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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
It was really interesting to read a first-person account of the movement, and the arguments and (sometimes flawed) methods used. Pankhurst was a fascinating woman.
I don't usually review the books I read on here, but this one will be an exception. This is such an important book. If it were up to me, everyone would be made to read this. It recounts the story of the Suffragette movement in the UK, from its peaceful beginnings in the mid 1800's, to the dawn of violence and hate towards women who only believed in political, industrial and social equality between themselves and the men who believed themselves superior in every way.
I originally picked this up because I had seen the film 'Suffragette', which I would recommend to anyone and everyone. I came out of the cinema that day feeling empowered, yet rather shocked at the methods used against these women who fought so hard so that I, and millions of other girls and women, could lead the lives we lead today. In finishing this book, I was left angry, shocked and sad. Angry because, up until very recently, I had been deprived of this story that should, in my opinion, be taught, in detail, in schools throughout Great Britain. Shocked because people I'd been taught my whole life were some of the best and bravest politicians Britain had ever seen turned out to be some of the most ignorant people I've ever read about. And sad because today, more than a hundred years on, we are still fighting for equality.
Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst was one of the leading members of the Suffragette movement in the early 1900's. She writes about her own experiences leading up to the beginning of the First World War, from the first suffragist meeting she attended at the age of fourteen, to the many times she was landed in prison and the brutality of police officials towards herself and the other women involved.
The first thing that really grabbed my attention when reading this book was Pankhurst's experience as Registrar for Births and Deaths in Manchester. She talks of girls no older than thirteen coming to register their babies, babies who'd been fathered by the girls own father or another close male relative. She then goes on to describe the trial and sentencing of a young girl who'd exposed her baby and the baby died. The girl was sentenced to death, a sentence that was later commuted, but the girl still had to go through the horror of a trial, whilst the real murderer went unpunished.
Later on, Pankhurst writes about the first acts of militancy adopted by the Suffragettes, most of which included peaceful protests and speeches made in public places by various leaders of the movement. No acts of violence were made at this stage, yet the women involved were met by the brute force of police, who had no hesitation in beating these women to the ground. Women who had simply been marching through the street or listening to a speech or waiting for news from the House of Commons. This all led to a more violent stage of militancy: the destruction of property. Women were inevitably arrested, though not as political prisoners, but as common criminals. Women demanded that if they were to be jailed, it would be as political prisoners or they would hunger strike. And thus the brutal forcible feeding came about. This horrible experience is told in detail by Mrs Pankhurst, who endured it many times during her many imprisonments. And then we come to the sacrifice of Miss Emily Wilding Davison, who threw herself in front of the King's horse at the Derby and died a painfully horrific death.
Perhaps the saddest thing I read was this passage: 'Other histories of militant movement will undoubtedly be written; in times to come when in all constitutional countries of the world, women's votes will be as universally accepted as men's votes are now; when men and women occupy the world of industry on equal terms, as co-workers rather than as cut-throat competitors; when, in a word, all the dreadful and criminal discriminations which exist now between the sexes are abolished, as they must one day be abolished... I should like to read such a history...'. I find it sad because that history cannot be written, and I fear that even in my lifetime it will not be written.
So I urge you to read this book. Please. Go read it.
I originally picked this up because I had seen the film 'Suffragette', which I would recommend to anyone and everyone. I came out of the cinema that day feeling empowered, yet rather shocked at the methods used against these women who fought so hard so that I, and millions of other girls and women, could lead the lives we lead today. In finishing this book, I was left angry, shocked and sad. Angry because, up until very recently, I had been deprived of this story that should, in my opinion, be taught, in detail, in schools throughout Great Britain. Shocked because people I'd been taught my whole life were some of the best and bravest politicians Britain had ever seen turned out to be some of the most ignorant people I've ever read about. And sad because today, more than a hundred years on, we are still fighting for equality.
Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst was one of the leading members of the Suffragette movement in the early 1900's. She writes about her own experiences leading up to the beginning of the First World War, from the first suffragist meeting she attended at the age of fourteen, to the many times she was landed in prison and the brutality of police officials towards herself and the other women involved.
The first thing that really grabbed my attention when reading this book was Pankhurst's experience as Registrar for Births and Deaths in Manchester. She talks of girls no older than thirteen coming to register their babies, babies who'd been fathered by the girls own father or another close male relative. She then goes on to describe the trial and sentencing of a young girl who'd exposed her baby and the baby died. The girl was sentenced to death, a sentence that was later commuted, but the girl still had to go through the horror of a trial, whilst the real murderer went unpunished.
Later on, Pankhurst writes about the first acts of militancy adopted by the Suffragettes, most of which included peaceful protests and speeches made in public places by various leaders of the movement. No acts of violence were made at this stage, yet the women involved were met by the brute force of police, who had no hesitation in beating these women to the ground. Women who had simply been marching through the street or listening to a speech or waiting for news from the House of Commons. This all led to a more violent stage of militancy: the destruction of property. Women were inevitably arrested, though not as political prisoners, but as common criminals. Women demanded that if they were to be jailed, it would be as political prisoners or they would hunger strike. And thus the brutal forcible feeding came about. This horrible experience is told in detail by Mrs Pankhurst, who endured it many times during her many imprisonments. And then we come to the sacrifice of Miss Emily Wilding Davison, who threw herself in front of the King's horse at the Derby and died a painfully horrific death.
Perhaps the saddest thing I read was this passage: 'Other histories of militant movement will undoubtedly be written; in times to come when in all constitutional countries of the world, women's votes will be as universally accepted as men's votes are now; when men and women occupy the world of industry on equal terms, as co-workers rather than as cut-throat competitors; when, in a word, all the dreadful and criminal discriminations which exist now between the sexes are abolished, as they must one day be abolished... I should like to read such a history...'. I find it sad because that history cannot be written, and I fear that even in my lifetime it will not be written.
So I urge you to read this book. Please. Go read it.
emotional
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medium-paced
emotional
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With Suffragette now showing at cinemas, there’s bound to be renewed interest in the life of Emmeline Pankhurst and the suffragette movement. I found Pankhurst’s autobiography very accessible and a truly fascinating read, especially as I was reading it not long after the general election. Even if you’re feeling disillusioned about politics at the moment, it’s almost impossible not to read this and be grateful for how far we’ve come in the past 100 years.
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