Women's Suffrage

Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. The women's suffrage movement was a decades-long fight to win this right. It took many years of struggle and protest in the United States, the United Kingdom, and around the world to achieve.

In the women's suffrage movement, there were two main approaches: the suffragists and the suffragettes. The suffragists used peaceful tactics to campaign for the vote, while the suffragettes employed more militant actions.

Suffragist tactics:

1. Lobbying and petitioning Parliament

2. Peaceful protests and demonstrations

3. Public meetings and speeches

4. Distributing pamphlets and literature

5. Organizing processions and pageants

Suffragette tactics:

1. Militant actions like smashing windows and burning buildings

2. Disrupting political meetings

3. Hunger strikes in prison

4. Chaining themselves to railings

5. Setting fire to postboxes

The Isle of Man was the first to grant some women the right to vote in 1881. In 1918, the Representation of the People Act gave women over 30 the vote, and in 1928 the voting age was lowered to 21, giving women equal voting rights with men in the UK.

Terms

• Enfranchisement: The act of giving a group the right to vote.

• Suffrage: The right to vote in political elections.

• Suffragettes: More militant activists, especially in Britain, who used tactics like violence, property damage, and hunger strikes to draw attention to the cause.

• Suffragists: Activists who campaigned for women's suffrage using peaceful methods such as lobbying and petitioning.

Analogy

The women's suffrage movement is like a marathon. Achieving the right to vote was not a quick sprint, but a long grueling effort that required persistence and endurance in the face of obstacles and opposition over many decades. The movement had to pace itself and keep pushing forward step by step, mile by mile, to cross the finish line. For example, just like a marathon involves hills and valleys, the suffrage movement had victories like some U.S. states granting women voting rights in the late 1800s, followed by setbacks and continued struggles to achieve it nationally.

Misconception

A common misconception is that women's suffrage was "given" to women by men in power. In reality, women had to fight and struggle tirelessly for many decades to win this right that was denied to them. The movement faced much opposition and had to overcome deeply entrenched discrimination and societal attitudes against women's rights. For example, many argued that women lacked the intelligence or capability to vote, or that their place was only in the home, not in public affairs.

History

1. 1800s: The women's suffrage movement emerges and organizes in the U.S., Britain, and elsewhere, using conventions, petitions, and lawsuits to demand the vote. The Isle of Man grants some women the right to vote in 1881.

2. Early 1900s: The movement gains momentum. Countries like New Zealand, Australia, Finland and Norway grant women voting rights. In the U.S. and Britain, suffragists use parades, protests, and militant tactics to draw attention.

3. 1910s: World War I proves a turning point. Women's wartime roles help shift public opinion. Canada, Russia, Germany and others enfranchise women. In 1918, the UK gives women over 30 the vote. In 1920, the 19th Amendment grants U.S. women suffrage.

4. 1920s-1950s: With voting rights secured in many countries, women's political participation grows. More nations grant women suffrage. The UK gives women equal voting rights in 1928.

5. 1960s-present: Remaining countries enfranchise women, including Switzerland (1971), Portugal (1976), Liechtenstein (1984), and several Middle Eastern nations in the early 2000s. Today, suffrage is denied to women in only a few places worldwide.

How to use it

1. Exercise your right to vote that generations of women fought for. Register to vote, research the candidates and issues, and make your voice heard in every election.

2. Encourage other women to get involved politically. Organize voter registration drives, volunteer for campaigns, attend town halls, or even run for office yourself.

3. Teach girls about the history of women's suffrage and how the right to vote was won. Take them with you when you vote. Emphasize that voting is a privilege and responsibility not to be taken for granted.

Facts

• New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote in 1893.

• In the U.S., Susan B. Anthony was arrested for illegally voting in the 1872 presidential election.

• The 19th Amendment enfranchising American women was ratified 100 years ago in August 1920.

• Women in Saudi Arabia only gained the right to vote in municipal elections in 2015.

• As of 2020, women remain disenfranchised in the Vatican City - the last place to deny women suffrage.