Rights for Women: The Suffragettes

Task 1: What makes a person or group ‘inspirational’?

Task 2: What do these terms mean?
Feminist
Suffragette

In the UK, both men and women have all the same the rights, including the right to education and the right to vote.

BUT this has not always been the case. Until 1918, Women did not have the right to vote.

For years, women fought for the right to vote in the UK. One of the most well known groups in support of votes for women were ‘The Suffragettes’.

Task 3: This poster is from the early 1900s. What does it suggest men thought a woman’s mind consisted of?

Many men believed at the time that a woman’s place was at home, looking after children, doing domestic jobs. They thought that women were too emotional and hysterical to be given the right to vote. The suffragettes were often portrayed as ’stupid’ and ‘crazy’.

Task 4: Watch the video clip and answer the questions below:

What did the Suffragettes want?
How did they try to achieve this?
What issues did they face?
Why did women believe they should have the vote?

Under the leadership of Emmeline Pankhurst, the suffragettes used a variety of non violent methods to gain the attention of the country and help women gain the vote. Whilst these methods may not seem impressive to us today, they were radical for women of the time. Women were often arrested by the police and poorly treated, despite not breaking any laws.

Task 5: Watch the clip from the movie ‘Suffragette’. In this scene, Emmeline Pankhurst gives a speech to a crowd of women. Consider the following:

Why did the women have to meet in secret?

What were they scared?

Finally, after years of campaigning, some women over the age of 30 were given the vote in 1918, however, it was not until 1928, that all women over 21 were to be given the right to vote.