The middle class lady was worlds apart from this hard life. She would wake up mid-morning, have her maid dress and wash her, cook her food leaving her to have time to perhaps, visit friends or do some needlework. Middle class gentleman would look for beauty in a wife and not much else, it would be a bonus if she had money, as for him she was nothing more than a fashion item. They would have servants to do all their housework and a governess would look after the female children. The male children would go to school so they could go out into the world with their skills to get a highly paid job. The girls on the other hand would stay at home with the governess to be taught how to play the piano and maybe another language, this would not be so they could get a job, but so they would more desirable for a husband, who would often be chosen by the father. The lady of the house would not be able to go to work even if she wanted, as her husband would not allow her, this was because it would give the impression that he could not afford to look after her. But, despite this he would encourage her to do charity work such as visiting the sick and needy, as this would build respect for him and the family. The difference between the middle class and upper class lady was very little as their husbands and fathers often had the same views. They could be financially supported so they should stay at home and look pretty.
There were some things that all men and gentlemen looked for in a wife. They all expected total devotion, they could commit adultery against their wives but if she were to against him then she would often be divorced immediately and as she had no rights would be left with nothing, not even the rights to the children. They would also look for total obedience, their wives should never answer back in public, they might be able to at home but never in public as this could embarrass him in front of his peers. Generally women were treated as second-class citizens.
When war broke out in 1914 despite the union opposition, the government encouraged women to take over conscripted jobs of men because the men were away fighting and women were needed to do the left over jobs of men. So the women thought that if they do a good job during the war their fight for freedom will have a dramatic impact and politicians will realise this with the work the women will have provided (etc ammunition factory)and help during the war. Women worked in all sorts of places that were nearby to them such as munitions factories, aircraft factories, brick works, steelworks, shipyards and government departments, this showed that women could now handle a lot of jobs and they were keen to help their country. Many women volunteered for the uniform services e.g. voluntary aid detachments (nurses), women’s land army (farm worked) and women’s section of the forces, these were particularly considered to be male jobs wearing the uniform and working hard with the crops and land.
Men returning back home as heroes from the war were now expecting there jobs back, Women were expected to return back to their pre war jobs such as house wife and servants but because women were loving the new jobs that gave them a lot of money they never wanted to leave but had no option; Few women stayed at their jobs, however even though a percentage of women at work returned to pre war level there were more women working in offices then ever before. Many women had loved the jobs they had been in, but this was no longer available for many of them.
There were some things that all men and gentlemen looked for in a wife. They all expected total devotion, they could commit adultery against their wives but if she were to against him then she would often be divorced immediately and as she had no rights would be left with nothing, not even the rights to the children. They would also look for total obedience, their wives should never answer back in public, they might be able to at home but never in public as this could embarrass him in front of his peers. Generally women were treated as second-class citizens.
Before the war there was no social life for women as you can see above. Women were just housewives or servants and their clothing was conservative. They normally wore ankle length skirts and long dresses. They couldn’t go out alone had to be with a chaperone. They weren’t allowed or given the right to divorce their husbands only he had the right to divorce the wife, the wife had to have very good reason with a lot of proof to divorce the husband which only few could do. The males needed basic reason such as cheating the man and he wouldn’t need much proof because the law never allowed women to divorce men. Women were expected to act like ladies and not do men like activities such as drinking and smoking.
Women became the heart of the war by working hard and helping men out at war but because they were independent now they could go out alone and they started to drink and smoke. Their dress had become a lot more practical due to their war work they wore shorter and looser skirts and trousers. Their hair cut went shorter as well, Because men were not around and women were now independent they had much more freedom than any time before in their lives. Some of the things they were freed on were such as going out alone and wearing trousers. They had to do that because no men were there to go out with them. Men away being busy at war, women therefore did all the shopping and the necessaries to run a house. Wearing trousers was a tradition and as well as that it was the factory regulations to wear trousers at work and men like clothes and the government jobs such as the women’s army and police force they were given certain uniforms that had to be worn.
After the war when some of the men returned back home they had a great welcoming. Now women had shorter skirts and hair because it had become fashion. When they went out alone they would go without a chaperone, they were also allowed to smoke in public. Now a lot of women wore make up outside in public and town because there was less men after the war and women tried to impress the ones that had returned. It was a way of attracting men and now it had also become fashion to wear make up.
Before the war the political rights for women were nothing but a housewife. Women weren’t even allowed to vote in parliamentary elections. Clearly this showed that men thought of women as a housewife so they had no rights and were ruled by men. Women were only to work in domestic services or textile industries. They weren’t allowed to be lawyers or the civil service because they were women and they were not educated enough because there was no need for them to be, Because of this women now wanted to fight for their rights Some wanted to fight the correct way such as no damage or bad behaviour, These wanted to do it the good way and stay in the law boundaries, Two groups were formed ‘suffragettes and suffragists. The suffragettes did the protesting the bad way and the suffragists did they protesting the legal way. Suffragettes did it the bad way to attract public attention and political attention. Both of the ‘women right’ groups had stopped the protesting during the outbreak of war because they saw a massive opportunity to back there point up and they relied and helped the ‘right to serve’.
During the war women helped men which was the ‘right to serve’.
So now women started to help men by taking over all of the men jobs, in a way this was a reward for war work. They were also trying to prove that they can work like men and do their jobs so they are capable and should have some rights. In the year 1918, the ‘Representation of the peoples act’, gave the vote to women’s over the age of 30 who were house holders or married to a householder and out of the 13 million only 6 million women qualified to use this right. This was the only reward given as a right for the war work by the government. Women were also allowed to stand in the parliament, till the year 1923 there was 8 women members of the parliament.
After the war men came back home and got a warm welcome from everyone because they were back as heroes from the war and were therefore highly respected. So now the government gave their jobs back to them. Women then started to get some rights because of the part they played in the war. In the year 1919 the civil service allowed women to carry on their professions after marrying and did not have to quit if they did not want to. In the year 1923 women got the right to divorce her husband if he caused adultery. In the years 1923-1925 property acts allowed women to keep their property if they wanted to and didn’t they have to give it to their husband they could sell it and do what they wish. In 1925 widows and dependant kids got money and help from the government. In 1928 women were allowed to vote at the age of 21 years.
These methods harmed their campaign in some ways, because they caused a lot of problems and inconvenience for the Government when they had other important issues they needed to concentrate on. One catastrophic campaigning event for the Suffragettes was when Emily Davison died at the Derby horse race whilst carrying a banner. This along with some of the other methods showed how passionate women were for the vote and that they were prepared to die for it. The public saw the horrendous pictures of Suffragettes being force fed in prison and this made a lot of them believe that women should have the vote and it was unfair to withhold their right to have their voice heard. These sorts of methods also kept the issue in the public eye, as the Government had to do something about it and could not ignore it, otherwise a lot more damage would be caused to the country.
Women’s actions during the war were the most important reason in bringing about the change in attitude towards women and their right to vote in 1918. The work they did when they replaced the men’s jobs was of equal standard, so they proved themselves to be as capable as men and as skilled. Therefore the attitude was that women could be trusted with the vote and were just as skilled to be able to vote in general elections and work at the same level as men. The Government could not ignore the work women did on the home front because if not for the women’s the country would have suffered tremendously, and they deserved to have the right to vote and many other rights. It showed they were just as important as men in society. Women would have probably gained the vote eventually but it would have taken longer so therefore the war acted as a catalyst for the women’s. This was the main reason for the attitude change towards women and their right to vote in 1918, but there were other long-term reasons that gradually brought about this change before 1914. There had been improvements to women’s status and role in society, and they were beginning to not be looked on as something more than second-class citizens. There were improvements in the 19th century to women’s career opportunities, education and matrimonial rights. Also, the work of the Suffragists and Suffragettes kept the issue in the public eye and raised awareness. This helped women to get the rights sooner. After looking at all this you can see how equal to men women have become after the war. There were some rights given which no longer made as much difference between the men and women Mainly this was a reward for all the work and capability women’s had shown during war. So women had achieved their goal of working hard during war and showing that they are no less than men and as a form of reward they received many rights after the war.
By Naumaan Amjed