Tag Archives: feminism
Bathsua Makin, c 1608-1675
By Claire Jones Scholar, writer, educator and early feminist Overview Bathsua Makin was one of a group of women, including Christine de Pizan, Margaret Cavendish and Mary Astell, who can be described as ‘early feminists’ (although the term ‘feminist’ only
Christine de Pizan and the ‘Querelle des femmes’
By Claire Jones Christine de Pizan’s choices and achievements were highly unusual for a woman in the male dominated culture of the Middle Ages. At a time when unflattering opinions about women were widely spread by writers, the church and
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)
by Claire Jones Writer, feminist and radical; author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) Overview Mary Wollstonecraft was a passionate Enlightenment thinker who is generally celebrated as the first major feminist. Her most significant text, A Vindication
A brief history of feminism
By Claire Jones Many people think of feminism as beginning with the women’s movement of the 1970s, but feminism was around even before bras had been invented - let alone burned. Women scholars were arguing for a fairer deal for
Davies and Davison
Is commemoration a matter of deeds versus words? The famous tragic incident when suffragette Emily Davison fatally threw herself in front of the King’s horse at the Epsom Derby, 1913, remains engraved on the public’s memory. Indeed, many of you
Suffragists and Suffragettes
An overview of the Votes for Women campaign By Claire Jones Introduction Before the 1832 Reform Act most men and all women did not have the vote. This act created a wider franchise but used the term ‘male person’, specifically
Women’s History Walk around Radical Manchester
By Michael Herbert. Manchester was the world’s first great industrial city—‘Cottonopolis’—its privilege and poverty both dazzled and appalled by turn. It played a significant role in the formation of radical movements that challenged the status quo including trade unionism, co-operation,
Women and Madness
By Claire Jones. The association of madness with 19C femininity has generated much research by historians of women’s history. Although this association can be traced back to medieval times, to woman mystics such as Julian of Norwich for example, it
Sylvia Pankhurst: Activist with Attitude - part 2
(…continued from part 1) After the passing of the 1913 Prisoners’ Temporary Discharge Act for Ill Health (known as the ‘Cat and Mouse’ Act) Sylvia was more than once released for short periods, only to be rearrested once sufficiently recovered.
Sylvia Pankhurst: Activist with Attitude
As a little girl growing up in Woodford Green, on the fringe of Epping Forest, just before World War Two, I was warned by my very conventional Conservative parents to walk on the other side of the road when I
