The Suffragettes – Part one – Deeds not words

Oct 23, 2024

Explore the fierce beginnings of the suffragette movement as Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst ignite a revolution in 1903. Discover their bold tactics, from eye-catching protests to hunger strikes, aimed at gaining women's suffrage. Unpack the tensions between radical and moderate factions, and witness the impact of pivotal demonstrations meant to rally public support. Through the challenges and sacrifices of activists, this tale reveals the courage it took for women to find their political voice amidst resistance from the political establishment.

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INSIGHT

Romanticized Militancy

The Suffragettes' radicalism is often romanticized, ignoring their extreme actions like bombings and arson.
Modern activists like Just Stop Oil haven't come close to their level of militancy.

INSIGHT

Suffragette Movement's Complexity

The Suffragette movement involved peaceful pressure, militant protests, and terrorism.
Modern narratives sanitize the story by often ignoring the moderate work and the extreme terrorism.

ANECDOTE

Early Suffrage Movement

The 1832 Reform Act granted voting rights to one in five men and specifically excluded women.
John Stuart Mill's 1866 amendment, though unsuccessful, launched the women's suffrage campaign.

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This week we begin the tumultuous story of the suffragettes. In 1903, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union. Sick of waiting in vain for women’s suffrage, they decided to secure it by hook or by crook. By 1906, the so-called suffragettes were the most exciting, audacious activists in the land, with their banners of purple, white and green. They then took on the might of the British state with ingenious protests and hunger strikes before agreeing to an uneasy two-year ceasefire while parliament wrestled over whether to give women the vote. We conclude part one at the end of 1911, with political failure and the dawn of a new phase of militancy.

Who were the Pankhursts and their inner circle? How did they interact with Millicent Fawcett’s moderate suffragists? Why were Liberal politicians so determined to deny women the vote? And could it all have worked out very differently?

It’s a fiery story of courage, conflict and missed chances, as British women found their political voice for the first time.

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Reading List

Diane Atkinson – Rise Up Women!: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes (2018)

Helen Lewis – Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights (2020)

Joyce Marlow (editor) – Suffragettes: The Fight for Votes for Women (2015)

Glenda Norquay (editor) – Voices and Votes: A Literary Anthology of the Women’s Suffrage Campaign (1995)

Christabel Pankhurst – Pressing Problems of the Coming Age (1924)

Christabel Pankhurst – Unshackled: The Story of How We Won the Vote (1959)

Sylvia Pankhurst – The Suffragette: The History of the Women’s Militant Suffrage Movement 1905-10 (1911)

Sylvia Pankhurst – The Suffragette Movement: An Intimate Account of Persons and Ideals (1931)

Mary R. Richardson – Laugh a Defiance (1953)

Fern Riddell – ‘Sanitising the Suffragettes’ (2018)

Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Produced by Simon Williams. Music by Jade Bailey. Art by Jim Parrett. Logo by Mischa Welsh. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Origin Story is a Podmasters production

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