The movement for womens suffrage

1
The movement for womens suffrage

• 1850-1938

2
The Social and economic position of women in 1850

• The aim of all respectable women was to marry
  an honest man and have children
• Once married the woman literally became the
  goods and chattels of her husband

3
The Social and economic position of women in 1850

• By 1850 stereotypical image of middle class
  family, with the male as the breadwinner/decision
  maker/protector and the wife as the carer and
  provider for the husband and children

4
End of the cottage system changed working class
womens role

• Most working class women would have wished to
  aspire to the middle class ideal of marriage
• prevented in doing so due to poverty and endless
  childbearing
• Many working class men had a brutal attitude
  mainly due to drink and overcrowding
• Women could not escape due to lack of legal
  rights and education

5
Changes to Laws

• Many of the changes brought about in family law
  came from the efforts of middle class feminists
• The issues of divorce, custody of children
  attracted attention

6
Changes in Family Law

• Matrimonial Causes Act (1857) gave mothers
  increased to their children after divorce and
  keep post-divorce earnings
• 1866 claim maintenance up to 2 a week
• Matrimonial Causes Act (1873) a husband could
  sue for divorce on grounds of adultery, a wife
  had to prove cruelty
• Married Womens Property Act (1870) allowed
  married women to keep their own earnings up to
  200 a year
• Married Womens Property Act (1882) husbands
  lost claim to wives property as their own

7
By 1895 women had additional rights

• Right to become the sole guardian of their
  children on death of their husband
• Right to obtain a separation order if husband is
  cruel or in prison

8
Activity

• In what ways did industrialisation bring change
  to the lives of women?
• List the notable women who did not conform to the
  stereotype at the time