Notes on The Alternative Establishment

Corinne Williams

Notes on The Alternative Establishment

The male ‘alternative establishment’ were the trade Unions, religious groups and the press. These were as divided over the question of women’s suffrage as were the politicians.

Trade Unions

Although the leadership of the majority of trade unions seemed to be indifferent to women’s suffrage, a number of them supported it. However the trades Union movement as a whole was split over the question of votes for women. The Trades Union congress had passed a resolution in 1884 in favour of it but little had been done in practice to promote it. 17 years later, the suggestion drew an antagonistic rather than supportive response. According to Liddington and Norris, the official union reponse ranged from ‘benign indifference to downright hostility.’ But not all the trade union movement was antagonistic as of course it responded differently at individual and local levels.

Religious Groups

Religion played a very significant role in people’s lives in the 19th and 20th centuries. Religious groups responded to women’s suffrage in diverse ways. Some supported it, (e.g. Quakers (especially motivated by a sense of moral purpose) and nonconformists.) and some opposed it (e.g. Roman Catholics). Throughout this period the Church of England managed to keep a discreet silence, so the WSPU condemned the church for being ‘shamefully and obsequiously compliant’. However a number of individual clergy responded positively to women’s suffrage and protested when force-feeding of the suffragettes occurred. A number of clergy argued that women’s suffrage harmonised with essential Christian principles of equality, and even established a church league for women’s suffrage to promote the cause.

The Press

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The Press

Before the illegal activities of the WSPU provided headline-catching news, most newspapers disregarded the women’s suffrage movement. After 1905, (when Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenny were arrested) they began to take more notice as increased amounts of activity began to occur and disrupt normal living. However the press often reported militancy in ways, which were condemnatory rather than objective or complimentary. Once the militancy escalated, the press became even more hostile, describing the suffragettes as ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know.’ The times in particular were most unsympathetic as were the London Standard. However there were papers that were more sympathetic – at the end of the political spectrum was ‘The Workman’s times’ (although this too believed that women’s place was in the home. The Lewisham Borough News was sympathetic to women’s suffrage but criticised the militant tactics of the WSPU. Some men even published their own newspapers in support for women, perhaps to try and balance out the amount of hostility that was being received from other newspaper sources.

Explain the significance of the ‘Cat and Mouse’ poster as a piece of Propaganda.

In April 1913, as a result of adverse publicity, the prisoners’ Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health Act became law. This temporarily released persistent hunger strikers from prison in order for them to recover. As soon as they were deemed fit enough to be back in prison, they would have to go back and finish serving out their time

(without another trial.) This new piece of legislation may have been an ingenious device by the government to put an end to hunger striking but it was soon dubbed mockingly ‘The Cat and Mouse Act’ by the suffragettes.

The poster provokes quite a reaction in the viewer, as the image is rather shocking. The Cat looks fierce and is a very forceful image, this supposedly reflecting the actions of the Liberal Government. The image of the woman is emotive, as she is shown as helpless – playing up to the stereotypical ideas of women being ‘gentile and fragile.’ The connotations of ‘Cat and Mouse’ are those of how a cat plays/toys with its prey before it devours it. The mouse is helpless and soon to be lifeless. The poster therefore conveys that this new act from the government is a way of toying with the suffragettes – messing them around, chasing them in and out of prison, playing with them, keeping them alive but making them live helplessly and unwillingly.

This poster piece of propaganda is very effective as the dubbed name ‘Cat and Mouse Act’ is much easier to remember than ‘The Prisoners Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health Act!’ Even such as a simple adjustment is enough to give the WSPU propaganda suffragettes success in catching the attention of the people and getting their point across effectively. The poster quotes ‘KEEP THE LIBERAL OUT!’ showing that not only do the suffragettes not approve of the Liberal actions, but they want to completely get rid of them! This shows the reaction from the suffragettes – almost a revenge - of how the liberals had led the women to believe that votes for women were achievable, only to humiliate them time after time by denying them democratic forms of protest, dismissing reform bills and conciliations etc. With the events of Black Friday, the suffragette’s hatred for the liberals increased and hence the propaganda for getting rid of the Liberal government was produced and publicised.