2018 marks the 100 year anniversary of women gaining the vote in the UK, while women in the US have had the vote since 1920. However, there is so much more to gender equality than merely gaining equal voting rights, and in the past century or so women have used three main methods within the four waves of feminism -violence, peaceful activism, and legal legislation. The success of these methods is highlighted by the massive advances in legal and social rights, but underlying issues remain, which have yet to be tackled. Thus, this suggests that women in the UK and the US have certainly been successful to an extent in gaining more equality, but due to the distinct misogyny that prevails in today’s society, the methods used by women have not been fully successful.
Violence was a method used mostly by the suffragette movement in the UK. In the US, there was less of a need for violence as a method, as they were able to achieve the vote primarily through the peaceful suffragist movement, but in 20th century Britain, peaceful activism had not been sufficient. This lead to the emergence of a breakaway group, the Women’s Social and Political Union, formed by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903, which promised to take a more active approach. In many ways, these violent methods were successful, largely due to the increased publicity that it resulted in, because by making headlines these women were raising awareness for their cause. Therefore, support increased as more people who were interested became involved in this group, while those opposed to equal rights realised that they were a real threat, and became increasingly pressured to respond to their actions. An extremely significant example of an act that gained mass publicity was the tragic death of Emily Davidson, after she ran out in front of the King’s horse in 1913, with two flags in the colours of the WSPU-green, purple and white. While her aims are slightly ambiguous, with historians suggesting that she was attempting to attach the flags to the horse, but the impact of her actions was a massive turning point in the suffragette’s fight for equal rights. Her death was not only broadcasted in British newspapers, but also on Pathe news, meaning that it was reported across the globe, and the fact that she literally died for her cause is a hugely significant example of the success of violent methods used to gain publicity and awareness for their movement. Other examples include the changing of themselves to the railings of Buckingham palace; the destruction of valuable works of art, most famously Richardson’s attack on the ‘Rockeby Venus’ on the 10th March 1914; the attempted blowing up of Lloyd George’s house, resulting in about £500 worth of damage; and countless other acts. All of these forced Parliament to pay attention to the movement, and greatly increased the media coverage of the suffragettes, thus suggesting that violence was a fairly successful method used by women to gain more equal rights. However, not all acts were this extreme-some were small, such as damaging public property by throwing rocks, or setting fire to post boxes, but they were all significant and followed the motto of ‘deeds not words’. These acts, while minimal, all proved that women were not willing to passively wait for the vote to be given to them, and they therefore contributed greatly to increase pressure for change, particularly because so many women were willing to involve themselves in minimal acts, hence resulting in a huge amount of involvement-while exact figures are unknown, it is estimated that there were around 2000-5000 members of the WSPU. Therefore, it was not only the severe violent methods that were successful, but also the less publicised, more minor instances of violence, as these also contributed to the improvement in women’s rights. A further hugely significant aspect of the violent methods used by the suffragettes was the brutal force feeding that occurred in jail, and the violent response from the government. Thousands of women were sent to prison for their attempts to gain rights, and in protest many undertook hunger strikes in prison. This resulted in extremely harsh, painful force feeding, which often left women extremely weak and damaged. Instead of conceding, and putting an end to such a cruel practise once they realised how much damage was being caused, the government passed the Cat and Mouse Act in 1913. This meant that there was a temporary discharge for prisoners who were so weakened by hunger striking and force feeding that they had a high chance of death. The result of this act, and the many instances of hunger striking and force feeding that continued was an increase in sympathy and support from the public. This was also particularly prevalent after ‘Black Friday’, which occurred on the 18th November 1910, when around 300 suffragettes protested against the refusal of the government to take the Conciliation Bill further. They convened on the House of Commons, and faced physical assault, with two women actually dying from the severity of their injuries. Not only did this increase publicity for the suffragettes, with a photograph of Ada Wright collapsed on the ground being published in the Daily Mail, but it also proved to the people how unfair the government were being, and the great public disapproval forced them to release all of the people they had arrested during the protest. Therefore, the response of the government to the violent methods undertaken by the suffragettes was also an important reason for the success of violence as a method, and thus suggests that the method of violence was largely successful, as it resulted in increased publicity, support, and sympathy for the movement.
However, violence was not fully successful as a method to gain equal rights. Some argue that there is a possibility that violence could have delayed votes for women, as the petty acts such as destroying art works, throwing rocks, and exploding mini bombs appeared to depict women as irresponsible and irrational. Particularly at the time, there was plenty of anti-suffragette propaganda, which was largely exacerbated by the violent methods used at the time, as they were depicted as being unnecessarily aggressive, and were mocked for their cause. In fact, some argued that the violence actually proved that women could not be trusted with the vote, as it displayed them as unstable and hysterical, while others claimed that the violence was dangerous and unnecessary. While they aimed to damage property rather than people, there was still every chance that someone could unexpectedly be harmed, and this argument gains traction when one considers that the US suffragist movement was successful without having to resort to violence. Although women in the US gained the vote two years later than British women, they did do so in a much more passive way, and gained the right for all American women to vote. Conversely, the ‘Representation of the People Act’ only allowed women over the age of 30 who met a property qualification dependent on their husbands to vote, with women only gaining equal voting rights to men in 1928, under the ‘Equal Franchise Act’. Therefore, there is a strong argument that the peaceful methods undertaken by the suffragists in America could potentially have been sufficient in the UK, too, particularly because women actually gained equal voting rights in this way, whereas in Britain only some women were granted the vote due to the violence pursued by members of the WSPU. Furthermore, these violent methods only affected first wave feminism, as the other waves only emerged from the 1960s onwards. First wave feminism was solely focused on the legal rights of women, and particularly their fight for the vote, and in this area women were clearly successful in their pursuit involving violence. However, violence was not used in the second, third or fourth wave of feminism, suggesting that violence is not a fully successful or necessary method. Second wave feminism concerned issues beyond enfranchisement, such as social, sexual and reproductive liberation; the third wave concerned individualism and diversity, and aimed to redefine feminism, focusing largely on the right of women to choose; and the fourth wave is largely influenced by social media, involving a variety of issues including granting justice to women, opposition to violence and harassment against women, and many other issues. Therefore, violence was fairly successful in the UK within the first wave of feminism, but it was not used in the other three waves, or in the first wave in America, suggesting that it was not as successful or necessary as some of the other methods used by women to gain rights.
Increasing legal legislation is a pivotal part of the fight for gender equality, which was crucial for the suffragettes and suffragists, and continues to be a prevalent issue today. For women 100 years ago, in the UK and in the US, gaining the vote was the primary aim, and achieving it in 1918 and 1920 respectively was momentous in the fight for women’s rights. Doing so meant that legally, women were regarded as equal citizens to men, and it also paved the way for further rights for women, including UK acts such as the ‘Sex Discrimination Removal Act’ of 1920, granting women access to legal professions and accountancy; the ‘Abortion Act’ of 1967, which decriminalised abortion on certain grounds; the ‘Equal Pay Act of 1970, making it illegal to pay someone doing the same job less on the grounds of gender, and a plethora of other reforms. In the US, the ‘Civil Rights Act’ of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on many factors, including gender; the ‘Equal Pay Act’ of 1963 requires employers pay all employees equally for equal work, regardless of gender; the ‘Pregnancy Discrimination Act’ prohibits employment discrimination against pregnant female workers, while other significant reforms have also been passed over the last century. Therefore, the passing of these reforms all suggest that the pressure given by women to increase legal legislation has been largely successful, as this method has resulted in a massive increase in legal rights for women in the UK and the US, as in many ways both males and females are equal citizens as a result. Furthermore, there have been more recent attempts to improve legal legislation, largely concerning second and fourth wave feminism. These notably include the public court cases against prominent figures such as Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and Casey Affleck. All three of these men have been accused of rape and sexual assault, and the claims against them have been broadcasted globally on social media, as well as in the news. Here, the attempts to gain legal justice for both women and men to gain equal rights have been largely successful, as the awareness for the awful acts that have been committed by these men has been raised and questioned. Furthermore, in many of these instances the offenders have been prosecuted, and some, such as the radio DJ Ray Teret were jailed for their rapes and assaults. Therefore, these recent methods have also been successful to an extent, as these figures have been isolated as a result of their acts, and they have faced legal trials and court cases in order to gain justice for their victims. Thus, legal legislation as a method has been largely successful as a method for women to gain rights in the UK and the US in the past century.
However, legal legislation cannot be said to have been fully successful as a method to gain gender equality. A critical problem that still exists is the pay gap. While equal pay acts have been passed in both the UK and the US, the fact remains that in the UK, 7795 out of 10,016 companies, men are paid more than women based on the median hourly pay. The trend in most companies is that the top earning positions are given to men, and the gap widens from the age of 40 onwards. While other factors, such as women leaving the workforce during and after pregnancy, as well as men having a greater tendency to ask for pay rises, can be considered, it is undeniable that there is a pay gap, and that this therefore does not reflect equal pay being granted for equal work. In the US, the average woman earns roughly 79.6 to 82 cents for every dollar a man makes, and therefore it is not just in the UK that the attempt to gain equality through legal legislation has failed, as despite laws being passed, they are not being followed. Additionally, in the US, women still do not technically have equal rights even under law-since 1923, women have been attempting to pass the ‘Equal Rights Amendment’, which states that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex’. While 96% of Americans thought this had already been passed, in reality it has not, meaning that there is no insurance that there will be a fair consideration in court cases concerning the wage gap, domestic violence, rape, forced prostitution, and sexual slavery. Furthermore, only 20 US states have banned discrimination in the workplace on gender grounds, suggesting that there is still plenty of progress that needs to be made in terms of legal legislation for gender equality, and that so far, it has not been entirely successful as a method, despite some hugely significant acts being passed. Additionally, the modern day attack on sexual abusers like Casey Affleck, Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey have been largely disappointing, with none of these men facing any jail time at this point. Shockingly, Casey Affleck even received an Oscar for ‘best actor’ despite the rape claims being made about him months before, suggesting that he has not really been punished for his horrific crimes, and was still applauded and praised despite his actions. Therefore, there are still huge advances that need to be made to grant justice for victims of sexual assault, and as most cases of sexual assault and rape are against women, this will be a pivotal part of the journey to gain equal rights. Therefore, so far legal legislation has not been fully successful, as there are still legal issues that exist in the modern day society that have yet to be resolved.
A prominent method used within all four waves of feminism is peaceful activism. This has been largely successful in the past, particularly in the American suffragist movement, and continues to be used today to attempt to gain equality. The fight for the vote began with the suffragist movement in the UK, and involved methods such as peaceful protests, public meetings, petitioning, lobbying and picketing. The American suffragists took inspiration from this movement, and followed very similar tactics, although they also used methods such as parades, pageants, street speaking and demonstrations. The role of pickets was particularly significant, because their willingness to be arrested and their campaign for recognition as political prisoners rather than criminals, as well as their acts of civil disobedience in jail increased the attention and support of their cause, and therefore contributed greatly to the obtainment of the vote in the US in 1920. The other methods mentioned were also largely successful, as they did increase publicity and awareness for the movement, in a way that made the suffragists appear reasonable and rational, thus causing an increase in support. Another hugely significant area of peaceful protest was during WW1, when the suffragettes suspended their protests in order to preserve national unity, which proved that they weren’t as irrational as had previously been believed, and therefore won them support. The role of women in this war in both the US and the UK was also pivotal, as they took on men’s jobs, and proved that women were just as capable as men, and therefore that they should be given equal rights to them. After the war, there was therefore a great increase in awareness for gender equality, with more working women, the vote being given to women over 30 in the UK, and pressure for further reform. Thus, the suffragist movement, and the peaceful approach of the suffragettes to WW1 were largely successful as methods to increase rights for women, as they did result in far more awareness for gender equality, as well as some action to improve women’s rights. More recent evidence of peaceful protest is evident through campaigns such as #metoo and #timesup. #Metoo focuses specifically on sexual violence, and gained particular traction after the claims against Harvey Weinstein were publicised, and aims to create a community of survivors of sexual abuse in order to ‘[disrupt] all systems that allow sexual violence to flourish’, and for survivors to know that they are not alone. #Timesup, however focuses largely on women of colour, although it shares a similar goal of women’s empowerment. This was started by over 300 prominent women in Hollywood, and is also largely concerned with problems like equal pay. This movement is the most successful campaign in the history of GoFundMe, with $21 million being donated in just two months. Both of these movements have been hugely successful in raising awareness for issues that exist today, and the fact that they have support from people with such expansive fanbases on social media, such as Reese Witherspoon, and Emma Watson, means that the conversation about equality has been taken much further. Today, there is so much more attention given to the underlying issues that exist due to these campaigns, as they encourage further research, and expose the fact that there is not as much quality today as many people believe. Therefore, peaceful methods within fourth wave feminism, such as these two campaigns, have been extremely successful in the fight for gender equality, simply because they have raised awareness so triumphantly. Moreover, in today’s society there are also other instances of peaceful activism which concern the other waves of feminism, as there have recently been many women’s marches in both the US and the UK. Millions of women have protested against the inequality that exists in todays society, and in doing so have made headlines, and are successfully pushing for change. Marches on a similar scale have been successful in the past, such as the protests against the Vietnam War, so there is every prospect of success for these marches, particularly as the extent of the marches necessitate conversation about women’s rights, because it is apparent that many people are still enraged over the inequalities that continue to exist, and that something has to be done in response. Therefore, the marches have been successful as a method to send a message to those in power, and to prove the solidarity and power of those in the march, and the need for change. Therefore, peaceful protest has been largely successful as an attempt to increase women’s rights in a number of ways, particularly due to an increase in publicity and attention for the cause.
However, peaceful protest has not been fully successful. As briefly aforementioned, the suffragist movement in the UK was insufficient, causing the suffragette movement to emerge as a result, because very little progress was being made, as the government largely ignored their attempts. This therefore necessitated a more direct, aggressive approach which would more effectively gain the attention of the government, which the violent methods did achieve more successfully than the UK suffragists. An example of their attempt to gain rights was through their Mud March in February 1907, where they marched from Hyde Park to Exeter Hall in the pouring rain. Around 3000 women were involved in the march, but press coverage in comparison to events like Emily Davidson’s death, and the blowing up of Lloyd George’s house was minimal. Additionally, while the role of women in WW1 was undoubtably significant, it is important to note that the ‘Representation of the People Act’, passed largely due to the war, did not only focus on women, and also only gave women over 30 the vote. Instead, many men also gained the vote as a result of this, suggesting that the war had brought the need for an increase in people’s rights, rather than just women’s rights, as so many men who couldn’t vote either had sacrificed so much in the war, as well. Therefore, it can be suggested that this act was more due to party political necessity, rather than feminism in relation to WW1. Furthermore, in today’s society there are still an abundance of gender inequalities that have yet to be resolved, which suggests that peaceful activism has not been fully successful, as we do not yet have gender equality in our modern day society. In both the UK and the US, there is a plethora of problems-a lack of companies lead by women; the problem of balancing work and family commitments has a disproportionate effect on women, despite the fact that the majority of university graduates in the UK are women; the aforementioned pay gap; sexual abuse in the workplace, as well as others. On top of this, issues like ‘lad culture’, and casual sexism continue to exist, which endorses sexist, racist and homophobic behaviour, and normalises everyday discrimination against women on the grounds of gender. Therefore, despite massive campaigns for change, there are still gender inequalities both inside and outside of the law which have not been eradicated by peaceful activism. However, as a method peaceful activism has definitely been partially successful, as it has greatly reduced inequalities, so while complete gender equality does not currently exist, the situation has been greatly improved, and this is largely due to the success of peaceful activism.
Overall, the methods of violence, increasing legislation, and peaceful activism have certainly been successful as attempts to increase women’s rights, particularly in the US and the UK, as women in today’s society have a far greater role outside of the family unit. They are able to work; have access to contraception and abortions; are largely more respected, and are listened to in prominent areas; have taken on world roles, such as Prime Minister, as well as countless other developments. Therefore, it is undeniable that women are in an incomparably better position than they were a century ago, and in our Western societies the oppression of women has been undoubtably reduced. However, it is impossible to claim that these methods have been fully successful in gaining gender equality in the UK and the US, as there are unfortunately still some inequalities that exist, which include not only the previous problems that I have mentioned, such as the pay gap, but also problems which target men, such as the societal constraints imposed upon them showing emotion. Therefore, there is still progress to be made both legally, such as through the passing of the ‘Equal Rights Ammendment’ in the US, and by companies adhering more closely to the ‘Equal Pay Act’ in both the UK and the US, as well as in society, through stereotypes and casual sexism directed at both males and females, and so the methods have not yet been fully successful in achieving gender equality. The most successful method, however, has been peaceful activism, while legal legislation has been fairly successful, and violence was successful within first wave feminism for the UK suffragettes. In conclusion, the methods used by women to gain gender equality have been successful to an extent, but there are still underlying inequalities which have yet to be resolved.