Do we think that English women have a right? If I have to express my own opinion, the disregard of their rights throughout history shows me how much the value of the English woman in society has fallen. If we look at the role of British women in society in the 20th century and discuss their rights, they are almost non-existent.
Most men in Parliament argued that women could not sit in Parliament and did not have the right to vote, but this attitude and behaviour caused many women to riot, and in 1903 the Women’s Social and Political Union, also known as suffragettes, was formed by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia. Again, the support of some party members and the struggle of the Suffragettes did not change anything. women still had few rights and no political rights.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the role of women was no different from a machine because if a woman is married, she is responsible for taking care of her children, housework, and looking after her husband, but the man is the one who has the opportunity to work and does his job more comfortably than the woman and also has the right to choose and be elected and if a woman is single and still not married.
They were branded as stuck at home and they were brought up as if their only purpose in life was marriage and finding a husband in those days was a treasure trove for a young girl. There were very few people who could stand on their own feet and manage their lives with their own unique decisions. For example, we can understand this much better by looking at an employment table of those periods.
In this table, 1,740,800 women were involved in domestic services, while 124,000 women were teachers, 68,000 women nurses, 212 women doctors, and 2 women were architects. As can be clearly seen from these data, the biggest factor in determining women’s own path was society and social impositions. It was almost impossible for women to rise in a field. Although he received a successful education, there were obstacles in front of him. but it wasn’t just something that happened in the 20th century. For centuries in British society, women continued to occupy the lower strata of society and were not equal to men.
Queen Victoria “Let there be women, as God wills, a companion of help for the man, but with completely different duties and professions.” After she said that, it almost became a rule, and women’s rights were ignored for years. The struggle of the suffragettes, the labour party, and the liberal party, who did not remain silent about this situation of women, was unfortunately insufficient.
Most of the writers and poets of the period were not satisfied with this situation. William Rooney said “a fearless indomitable womanhood, a fearless indomitable race.” When he called, the women almost went into revolt, sometimes they stormed the meetings, sometimes they resorted to violence, sometimes they were fired, but they could not have political rights.
By the 1900s, it was decided that women could not be forced to live with a man they did not want. But this was not a very important right for the women of that period because the wives who were financially dependent on their husbands had to continue their unhappy marriages. Divorced women were ostracized in society.
Because there was a family order and strict rules from the Victorian era, a woman’s right to survive, basic rights such as food and shelter depended on her husband. Some men in power tried to bring the family value to the forefront by arguing that a woman’s place should be with her husband, but the main thing was that women could live in that society freely and equally.
By the middle of the 20th century, these uprisings were starting to work somewhat. Housewives produced with sewing machines instead of just sitting at home, women became more open-minded and knowledgeable as the literacy rate increased in the middle classes, middle class women were provided with job opportunities with the invention of the typewriter and telephone, abortion was used as a birth control method because the birth control pill It was forbidden to move, but the number of women who resorted to illegal means to avoid unemployment and poverty was high. Four years later, suffrage was granted, but the female movement in England has abandoned the violent tactics that made suffragettes renowned. Since the commencement of the suffrage campaign in 1907, women’s political engagement in Wales has gradually risen.
By 2003, women had been elected to half of the seats in the National Assembly. Prime Minister David Lloyd George said: “It would have been utterly impossible for us to wage a successful war without the talent, enthusiasm, and industry that the women of this country have thrown into the war.” he took a positive approach to feminist mobilization and gave a high value to women.
As in the first world war, the role of women in the second world war was quite large. The war was fought entirely with the support of the people. conscripted workers and housewives were largely supportive. Thanks to the Women’s Land Army, the farm workforce was expanded by a fifth and ammunition was mass-produced. I would like to emphasize here that everything a woman touches becomes beautiful and we can see its power in every field.
Despite these successes, the attitude towards women changed again after the second world war. The perception that the most sacred duty of women is a happy marriage has come to the fore again. High-profile events occurred, such as D. H. Lawrence’s publication of Lady Chatterley’s Lover in 1960, Mary Quant’s development of the miniskirt, and the 1967 legalization of homosexuality, and an increase in divorce and abortion. We can understand the stability of the British woman from here. “I am not a bird and no net can trap me: I am a free individual of my own will!” by Charlotte Bronte in Jane Eyre. Her words remind me that a human will is not so easily governed. Even though the 20th century English woman seemed like a prisoner, she tried for her rights as much as she could.
Uzayla – Culture Universe
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Congratulations, great post.