- Photo courtesy of Frank Micelotta/Invision/AP
Meryl Streep has obviously impressed the producers of the Ruby Films period drama, Suffragette
with her rant last month at the National Board of Review awards when
she called Walt Disney a "gender bigot" when presenting Emma Thompson an
award for her work in Saving Mr Banks. During the presentation
she railed against Disney and declared that Thompson was "a rabid, man
eating feminist, like I am". It's that man eating feminism no doubt that
has endeared her to the producers as she's in final talks to appear as
Emmeline Pankhurst in the upcoming film starring Carey Mulligan,
alongside other notable actors such as Helena Bonham Carter, Ben
Whishaw, Romola Garai, and Samuel West, according to ScreenDaily.
Though
only slated to play a minor role in the film, it is a vital role in
which she is said to deliver a "'tour de force' speech on women’s rights
during a political rally".
Abi Morgan, who wrote The Iron Lady
(in which Streep played the former British PM Margaret Thatcher and
earned her another Academy Award), is also writing this film’s script.
Sarah Gavron has signed on to direct and shooting will begin in the UK
next week.
So who was Emmeline Pankhurst and why is she so
important? If you are a woman and live in the UK, the freedoms and
rights you have under the law, are a direct result of her efforts. If
you are a woman and you live in Canada, the freedoms and rights you have
under the law, are a direct result of her efforts. If you are woman and
live in the USA, the freedoms and rights you have under the law can be
attributed to an entirely different set of heroes. Bear with me as I
backtrack a bit.
- Photo courtesy of The Mirror
Born Emmeline Goulden in 1858, she was raised by politically active parents. During the 19th
century, England had a number of Reform Acts pass through Parliament,
and the big ones had to do with the vote. If you’ve ever heard the term
‘rotten boroughs’, the Reform Act of 1832 sought to eliminate
irregularities of voting. In a nutshell, in order to have the vote (=
suffrage), you had to own land. If you owned land in more than one area,
you had a vote in all of those areas. Further, although there had been
some discussion about including women in the Reform Act, the law
specifically had wording about enfranchising “male persons”, which
literally disenfranchised women. And how many more men got the vote?
Well, Wiki (source of all knowledge) says approximately 500,000 adult
men had the vote before the Act became law. Afterwards, ca. 813,000.
That’s 1 in 6 adult men with the vote. Total population at the time: 12
million.
The Reform Act of 1867 resulted in approximately doubling
those numbers in the electorate. In broad strokes, professionals and
men with regular (minimum) incomes now had the vote; also, men with over
50 pounds in savings now had the vote. Although there was a movement
for universal suffrage, the priorities of various organisations were to
get all men the vote, not necessarily all citizens. In 1870, 1886, and
1897, suffrage bills were put before the House, but were never passed.
The goal for all men to get the vote was achieved in 1918. Women were
included in that one, but only those over the age of 30 and with further
strings attached: a woman had to be married to someone registered with
the local government authority or had to be registered herself, be a
property owner, or be a university graduate. A separate woman’s suffrage
bill went before the House in 1905; it was filibustered.
In the
UK, equal voting rights were not granted to women until 1928. In Canada
(except Quebec), equal voting rights were granted in 1920. Women in
Quebec waited until 1940. People of First Nations descent had to wait
until 1960, but that’s a whole other topic of discussion. In the USA,
the magic number for women was also 1920. Yes, women have had the vote
in the UK, USA, and Canada, for fewer than 100 years.
To be clear,
Emmeline Pankhurst did not initiate the movement for women's suffrage,
but she (with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia, and many, MANY more)
was instrumental in gaining significant ground for the movement in
England. Why? One reason was so they could affect social justice such as
protecting the poor, the elderly, orphans, widows, improve conditions
in workhouses, improve education and access to it - the many
demographics dependent on the public purse for their well being - and
shape future social policy on a political level.
Pankhurst founded
the Women’s Franchise League in 1889, but it only lasted a year. She
founded the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union) in 1903. They
worked tirelessly and their methods were non violent in the beginning,
attending and conducting meetings, dialogues with politicians,
pamphleteering, standing on street corners. She and her sisters in the
movement endured social ostracisation, public humiliation, imprisonment,
physical violence, force feeding (as a way to counter hunger strikes),
and Emily Wilding Davison publicly committed suicide in 1913 by stepping
onto the racecourse at Epsom mid-race. WSPU methods would later include
advocating arson and damage to property, such as breaking windows.
For
the vote. Something many of us take for granted. In a time when voter
turnouts for federal elections are in the 60% range and municipal
elections in Vancouver, for instance, are in the 30-35% range (in
Toronto, Canada’s most populous city, that number was 53% in their last
municipal election).
Ironically, women (certainly not all) were
allowed to stand as candidates for election before they even got the
vote. The first woman elected mayor was a medical doctor by the name of
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson who became mayor of Aldeburgh, Suffolk in
1908. Emmeline also stood for election and was in the process of
campaigning for a seat when she fell ill and died on June 14, 1928. On
July 2, 1928, Royal Assent for the Act enfranchising women
(Representation of the People Act 1928) became law. Emmeline Pankhurst
never saw the victory.
In 1999, Time magazine included Emmeline Pankhurst in their list of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. In 2002, the BBC conducted a poll on the 100 Greatest Britons. Emmeline Pankhurst ranked 27th.
The WSPU motto was Deeds Not Words. That is the badge I wear.
- Suffragette emblem and motto
