Women could not get a good job as they weren’t qualified. In 1840 women were not privileged with education as men were. This means they could not be qualified for a good job. Still in 1863 women were still not allowed any further education. Men must of feared women in being educated, if they were educated they didn’t need the men to go out and get the money, instead they would be earning more money and becoming more independent. Another reason why men wouldn’t want women to have further education was because if women were intellectly equal to men how could men have the higher authority or be more powerful? However the law changed in 1901 and women were finally allowed further education.
In 1840 the law of the custody of children was changed, women legally would have had custody of children if the husband and the wife had a divorce, but if the woman committed adultery the father would have custody over the child. Before this law was passed, men would legally always have custody over the children no matter what the issue was.
Women in 1840 were not entitled to keep the money they worked for! The money went to the men as the men thought they worked a lot harder then women. Men must have been afraid of women keeping their own money for many reasons, one reason is because if they have they own money they can carry themselves and they wouldn’t need men. In 1863 that had all changed and women were allowed to keep their own money. This must have built more motivation because if they could change this law they can change any law, including giving women their say and vote.
Women were not allowed to get a job of their choice even if they were qualified. The reason why I think men didn’t allow them was because there has always been a hierarchy for people’s occupation. If women are at the top of that hierarchy doesn’t that show that they have some power? In 1863 women were still not entitled to their rightful job, until 1901 when the law had changed and women were doing jobs that was higher up in the hierarchy.
There was no real divide between home and work. People did not have to ‘go to work’, there workplace was either at home or nearby, until industrialisation came about. It made people ‘go out to work’, which separated the world of work and somebody’s personal life. Psychiatrist
In 1860 Emily Davis succeeded in persuading Cambridge, Durham and Oxford university to allow women to sit their exams which meant that women could receive higher education if they pleased to. This meant that women could sit examinations to become doctors, lawyers or even a Psychiatrist which were considered not to be very good jobs with high income.
Another law that women had to face was that they weren’t allowed to get divorced, but the husband was allowed. This was another law that had changed over time as in 1863 women were permitted to get a divorce.
In 1897 Millicent Fawcett started and ran a new organisation (NUWSS) the Suffragists. They used peaceful and moderate methods to persuade the Government to give women the vote. Their objective was to expand women’s political rights. The Suffragists used leaflets and petitions to change the opinion of the politicians.
In 1903 a new organisation was formed by Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst. The WSPU (The Suffragettes). Their methods were a lot different to the Suffragists. The Suffragettes used militant methods like harassing ministers, smashing windows and going on hunger strikes.
In 1928 women had finally got justice and gained the thing they have been fighting for such a long time, the right to vote. The women at that time must have felt so honourable as they have changed something so much, they changed everything. If women weren’t allowed to vote Britain wouldn’t of had that one female Priminister (Margaret Thatcher).
The women’s role was to be a typical housewife. To stay at home and look after the house and take care of the children, the men went out to work and ‘brought home the bacon’.
All these factors and points produced a campaign for women’s suffrage to develop in the years after 1870. If women weren’t allowed further education they wouldn’t be qualified for jobs like being a doctor or lawyer. If the suffragists and suffragettes never formed maybe women’s campaign would have never started or maybe women might have never got the choice to vote.
Mohanjit Sekhon
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