top of page
Search

History of Women

Written By Maria Garcia


As a woman in the 21st century, I assume parts of my life is to have basic human rights that we all deserve. When I look back in history and learn about the oppression that my gender went through it becomes hard to comprehend.


It was in the early 1890s that the term feminism emerged as a synonym for women’s emancipation. Women at the time were faced with a life of oppression, where their opinions and lives were left aside for what was seen as human nature. As a reaction, women decided to stand up and fight for their rights.


There were three main stands in this wave:


PARENTHOOD


Even though women were expected to stay home to raise their children, they were not granted the right to equal parenthood. An example of this is the story of Caroline Norton. She was made to be married to the Tory MP, George Norton against her wishes, but agreed due to her fear of the repercussions if she didn’t. The marriage was extremely unhappy and unhealthy, as she fought the violent domestic abuse from her husband. Through her writings (such as 'The Sorrows of Rosalie' in 1829) she got a taste of financial independence. Eventually, she no longer wanted to suffer in her marriage, so she left her husband who in revenge claimed that Caroline was guilty of adultery with the home secretary Lord Melbourne.


As a result, Caroline's reputation was ruined and Norton refused her petition to gain custody of her three children. The injustice was seen by many at the time, who decided to support Caroline in protests to ensure women were supported after divorce and the right to have custody of their children. These efforts were extremely influential for the passing of the Infant Custody Bill of 1839 and the Marriage and Divorce Act of 1857.


EDUCATION


For years women had tried to put forward the idea that their education needs to be about useful knowledge, rather than being nursed in the vices for which they are then upbraided (Mary Astell, 1694).


One of the most important figures is the writer Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’ in 1792. In it, she talks about how education is the best source to make a person flourish but those who had always written about women in education were men, who made women artificial and weaker. She argues that women are put in the world without the knowledge needed. According to her, the reason behind was that men knew that once they gave power to women, then the women would not stay still and continue enduring the oppression.


VOTE


Perhaps one of the most famous branches of feminism that emerged in the first wave was the fight for women’s vote. There were many groups that were formed to try and acquire this right, but perhaps the most known one is that of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) lead by Emmeline Pankhurst. This group was popular for its determined and loyal militants who held to their motto of "Deeds, not words" deep in their hearts. After a lot of hard work, the Representation of the People Act was passed in 1918, giving women who were over 30 and owned property the right to vote. Ten years later they managed to lower the age limit to 21.

It is hard to imagine ourselves in a world without all these basic rights, which is when we must remember that there were many who suffered to get to point we are now, even giving their lives for the cause as Emily Wilding Davison did in 1913 to put a light on the fight for universal suffrage.


So what should we take from this? It should show us that this fight for equal rights can be achieved even if it seems impossible if they could why can’t we? It has been a slow journey but we are getting there.

 
 
 

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


Subscribe

©2018 by The Feminist Society. Proudly created with Wix.com

  • generic-social-link
  • twitter
  • instagram
bottom of page