Key facts and dates

Victorian society enforced strict gender roles, limiting women's rights in areas like property, voting, and education, which sparked campaigns for change led by figures such as Josephine Butler and Emmeline Pankhurst. Progress accelerated during the First World War, culminating in women's suffrage.

Timeline of key events

• 1851 – Harriet Taylor suggests laws to protect women from violent husbands.
• 1864-1869 – Contagious Diseases Acts passed, prompting Josephine Butler's 21-year campaign for repeal.
• 1869 – First university college for women opens.
• 1882 – Married women gain the right to own property.
• 1889 – Emmeline Pankhurst helps form the Women's Franchise League.
• 1903 – Emmeline Pankhurst founds the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).
• 1908-1913 – Emmeline Pankhurst imprisoned multiple times for civil disobedience.
• 1910 onwards – Majority of MPs support women's suffrage.
• 1914-1918 – First World War; women take on male jobs.
• 1918 – Vote granted to women over 30 who are householders or wives of householders, and all men over 21.
• 1928 – Women gain the vote on equal terms with men.

Victorian attitudes to women's roles and rights

Victorian society held rigid views on gender roles, expecting men and women to occupy separate spheres of life. These beliefs restricted women's opportunities and reinforced inequality, with legal and social barriers preventing women from participating fully in public affairs.

Separate spheres for men and women

• Men's public sphere - Men were seen as suited to roles involving responsibility outside the home, such as business and finance, politics and government, and the law and trade. This allowed them to engage in decision-making and economic activities.
• Women's private sphere - Women were often called the "angels of the house" and expected to focus on domestic duties, including caring for children, managing the household, and tasks like cooking, washing, and cleaning. This ideal portrayed women as nurturing and supportive figures.

Key legal restrictions on women

• Voting rights - Women did not gain the right to vote in national elections until 1918 (for those over 30 who met property qualifications) and 1928 (on equal terms with men).
• Property ownership - Until 1882, married women could not own property; everything they owned became their husband's upon marriage, limiting their financial independence.

Class differences in women's work and education

Women's experiences in Victorian Britain varied greatly by social class, influencing whether they worked and the type of education they received. Poorer women often had to contribute to family income, while middle-class women were encouraged to focus on domestic skills.

Work based on class

• Poorer women - They frequently worked in mills, mines, domestic service, or at home to support their families, but were paid less than men for similar roles.
• Middle-class women - These women aimed to marry well and avoid paid work, instead learning accomplishments like singing, playing the piano, sewing, and household management to fulfil the role of the dutiful and obedient "angel of the house".

Education for women

Education for women was limited, as many Victorians believed women had smaller brains than men and were too emotional for advanced study. The first university college for women did not open until 1869, marking a slow shift towards greater access to higher education.

Key campaigners and their methods

Several prominent women led campaigns to improve women's rights, using speeches, writings, and organisations to challenge Victorian inequalities. Their efforts focused on issues like legal protections, health laws, and voting rights, often drawing on personal experiences and public advocacy.

Josephine Butler (1828-1906)

Josephine Butler, from a wealthy family, campaigned against the unfair treatment of poor women. She opposed the Contagious Diseases Acts (passed in 1864, 1866, and 1869), which allowed police to force suspected prostitutes to undergo degrading medical examinations to curb sexually transmitted diseases in the military. Butler viewed these laws as sexist and campaigned for 21 years until their repeal.

Butler's campaign methods:

• Touring the country to make speeches
• Writing letters and pamphlets

Harriet Taylor (1807-1858)

Harriet Taylor wrote essays and articles advocating for better women's rights, often collaborating with her second husband, John Stuart Mill, though her contributions were not always credited. In 1851, she proposed laws to protect women from violent husbands. After her death, John Stuart Mill published The Subjection of Women (1869), drawing on ideas they had developed together. Her daughter Helen Taylor later joined the women's suffrage campaign and the Kensington Society, which created the first petition for women's votes.

Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928)

Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Franchise League in 1889 to push for women's rights. In 1903, she established the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) with the motto "Deeds not Words" to gain publicity through direct action. From 1908 to 1913, she was imprisoned multiple times for acts like demonstrating, disrupting meetings, and stone-throwing, and she went on hunger strikes in prison. During the First World War, the WSPU suspended actions to support the war effort, including recruiting women for work.

Arguments for and against women's suffrage

The campaign for women's right to vote, known as suffrage, faced strong opposition based on Victorian beliefs about gender differences. However, influential supporters helped advance the cause through writings and political influence.

Arguments against women's suffrage

• Domestic responsibilities - Many believed women's primary role was in the home, making involvement in politics unsuitable.
• Medical and biological views - Opinions held that men had larger brains and were cleverer, while women were hormonally unstable or too emotional for rational decisions in law and politics.
• Protection of the weaker sex - Women were seen as needing male protection, not independence in public life.
• Lack of cooperation - There was a view that women were too individualistic to work together effectively in areas like politics.

Supporters of women's suffrage

• John Stuart Mill - As an influential writer and husband of Harriet Taylor, he argued for improvements in women's rights and status through his publications.
• David Lloyd George - Leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister from 1916, he sympathised with suffrage but opposed the WSPU's violent tactics; he oversaw the 1918 election where some women first voted.

Campaign tactics and the impact of the First World War

Campaign groups used varied tactics to gain attention for women's suffrage, ranging from peaceful persuasion to militant actions. The First World War accelerated change by demonstrating women's capabilities in new roles.

Tactics of the suffragists

Suffragists campaigned peacefully and lawfully to promote women's right to vote.

Suffragist methods:

• Writing letters and articles
• Producing petitions
• Holding public meetings
• Seeking support from Members of Parliament (MPs)

Tactics of the suffragettes

Suffragettes, frustrated with slow progress, adopted more direct and provocative approaches under the motto "Deeds, Not Words".

Suffragette methods:

• Heckling and disrupting political meetings
• Smashing windows with stones
• Attacking MPs and their homes
• Going on hunger strikes in prison
• Chaining themselves to railings for publicity

One extreme act occurred in 1913 when suffragette Emily Davison ran in front of the King's horse at the Derby, carrying a suffragette banner, and was trampled to death.

Changes during the First World War

The First World War (1914-1918) transformed women's roles, speeding up suffrage gains as women proved their independence.

Women's new roles during the war:

• Took on male jobs such as drivers and engineers
• Worked in the Women's Land Army on farms
• Produced weapons in munitions factories