The Role Of Women In British Society Essay

1) Explain the ways in which the role of women in British society developed during the 20th century. What are the most important developments and how did they come about?

At the beginning of the twentieth century women had limited rights compared to the rights of men in Britain. Feminists wanted to change the position of women in British society to a more equal one. In the early twentieth century they organized demonstrations and protest in order to gain equal rights to vote for women. In 1903 the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) was founded by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst. They were fighting for women’s right to vote at elections. In 1905 they turned to militant tactics which began with questioning and heckling Cabinet ministers at public meetings over their reluctance to introduce a women’s suffrage bill. The militancy continued with attempts to rush into the lobby of the House of Commons and interrupt debates in the chamber itself.

WSPU also held huge rallies and marches and organized campaigns at by-elections. In
1909 Marion Wallace Dunlop hunger striked in prison and was released after 91 hours.
Subsequently 37 suffragette prisoners were released before the government began to force feed them. In 1913 the government introduced the Prisoners Temporary Discharge Act which allowed

Young women were widely accused of lowering the moral standards in their pursuit of an exciting social life, while men as usual, were regarded as innocent victims. The ‘flappers’ were young women who were not married. ‘Flappers’ dressed in a more masculine style, had jobs, and went out dancing to jazz music and to the night clubs. Many of the young men had been killed during the war and ‘our surplus girls’ in the ‘Mail’s’ words, outnumbered men by 1.9 million during the 1920s. By the late 1920s married women experienced on average 2.2 live births, by comparison with five of six during the Victorian