Emmeline Pankhurst was

the founder of the Women’s Social

and Political Union (WSPU), an

organisation which campaigned for

the right for women to vote.

She was arrested many times and even imprisoned for whilst trying

to win the vote for women.

1979 Margaret Thatcher became

Britain’s first female Prime

Minister.How had so

much changed in less than a

century?

What was the role of women at the beginning of the

twentieth century?

By the end of the lesson you should be able to...

• Explain what opportunities were open to women at the beginning of the twentieth century.

• Analyse the attitude of many men towards women at that time.

• Assess the impact that attitudes would have had upon the lives of women.

What does this cartoon tell us about what people

thought about women at the beginning of the twentieth

century?

Education Politics

Marriage Work

In 1939 Elizabeth Garrett Anderson wrote about views towards women’s education at the beginning of the twentieth century:‘Men were believed to dislike 'blue-stockings', so that parents thought the serious education of their daughters superfluous: deportment, music and a little French would see them through. 'To learn arithmetic will not help my daughter to find a husband was a common point of view. A governess at home, for a short period, was the usual fate of the girls. Their brothers might go to public schools and university but home was considered the right place for their sisters. Some parents sent their daughters to a finishing school, but good schools for girls did not exist. Their teachers were untrained and ill-educated. No public examinations accepted female candidates.’

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was lucky. Her father was one of the growing number who wanted his daughters to be educated. She was sent to an 'Academy for the Daughters of Gentlemen' at Blackheath, kept by Miss Browning and her sister. After two years at Blackheath, Louie and Elizabeth left, their education considered to be at an end.

Postcard Published in 1906 showing the

subjects women were said to think about

Girton College opened for women at Cambridge in 1873, however, women students were not admitted to full membership of the University until April 1948.

Local School examinations opened to girls by Cambridge and London Universities in 1865 and 1868, and Oxford in 1870.

The Education Department Code of 1878 said that all girls taught in state schools had to be taught domestic education (cooking, and how to run a home)

‘Blue-Stockings’ were educated womenSuperfluous = Not needed

In the 19th century Britain women were expected to marry and have children. however, there was in fact a shortage of available men. The mortality (death) rate for boys was far higher than for girls; a large number of males served in the armed forces abroad and men were more likely to emigrate than women. By 1861 there were 10,380,285 women living in England and Wales but only 9,825,246 men.

The 1882 Married Women's Property Act: For the first time married women were given full legal control of their property. Before this Act anything a woman owned or earned became the property of her husband!

The 1878 Matrimonial Causes Act made it possible for a wife to separate from her husband on the grounds of cruelty. The Act also allowed women to claim maintenance and custody of their children.

Cartoon from The Vote, a newspaper published by the Women’s Freedom League (February, 1911)

Work

In the 19th century upper class and middle class women were not expected to earn their own living. It was virtually impossible for women to become doctors, engineers, architects, accountants or bankers.

After a long struggle the medical profession allowed women to become doctors. Even so, by 1900 there were only 200 women doctors.

Punch Magazine (January, 1907)

In October 1912 Octavia Wilberforce approached her parents about the possibility of studying at the London School of Medicine for Women. Their response was described in her book, Octavia

Wilberforce: Autobiography of a Pioneer Woman Doctor.:

I told my parents I wanted to study Medicine. They refused me to do this. Among other things it was "unsexing". They said they thought I had not the brains to pass the examinations, nor the physical stamina for the hard work

involved in the seven years study.One evening my mother came into my room to talk to me. 'If you are still thinking of being a doctor, you'd better

give it up at once. The whole thing is not practical. For one thing you're too old. The profession is already overcrowded and hundreds of girls are going into it. Besides, you would have to live in London. You are too young to live in London . . . Also it wants great physical strength and you aren't at all strong. You would be wasting the best years of your youth and happiness - you would lose all your friends… You would be mixing with girls of a

lower class. The majority would be much beneath you. You couldn't possibly do anything socially, and you would ruin your chance of a woman's only real happiness - being a mother.'

It was not until 1910 that women were allowed to become accountants and bankers. However, there were still no women diplomats, barristers or judges. Women were allowed to become teachers. In 1861 over 72% of teachers were women, but teaching was a low status job and was also very badly paid. Women also became Nurses, typists, and shop assistants.

Politics

• The Municipal Franchise Act 1869 had given unmarried women ratepayers the vote ‘in the election of councillors, auditors and assessors’

• The Education Act 1870 made these women eligible to vote for and stand in elections to school boards

• In 1894 the above rights were extended to married women

• The Local Government Act 1907 admitted women to all local government authorities and women ran their first candidates that autumn.

• Women were NOT eligible to vote in general elections!

What does this cartoon tell us about what people

thought about women at the beginning of the twentieth

century?