Emily davison
- 1. Being a Suffragette: Emily Davison – A Case Study Before we begin what can you tell about Emily just by looking at her in this photograph?
- 2. The Suffragette Derby, 1913. Emily Wilding Davison (1872-1913) is one of the most famous of the Suffragettes. It was Emily Wilding Davison who threw herself under the king’s horse at the Derby of 1913 thus making her mark in history. Click on the window and watch the moment. You will need to look carefully a few times to see all of the tragic event.
- 3. Work through the following slides to see how the feminist struggle for Suffrage got to this point. Questions are posed in yellow throughout. Take the time to consider them before you move on from each slide. Suffragettes will be the focus of this study as some of their number gave their lives for their cause. Some give the lions share of the success of this early feminist era to them because it forced the government to act
- 4. Deeds not Words The founder of the Suffragettes was Emmeline Pankhurst. She was an engaging speaker and promoted militant action (Deeds) to achieve Universal Suffrage.
- 5. What deeds? The deeds Suffragettes carried out included: Smashing shop front windows and windows at parliament house Violent protests Attempted Suicide As a consequence many Suffragists were arrested.
- 6. Life in Gaol Mrs Pankhurst herself was arrested (pictured right) but the experience only hardened her resolve. Suffragettes even found ways to continue their struggle in prison What could they do?
- 7. What do you think is happening in this picture? Suffragettes would go on hunger strikes while in prison. What would be the benefits of this? It was a lose/lose situation for the government. If the women died in prison they would look like monsters but if they released them they would look very weak. One solution was to force feed the hunger strikers (pictured right)
- 8. Resolve increased Being force fed was not pleasant. Pankhurst recalled that while in prison she: was horrified by the screams of women being force-fed during hunger strikes. In her autobiography she wrote: "I shall never while I live forget the suffering I experienced during the days when those cries were ringing in my ears.“ Hinton., What is Evidence. Given that force feeding was cruel to say the least and that NOT arresting suffragettes was also not an option... What might the government do. And no, giving women the right to vote did not cross their mind – yet.
- 9. The Cat and the Mouse The Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act or the "Cat and Mouse Act” was passed in 1913. It made legal the hunger strikes that Suffragettes were undertaking at the time and stated that they would be released from prison as soon as they became ill with the intention of re-arresting them later. The ineffectiveness of the act was very soon evident Authorities experienced much more difficulty than anticipated in re-arresting the released hunger-strikers, many of whom eluded the police with the help of a network of suffragette sympathisers. The inability of the government to lay its hands on high-profile suffragettes transformed what had been intended as a discreet device to control suffragette hunger-strikers into a public scandal.
- 10. What is this political poster suggesting about the Act in question? The Act's nickname of Cat and Mouse Act , referring to the way the government seemed to play with prisoners as a cat may with a captured mouse, underlined how the cruelty of repeated releases and re-imprisonments turned the suffragettes from targets of scorn to objects of sympathy.
- 11. A Well Educated Lady It was this political climate into which Emily Davison Entered As a young lady she had defied the odds a male-dominated society imposed on women, by graduating with a BA at London University and after this she gained a first class honours degree at Oxford University.
- 12. . Emily Davison became a natural follower of the Suffragettes and joined in 1906. She took part in attacks on property. She became a leading member of the Suffragettes and was imprisoned and force-fed. On one occasion she barricaded herself in a prison cell to escape force-feeding. Her cell was flooded with ice cold water which drenched her while workmen broke down the cell door.* Such treatment only made her even more determined.
- 13. On another occasion while in prison, she threw herself off of a prison upper gallery floor. She was badly injured but realised that a Suffragette dying in prison would look bad for the authorities. This was the exact type of event the Cat and Mouse Act was designed to prevent.
- 14. Prison Record March 30th 1909 One month in prison for obstruction July 30th 1909 Two months in prison for obstruction, released after five and a half days hunger strike. September 4th 1909 Two months for stone throwing at White City, Manchester, released after two and a half days hunger strike. October 20th 1909 One month for stone throwing at Radcliffe near Manchester. Hunger strike, forcibly fed, hose-pipe incident at Strangeways prison and released at end of eight days.
- 15. November 19th 1910 One month for breaking windows in the House of Commons January 10th 1912 Six months for setting fire to postal boxes at Holloway, London. Released 10 days before sentence finished on account of injuries sustained in protest made against forcible feeding. November 30th 1912 Ten days for assaulting a vicar who she mistook to be David Lloyd George (the PM!)
- 16. Derby Day, 4 th June, 1913. The horse Anmer struck Emily with his chest, and she was knocked over screaming. Blood rushed from her nose and mouth. The king's horse turned a complete somersault, and the jockey, Herbert Jones, was knocked off and seriously injured. An immense crowd at once invaded the course. The woman was picked up and placed in a motor car and taken in an ambulance to Epsom Cottage Hospital where she died from her injuries.
- 17. Some contemporary reflections What do these suggest about reactions of Suffragette and mainstream publications to the events at the Derby? Cartoon in Daily Mail, 1914 The Suffragette, Friday June 12, 1913.
- 18. Did she mean to kill herself? In 1988 the possessions Emily had on her that day were discovered in the belongings of one of her close friends. They included: Half a return train ticket dated 4 th June, 1913. Unused. A marked and paid for race card including races following her death A pass for a Suffragette rally to be held up to 10 days later What does the evidence infer or suggest?
- 19. The Consequences of the early Feminist movement The struggle did not end with Emily’s death but it turned a corner. Delayed by WWI success was achieved on February 6 th 1918 when The Representation of the People Act was decreed : All women over 30 who were married to property owners or who owned property themselves were allowed to vote in parliamentary elections. 8 million people received Universal Suffrage This early feminist movement achieved what they set out to do. In coming years even more women would be granted the right to vote when Universal suffrage for all adults over 21 years of age was granted in 1928.
- 20. Success or Failure? Women like Emmeline Pankhurst saw an injustice, articulated a view and fought for it. Feminist warriors like Emily Davison gave their lives, intentionally or not, for that cause. This movement would become known as the First wave of Feminism Second Wave Feminism or the Women’s Liberation Movement developed in the 1960 and is best articulated by the likes of Australia’s Germaine Greer. This movement rejected politics as a solution but sought to understand the social constructs that oppressed them. Some Second Wave Feminists regard the First Wave as failing to deliver real change in the long term. What is your response to that charge? Look at the statistics from the Gender Equity Initiative on the next few slides and answer that question again.
- 21. Women represent 50.3% of the Australian population 1 Australia is one of a group of countries ranked #1 for women’s educational attainment 2 Women comprise 33% of the total membership of Australian Government boards and bodies 3 Gender Equity in Australia – What Problem? . Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Demographic Statistics, March 2008 , Catalogue No. 3101.0, ABS, Canberra, World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2007. Office for Women, Government Boards Report 2008 , Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Canberra, 2008.
- 22. Women in Parliament of elected positions in the Australian Commonwealth Parliament are held by women 35.5% of Australian Senators are women 29.6% 26.7% of the Members of the House of Representatives are women Politics and Public Administration Group Parliamentary Library, Composition of Australian Parliaments by Party and Gender, as at 25 May 2009, available at www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/pol/currentwomen.pdf
- 23. The Commonwealth Public Service Women are: 57.6% of Commonwealth Public Service employees and outnumber men in all junior classifications 45% of employees at Executive Level 37% of the Senior Executives State of the Service 2007/08, Australian Public Service Commission
- 24. Some outstanding individual achievements Australia has a woman: Governor-General Prime Minister Premier of Queensland Premier of New South Wales CEO of a Major Bank 3 out of seven High Court Justices are women 4 women in Federal Cabinet (pre 2010 election) Address to Victorian Premier’s Women’s Summit, Anne Summers AO, September, 2009
- 25. However On virtually every objective measure, women in Australia are behind and going backwards Address to Victorian Premier’s Women’s Summit, Anne Summers AO, September, 2009
- 26. The Global Gender Gap Index Australia’s ranking declining year on year Source: World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2008. http://www.weforum.org/pdf/gendergap/rankings2008.pdf
- 27. Where to From here... Areas which are open to investigation in order to understand the social constructs that shape the lives of women include sacred texts of various religions. Consider the picture from the previous PPT again. Does the sentiment of this image match the written word of say Genesis? See you next lesson.
Editor's Notes
- #2: Academic gown indicates she had a tertiary education. This would make her an exception rather than the rule. We’ll see here that a group was lead by a charismatic leader on a cause for equality for which martyrs died. Towards the end we see the contrast between feminism then and now
- #3: She is almost impossible to see. She appears like a shadow. Watch it... See where the horse falls and watch it again focussing on that spot.
- #4: Remember that Suffragettes was basically a one issue group. They wanted universal suffrage – the right to vote in all elections.
- #5: Note that her audience is mainly men. As they controlled power they were the ones she was going to have to convince.
- #6: Being arrested helped their cause in a way. It made authorities look oppressive by treating women that way.
- #7: Most forms of protest were based on the idea of non-co-operation.
- #8: The gaoler always looks like the ogre when prisoners die on their watch.
- #9: Sometimes people only get their backs up when they or their associates are punished.
- #11: The cat represents the government policy and the women is the innocent victim – the mouse. She is wearing a red, white and green sash – the colours of the Suffragette movement. The policy is cruel is the message here and voters – male voters – should toss the government which implemented it out.
- #13: * This incident is known as the hosepipe incident.
- #14: This goes back to how being arrested could be a good thing. The Suffragettes then used their treatment as another form of protest.
- #18: The “Suffragette” portrayed Emily as a martyr for their cause – see all the religious imagery. The “Daily Mail” is also sympathetic to the cause. Even though it is a skeleton it looks more sad than evil. Note the clothes. The movement is winning over wider society.
- #19: Why would you buy a return ticket if you were intending to die at the destination?
- #20: The bill for universal suffrage would have been passed earlier had WWI not diverted attention elsewhere. Plus women were used to work in factories thus giving them occupations and income they had never had before. There were pleased with the situation. After WWI they had to give up those jobs for the returning men thus voting rights were important again.
- #21: Some might find the opinion that Suffragettes were failures offensive. There are two ways to look at them. 1) they got what they wanted, they had suffered greatly and some had died in the pursuit of that cause. They were exhausted and did not what to keep fighting. It was for others to take up now OR 2) they got the vote. A great example of practical feminism but they did not do anything with that right. All the direct form of oppression continued – see the next few slides. Greer and the like argue that there are social constructs – social norms, rules, conventions, NOT LAWS – which oppress women more than something like the right to vote. For example even after getting universal suffrage it took years for women to get elected and still today they are under represented. This is a result of those social constructs that do not value or respect women.
- #28: Sacred texts and the institutions that are heavily influenced by them are one of those social constructs while contribute to the oppression of women. Second wave feminists would argue that the interpretation of sacred texts and the way those interpretations were applied to society were the root cause of the problems facing women then and not. Not the right to universal suffrage. They would not say the interpretation of sacred texts was the ONLY problem though. Think of it this way in most of the world no one has the right to vote so what difference would it make in those societies? BUT how do you legislate change – force people to change – without the right to vote. Are any gender issues raised here or in genesis? An interesting question. Aside from bearing children and breastfeeding is there anything else that could be regarded as a role ascribed to only one gender?