La lotta per il suffragio femminile e l'evoluzione del linguaggio inclusivo

Millicent Fawcett e il suffragio

In 1897 Millicent Fawcett founded the National Union Of Women’s Suffrage. The word “suffrage” means the right to vote and that was what women aimed at. Millicent Fawcett was convinced that only peaceful protest could really work. She believed that since women can be part of the society, have to obey Parliament’s laws and pay taxes as men, then they must be trusted to vote and have the same rights as men such as taking part in the process of making laws. She made few progresses, one of them was to convert some members of the future Labour Party but the majority of men in Parliament still thought that women couldn’t understand how Parliament worked.

Il movimento delle Suffragette

In 1903 another movement, the Women’s Social and Political Union, was founded by Emmeline Pankhurst. They wanted women to have the right to vote too but they couldn’t wait anymore and were ready to imply violence in order to achieve their aim, this movement became known soon as the Suffragettes. They started relatively peacefully but in 1905 some of the Suffragettes interrupted a political meeting in Manchester to ask two politicians, Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey, if they believed women should have the right to vote but no one replied. At that time such obtrusive actions were not allowed and tolerated. The two leaders of the movement, Pankhurst and Kenney, were sent away from the meeting and arrested but they refused to pay a fine and preferred going to prison so that they could highlight the injustice of the system. According to Emmeline Pankhurst that act was the first one in England and in any other country to point out the desire of women to vote.

Azioni violente delle Suffragette

The first decade of Britain of twentieth century was really violent and significant actions were undertaken: some churches were burned since the Church of England didn’t agree with them, they vandalized, breaking windows in Oxford Street, they chained themselves to Buckingham Palace because the Royal Family seemed to be against their ideal; others refused to pay taxes.
When Suffragettes go to prison they rejected eating and made up an hunger strike. The government was very concerned that they might die in prison, consequently prison officers were ordered to force feeding those women. The government of Asquith published the Cat and Mouse Act, by means of which if Suffragettes in prison started an hunger strike, when they get weaker and weaker, prison authorities released them from prison so they died out of prison and there was not responsibilities for the government. They were so weak that they could take no part in violent protests but sometimes the most resilient ones were arrested and released and then they were re-arrested and the whole process started again. On the contrary, the Suffragettes became more extreme. In 1913 Emily Wilding Davison threw herself under the King’s horse, in a public street: she died and the movement had its first martyr. All these violent actions could have worse consequences, indeed men discussed about the fact that women should really deserve the right to vote.

La guerra e il suffragio

In 1914 there was the outbreak of World War I; Emmeline Pankhurst instructed the Suffragettes to stop their campaign of violence and support the government and its war effort. Later, in 1918, the Representation of the People Act was passed by Parliament.
Instead, in USA, when the country was officially founded the right of vote was really limited, only men who owned a property could vote. When all men obtained the universal suffrage women were still excluded since they were considered inferior respect to women. They founded women’s activist groups and they organized conventions in order to remove every prejudice in men’s mind. However, not all women agreed on universal suffrage: there were anti-suffrage women groups who thought that women shouldn’t get involved in politics. These women were afraid that giving rights to the poor, both men and women, would lead to the loss of their privileges. In 1890 the National American Woman Suffrage Association was founded but as in England things really changed when the USA entered World War I when women had to replace men in factories and in offices. Eventually, in 1920, women obtained the right to vote in the United States.

Linguaggio e discriminazione di genere

Languages can have a male inclination too. The European Parliament proposed guidelines to change some terms that could be considered as “discriminatory because they are only used in the masculine.” We should say ‘humanity’ than ‘mankind’ and ‘police officer’ instead of ‘policeman’. These proposals aimed at a gender-inclusive language to eliminate discriminatory expressions, towards both women and men.