Paper "This section of the book looks at some of the most powerful women in the women's movement, and shows what they have done with that power. It also shows how these women have banded together and tried to make things different in the professional world, where women were not any more welcome than they were in the blue-collar world. Ellen Dresselhuis, a lawyer, sums up this section perfectly when she says; "It makes a tremendous difference now to have women on the bench. It means that when we go into the courtroom, when my partners and I go into the courtroom, we're not in a foreign world" (Watkins and Rothchild 1996, 273)."
Tags: feminism, women's, movement, feminist, ideal, movement, of, individual, women
This paper provides a review of C.L. Bacchi's work "Liberation Deferred?" and C. Cleverdon's "The Woman SuffrageMovement in Canada" and looks at their approaches to the issue of suffrage.
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that Bacchi and Cleverdon take entirely different approaches to the suffragemovement in Canada yet generally reach the same conclusions. More specifically, the paper relates that while Bacchi focuses on the English-Canadian suffragists in Toronto between 1877-1918, Cleverdon's work is far more inclusive since she analyzes suffrage groups all over Canada and especially in Quebec where the suffragists achieved victory in 1940. The writer determines the arguments of each author as well as the type of evidence used to support those arguments. The two books are compared and the strengths and weaknesses of each one are discussed. Finally, recommendations are made, the main one being that these works should be used together for a localized and a national view of woman suffrage.
Outline:
Introduction
Bacchi's (1983) Study
Cleverdon's (1974) Analysis
Conclusion
From the Paper "Bacchi belabors the point that the aims and strategies of the woman suffragist movement were developed in conjunction with many other reform groups. In the same way, secular reformers' perspective on the child was based upon a traditional concept of women's sphere, but it did succeed in certain cases in liberating women from various social constraints. Bacchi seems intent on extracting what was devised solely by the woman suffrage movement. She does admit that a major difference between temperance suffragists and secular suffragists was that the latter asked for state intervention to implement reforms such as Mothers' Pensions, compulsory schooling, and factory legislation. The secular reform movement offered the women suffragists power and recognition. The great strength of the first-wave movement, according to Bacchi consisted of its diversity. Both men and women were involved with various interests and were influence by the American women's movement. "
Abstract This paper traces the history of the women's suffragemovement in 19th century America, with an emphasis on its leaders and goals. In particular, the contributions of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Fanny Wright are illustrated through their writings and lectures. The paper states that women earning the right to vote meant a nearly complete transformation of social norms in the United States. The paper also describes the connection between the abolitionist movement and women's suffrage. The writer concludes that despite the ratification of the 19th Amendment, women still suffered from widespread discrimination and continue to fight for equal rights even today.
From the Paper "Susan B. Anthony and scores of other prominent suffragists rallied as much for the cause of abolition as for women's rights. One of the most notable companion causes of 19th century suffragists was the temperance movement. In fact, suffragist Frances Willard had been intimately involved in the Christian Temperance movement and in 1891 became president World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union. The temperance movement's primary objective was the reduction in alcohol abuse, and in 1872, the Prohibition Party became the "first national political party to recognize the right of suffrage for women in its platform," ("Women's History in America"). Therefore, the women's suffrage movement did not exist in isolation of other social, economic, and political causes."
Abstract This paper explains that, for three-quarters of a century, beginning in 1848, American women focused their hopes for liberation and power on the woman suffragemovement's demand for the right to vote. The author points out that despite evidence of male domination in every aspect of American life, women underestimated the strength of patriarchy and genuinely expected enfranchisement to lead to total equality between the sexes. The paper relates that the feminists came to recognize that only the force of the organized power of women themselves was capable of bringing about radical change in the condition of women's lives. The paper concludes that the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment granting women the right to vote marks the end of the woman suffragemovement; however, the quest for gender equality in America may never be over.
From the Paper "In the first half of the 19th century, women worked in more than a hundred industrial occupations (Earnest). There was a steady demand for female workers in textile mills, yet women found themselves in constant and desperate competition for positions. The concept of the inferiority of women barred them from training for more skilled work, and therefore from entering more profitable occupations; it also prevented them from receiving the same pay as a man for similar work. In 1833, one newspaper estimated that women earned only one fourth of men's wages..."
Abstract This paper discusses the women's suffragemovement from 1896-1920. It describes the history of the movement in the United States and the breakthrough they represented in their attempt to define themselves in equal terms not only towards men, but also on the political scene they had been denied access to. The paper also describes the different paths that women decided to take, despite the accomplishments of the movement.
From the Paper "At the opposite end of this spectrum, the Women's Suffrage Movement was one of the main forces that stirred the emancipation movement from the idealistic perspective offered above. It was defined especially by the historical developments that occurred in the late 1880s when women were forced to take part in the migration towards California in particular. The constant moves and relocations transformed women in characters equal in power and commitment to men. This in turn offered them the opportunity and moral leverage to rise for their demand to equal men in rights as well and request similar treatment. This was achieved through prolonged picketing of governmental offices, of House White rallies, and jail time spent by the most preeminent advocates for the cause."
Abstract An historical analysis of the women's suffragemovement, which resulted in eventual equal voting rights for women in America. This paper recants the struggles, beginning in 1647 and ending in 1920 when women finally obtained a Constitutional amendment that gave them the right to vote. The paper includes some information about the significant women who led the way for women rights throughout history.
From the Paper "Women in the United States made the fight for suffrage their most fundamental demand because they saw it as the defining feature of full citizenship. The philosophy underlying women's suffrage was the belief in "natural rights" to govern themselves and choose their own representatives. Woman's suffrage asserted that women should enjoy individual rights of self-government, rather than relying on indirect civic participation as the mothers, sisters, or daughters of male voters. However, most men and even some women believed that women were not suited by circumstance or temperament for the vote. Because women by nature were believed to be dependent on men and subordinate to them, many thought women could not be trusted to exercise the independence of thought necessary for choosing political leaders responsibly."
Abstract This paper studies the woman suffragemovement and the opposition it faced. The paper outlines the changing societal roles and expectation that brought about the campaign to extend the right to vote to women: (1) the perception that the woman's role was exclusively to attend to the family, (2) the perception that extending the right to vote would be a slippery slope and (3) the perception that men were more intelligent -- and therefore better able to cast votes. Next, the paper discusses the leadership and activity of the leaders of the suffragemovement: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. The paper then turns to the actions and involvement of more radical female suffragettes, including Chapman Catt and Maud Wood Park. The paper concludes with an analysis of oppositional forces, and discusses how these forces continue to be echoed among some right wing conservative groups today.
From the Paper "The turn of the century saw the apparition of a new wave of fighters and believers in the women's right to vote. Women like Chapman Catt and Maud Wood Park, not to mention Stanton's daughter, Harriot E. Bleach, used their dedication and commitment to push further the process. Some of them believed that they would have better chances to succeed if they appealed to a certain category of women. Chapman Catt, for example received support from middle-class women, while Lucy Burns or Alice Paul turned to working women and radical movements in their efforts. A subsequent radicalization of the movement followed, with demonstrations and alternative forms of protest, such as chaining oneself to the White House fence . Hunger strikes in jail often followed their arrest."
Abstract This paper explains that, over the last 150 years ago, the past seven generations in the United States have witnessed an extraordinary movement by women to attain full civil rights resulting in dramatic social and legal accomplishments. The author details the history of the womensuffragemovement leading up to the passage of the female enfranchisement amendment of the United States Constitution. The paper continues to tell about post-suffragemovements such as Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement and the second wave of activism in the 1960s, which led to the Equal Rights Amendment passage in 1972.
From the Paper "Unlike the NWSA, the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) consisted of both women and men. Lucy Stone with the aid of her husband Henry Blackwell, Mary Livermore, Julia Ward Howe, Henry Ward Beecher, and others led it. AWSA endorsed the Fifteenth Amendment while still working for woman suffrage. While the AWSA supported the federal amendment for female enfranchisement, it focused more on developing grass roots support for woman suffrage by forming state level organizations and working through its publication, the "Woman's Journal". They tried to make woman suffrage and other feminist reforms seem less radical and consistent with widely shared American values."
Abstract This paper discusses how the suffragist movement seems superficially to have been what we might call a manifestation of distinctively women's politics. Moreover, it might be seen as a political expression of some kind of cohesive female culture. However, the paper argues that this was in no way the case. To argue that it was would ignore profound class differences that separated women, and would essentialise women in a way that is limiting and that is no longer acceptable. "
Abstract Examines the multiple meanings of the movement. Contends that it was more than a quest for voting rights; it was an international model for a pursuit of social justice. Discusses the investigative method of hermeneutics, and its application to the meanings of the British suffragemovement. Consideration of all aspects of society.
From the Paper "Introduction
This study examined the pursuit of women's suffrage in Great Britain. The thesis of his study was that the thrust of the women's suffrage movement in Great Britain was much more than a quest for voting rights: It was an international model for a pursuit of social justice.
The pursuit of social justice by women in Great Britain involved all aspects of society ? labor, family life, political participation, education, property rights, and full social equality. The quest for women's suffrage, thus, was a part of the wider pursuit for social justice; it was a step in the march of progress for women. Within this broader context, the women's suffrage movement in Great Britain was an early manifestation of the feminist movement (Garner, 1984)."
Abstract This paper reviews Gullet's book on the history of the women's movement in California and explains how Gullet breaks up the history of the movement into stages and highlights. It discusses how the movement was forced to undergo a series of ideological and structural transformations to achieve a specific goal rather than manifest itself as the pure politics of a group of women unified across class lines.
From the Paper "This was not true of the beginnings of the women's rights movement in California, true?at the very beginning, the Californian movement took its lead from its first most notable figure, not a Californian, but the template of Susan B. Anthony, national feminist advocate. This period, the historian Gayle Gullett suggests, highlighted a specific aspect of the past of the women's rights movement, namely a kind of radical as opposed to the later forms of reform progressivism, albeit with a uniquely Californian emphasis. (102)."
