Women and the Vote. Some ideas and resources for Key stages 3 or 4

Overview Women and the Vote Some ideas and resources for Key stages 3 or 4 This topic always has resonance for both male and female learners as it features the eternal struggle for equality between the sexes. The source material can be fascinating because the sometimes stereotypical views expressed can be very familiar to modern readers of all ages and backgrounds. The cartoon imagery makes for an interesting study of how pictures can be used to portray certain viewpoints and some cross-curricular work with Art and Media Studies can be undertaken here. The written sources from the early 20 th Century are reasonably accessible, because they are mainly making reference to longstanding issues around gender equality rather then discussing institutions and events which are unfamiliar today. In the 21 st Century, when Citizenship and the importance of voting are seen as major educational and social issues, the struggle of the Suffragettes raises lots of interesting questions about the value of the vote and the possible obligation held by modern voters to use their vote in honour of the sacrifices made in the past. The resources here also demonstrate that the fight for the vote touched on issues of free speech, effective ways of demonstrating, and support from men and people across the world. These could be the focus for interesting discussions on our responsibility as citizens to stand up for other people, and for freedom today. Questions Look at the cartoons An Ugly Rush (Source 9) and The Woman Voter See How She Grows (Source 23). Explain the meaning behind the cartoon and show how you can tell that this is the meaning intended by the cartoonist. In An Ugly Rush (Source 9), how would you describe the two sets of women in the picture (on either side of the door)? Why has the cartoonist drawn them like that? For each of the written sources, can you say whether the writer is for or against the idea of votes for women? Draw a line across a page, writing Totally against at the left end of the line and Totally for at the right end. Write the name of each writer at an appropriate place on the line: for example, somebody who seems to be for votes for women but does not argue the point strongly could be placed half way between the middle of the line and the right hand end. Underline or highlight words and phrases in the written sources which show the views of the writers. Working Class Movement Library. www.wcml.org.uk.

Do you agree with this statement: - The magazine called Votes For Women was written and paid for by the Suffragettes. So it is bound to be biased and therefore historians should pay no attention to it. Explain your answer and try to quote from extracts from the magazine to back up your points. (For teachers, you may wish to help pupils structure such an answer, with one paragraph pointing out the bias of the magazine, another paragraph saying how it is still useful to historians and a final paragraph to conclude). On the whole, women wanted the vote and men tried to stop them. Does the evidence provided here back up this point of view? Were women in other countries more successful in gaining the vote than women in Britain? Explain your answer. Other activities/cross-curricular links etc Take An Ugly Rush as an example. Draw a Suffragette version of this cartoon which portrays the women fighting for the vote in a different way. If you would prefer not to draw this, choose and cut out pictures from modern magazines which show the kind of images you are looking for. As well as more appealing women, who or what else could you add to the picture to make a point in favour of the women wanting the vote? (For teachers some men/ children supporting their mothers/ images of women doing important and influential jobs). Read (or listen to) the stories told by Hannah Mitchell about how she and her friends would try to disrupt public meetings. Take one of these meetings and write it up as a scene from play, using mainly dialogue between the characters. As a group act out the scene you have produced, using appropriate expression in the voice and face plus dramatic body language. Discuss some modern images of women in the media. Compare women involved in politics with other female celebrities. Are women politicians expected to be less feminine or less glamorous than women actors, singers, TV presenters etc.? Look at the images in modern political cartoons. In what ways do cartoonists show their approval or disapproval of certain people or ideas or events? Make a list of the ways in which, in the 21 st Century, women have equality with men and some ways in which things may still be unequal. People like the Suffragettes struggled hard to gain the right to vote for women. Other people had worked hard to gain the vote for men as well. Does this mean that modern voters should always make the effort to use their vote, out of respect for those who struggled so hard? Working Class Movement Library. www.wcml.org.uk.

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Source 5 Tactics of a Suffragette, Votes for Women, March 1908. Working Class Movement Library. www.wcml.org.uk. From the publication Votes for Women, held at the library.

Working Class Movement Library. www.wcml.org.uk. From the publication Votes for Women, held at the library.

Source 6 Extracts from Beware! A Warning to Suffragists, by Cicely Hamilton. Altered and adapted by the Working Class Movement Library, Salford. www.wcml.org.uk Originally published as a pamphlet by the Artist s Suffrage League, around 1909, and was rescued from a rubbish bin in the 1970s.

Extracts from Beware! A Warning to Suffragists, by Cicely Hamilton. Altered and adapted by the Working Class Movement Library, Salford. www.wcml.org.uk Originally published as a pamphlet by the Artist s Suffrage League, around 1909, and was rescued from a rubbish bin in the 1970s.

Source 7 Source 8 Votes for Women, Volume VI, 1913

Source 9 Working Class Movement Library. www.wcml.org.uk. Extract from The Hard Way Up, The Autobiography of Hannah Mitchell, Suffragette and Rebel 1968.

Working Class Movement Library. www.wcml.org.uk. Extract from The Hard Way Up, The Autobiography of Hannah Mitchell, Suffragette and Rebel 1968.

Source 10 From Mr Punch s History of Modern England, held at the Working Class Movement Library, Salford. www.wcml.org.uk.

Source 11 Votes for Women, Volume VI, 1913

Source 12 Source 13

Source 14 Votes for Women, Volume VI, 1913. Source 15

Source 17 A letter was read from Mrs Pankhurst at the weekly meeting of the Women s Social and Political Union (WSPU). In it, Mrs Pankhurst wrote: I am most anxious to make it clear that this weakness is purely physical, and there is absolutely no ground for saying that I am in any way weakened in spirit by my recent imprisonment and all that it involves. By this time, Mrs Pankhurst concluded, you know the conditions of my temporary release. I treat its terms with the contempt which they deserve, and I intend to ignore them completely. When I recover from the Government s brutality I intend to resume the work to which my life is given. If I am taken back to prison I shall resume my (hunger) protest. Only the granting of the vote or death can end my personal share in the fight. Votes for Women, Volume VI, 1913.

Source 18 Working Class Movement Library, Salford. www.wcml.org.uk From Votes for Women, 4 th April, 1913.

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Source 25 Working Class Movement Library. www.wcml.org.uk. From the publication Votes for Women, held at the library.

Source 26 Working Class Movement Library, Salford. www.wcml.org.uk From Votes for Women, 15 th March, 1912. This source could link with the Trade Unions scheme of work, also available on the WCML Learning pages of the website. In 1911, there were strikes around the country, involving miners.