An advocate of women's suffrage, especially in the United Kingdom.
suffragettism suf'fra·get'tism n.
Dictionary:
suf·fra·gette (sŭf'rə-jĕt') ![]() |
An advocate of women's suffrage, especially in the United Kingdom.
suffragettism suf'fra·get'tism n.| 5min Related Video: suffragette |
| Political Dictionary: suffragette |
Militant campaigner for the right of women to vote. After J. S. Mill tried to introduce a motion for universal suffrage in the Second Reform Bill of 1867, societies agitating for extension of the franchise to women were formed, but the ‘suffragists’ had little success in persuading MPs to allow women to vote. In 1903 Emily Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union, which instead of the peaceful means practised by the suffragists, advocated more violent methods, including demonstrations, disruption of House of Commons debates and public meetings, and the destruction of property. Pankhurst's ‘suffragettes’ stepped up agitation after the failure of legislation to enfranchise women in 1911, with increasingly violent measures, and, when imprisoned, resorted to hunger strike. In 1913 Emily Davison killed herself at the Derby by throwing herself under the King's horse.
Whether the suffragettes' campaign succeeded is debatable, and their violent methods alienated moderate supporters. Far more important in the move to female suffrage was the liberating effect of the First World War, which proved women were capable of the same work as men, and was quickly followed by the 1918 Representation of the People Act, giving the vote to women over the age of 30.
| Politics: suffragette |
A suffragist. Today, the term suffragette is often considered demeaning.
| Wikipedia: Suffragette |
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Suffragette is a term originally coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for the more radical and militant members of the late-19th and early-20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). However, after former and then active members of the movement began to reclaim the word, the term became a label without negative connotations. It derives from the word "suffrage", meaning the right to vote.
Suffragist is a more general term for members of suffrage movements, whether radical or conservative, male or female. American campaigners preferred this more inclusive title, while those Americans hostile to women's suffrage used "suffragette" as a pejorative, emphasizing its feminine "-ette" ending.[citation needed] In Britain, "suffragist" is generally used solely to identify members of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).
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The suffrage movement was mainly women from middle class backgrounds. These women were frustrated by their social and economic situation and sought for an outlet through which to initiate change. Their struggles for change within society, along with the work of such advocates for women’s rights as John Stuart Mill, were enough to spearhead a movement that would encompass mass groups of women fighting for suffrage. Mill had first brought the idea of women’s suffrage up in the platform he presented to British electors in 1865.[1] He would later be joined by numerous men and women fighting for the same cause.
New Zealand was the first self-governing country in the world to grant women the vote. In 1893, all women over the age of 21 were permitted to vote in parliamentary elections.[2]
A few historians feel that some of the suffragettes actions actually damaged their cause. The argument was that the suffragettes should not get the vote because they were too emotional and could not think as logically as men. Their violent and aggressive actions were used as evidence in support of this argument[citation needed].
Suffragettes carried out direct action such as chaining themselves to railings, setting fire to mailbox contents, smashing windows and on occasions setting off bombs. One suffragette, Emily Davison, died after she stepped out in front of the King's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby of 1913. Many of her fellow suffragettes were imprisoned and went on hunger strikes, during which they were restrained and forcibly fed and had reached the height of their campaign by 1912.
The so-called Cat and Mouse Act was passed by the British government to prevent suffragettes from obtaining public sympathy; it provided the release of those whose hunger strikes had brought them sickness, as well as their re-imprisonment once they had recovered.
Nevertheless, protests continued on both sides of the Atlantic. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns led a series of protests against the Wilson Administration in Washington that referred to "Kaiser Wilson" and compared the plight of the German people with that of American women.
During World War I, a serious shortage of able-bodied men ("manpower") occurred, and women were required to take on many of the traditional male roles. This led to a new view of what a woman was capable of doing. The war also caused a split in the British suffragette movement, with the mainstream, represented by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst's Women's Social and Political Union, calling a 'ceasefire' in their campaign for the duration of the war, while more radical suffragettes, represented by Sylvia Pankhurst's Women's Suffrage Federation continued the struggle.
Political movement towards women's suffrage began during the war and in 1918, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed an act (the Representation of the People Act 1918) granting the vote to: women over the age of 30 who were householders, the wives of householders, occupiers of property with an annual rent of £5, and graduates of British universities. The right to vote of American women was codified in the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920. Finally, women in the United Kingdom achieved suffrage on the same terms as men in 1928.
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| Translations: Suffragette |
Dansk (Danish)
n. - suffragette, rødstrømpe, stemmeretskvinde
Nederlands (Dutch)
voorstandster van vrouwenkiesrecht
Français (French)
n. - suffragette
Deutsch (German)
n. - Frauenrechtlerin
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - σουφραζέτα
Italiano (Italian)
suffragetta
Português (Portuguese)
n. - sufragista (f)
Español (Spanish)
n. - sufragista
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - rösträttskvinna, suffragett
中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
妇女参政权论者
中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 婦女參政權論者
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 참정권 확장론자, 여성 참정권론자
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) المناديه بمنح المرأة حق الاقتراع
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - לוחמת להשגת זכות הצבעה לנשים, סופרז'יסטית
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![]() | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Political Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics. Copyright © 1996, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Politics. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved. Read more | |
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