Using sources 13, 14, 15 and your own knowledge, do you agree with the view that the Married Womens Property Acts were key milestones in womens emancipation?

by hagabe123 (student)

Using sources 13, 14, 15 and your own knowledge, do you agree with the view that the Married Women’s Property Acts were key milestones in women’s emancipation?

After investigating the topic at hand, and analysing the sources given to me, I have come to the conclusion that the Married Women’s Property Acts had different weights in terms of their contribution to the emancipation of women. I believe that the 1882 act gave women much more and the 1870 act was more like a catalyst for things to come.

Source 13 is an extract from Paula Bartley’s ‘The Changing Role of Women 1815-1914’. She refers to how the acts meant that women could ‘spend their own money’ and the acts made marriage ‘more companionable’. Due to the fact that women could keep their money and spend it how they wished, they were no longer financially reliant to their husbands. After the passing of the 1882 act, women were allowed to keep all their earning without a £200 limit. This meant that marriage was not as necessary as before, and the ‘angel in the house’ ideal was left somewhat abandoned. The fact that Bartley was around during the time of the passing of the acts gives the source its trust-worthy nature.

Moving on to source 14, an article published in 1993 by Joan Perkin, I can see that it liaises with source 14 in the sense that they both realise that the acts in the 70s and beyond gave women the right to their earnings. Her contextual hindsight and the fact that she was a feminine historian can make her extract very reliable. However source 14 differs and begins to say that the ‘continued pressure in the 1860s’ led to these reforms. Perkin believes that the encumbrance from women’s groups on parliament played a large part in the acts.

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Source 15 is a cartoon from the satirical magazine ‘Punch’. The cartoon was published on the 7th October 1882. The cartoon depicts Osborne Morgan, who sponsored to 1882 act, being looked at in awe by two women who are evidently grateful for what he has done. It also shows a woman kneeling on a box labelled ‘Married Women’s Property’, signifying that the property is truly hers again. Since Punch was an extremely popular political magazine at the time, it is fair to say that the source has a considerable amount of authenticity and would portray the feelings at the time.

The evidence for someone to believe that the MWPAs were not a key milestone in the emancipation for women is not exactly covert. In source 13, Paula Bartley does not make it clear as to which act she is referring to. She may be speaking about the 1870 act, which did not really make a huge difference. Also those new regulations were specifically made for women who were going into marriage. Women who were already married did not receive this benefit. Source 14 also refers to how men could benefit from their wives holding ‘separate property’ in terms of tax evasion; and source 1 still shows the inequality with men and women, depicting them at the knees of a man, solely reliant on him.

So, to sum up, I believe that the act of 1882 was the real milestone act as it gave women full financial control, as well as control over money and trades started before the marriage. It also meant that women did not have to marry for reasons of financial stability, and they were on the same level playing field as those who chose not to marry. Whether they were on level ground with men is a different story.

By Toye Brimah