100 years celebrating women’s suffrage… but are we still suffering?

Valentina Pini

The 6th of February 2018 marked 100 years since women gained the right to vote in Great Britain, this was marked as a milestone in British history.  However, with International Women’s Day right around the corner it is the perfect time to reflect on women’s rights. The true question being: Have women really achieved equality in society?

We have all heard of the Suffragette movement which took place, throughout the late-19th and early-20th centuries. We have all seen the Suffragette song on Horrible Histories and are familiar with the iconic image of the Suffragettes chaining themselves to the railings outside of Buckingham Palace, but many are unaware of the influence that the Suffragette movement had, in relation to women's rights today. It was thanks to the tireless efforts of inspirational women such as Emmeline Pankhurst and Emily Davison that have enabled women to have a more equal status in society and spurred the movement for women to be treated as equals.  

In 1872 the fight for women's suffrage became a national movement with the formation of the National Society for Women's Suffrage but it was not until the 6th February 1918 that women over 30 who met minimum property qualifications could vote. Hence, it took 46 years for women to gain the right to vote and a further 10 years for the law to be extended to all women over the age of 21. The fact it took nearly half a century for women to be given the right to vote highlights the true inequality and discrimination that women were subjected to. Many politicians and men throughout this period viewed the Suffragettes as a violent and dangerous political movement, they believed that a woman's place was in the home and that going out into the tough world of politics would change their caring nature. It was the breakthrough of the passing of the Representation of the People Act in 1918 which began the process of changing these sexist views.

So, where are we now?

With sexual harassment allegations capturing headlines and being at the forefront of public discussion many have been voicing their eagerness for change. There have been numerous campaigns trending in the media such as the #MeToo campaign in America which has generated much support from celebrities such as Lada Gaga, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cara Delevingne. It is fair to say that the right for women to vote was a turning point and catalyst for change in women’s lives. However, women today are still suffering from discrimination and inequality in the forms of sexual harassment, pay gaps and the under-representation of women in politics, to mention but a few. The recent BBC pay gap scandal has also captured much interest from the media and is a prime example of how women are not being treated with equality in our very own modern day democratic country. There was a subsequent investigation and the report found that the overall pay gap for on-air staff was 6.8 per cent but among "lower-profile" presenters and reporters the figure rose to an astounding 12.6 per cent. This raised the pivotal question ‘why are women STILL being so treated differently from men?’

Surely, we should be able to assume that, in a developed society like ours today, gender bias would no longer exist. However, we know it is still there. If you were to ask a member of the public this question “Think of 5 jobs; a firefighter, a nurse, a primary school teacher, a flight attendant and a pilot, what comes to mind first, a male or female for each job?” I can assure you that the majority of respondents would assume the firefighter was a man, the nurse a woman, the primary school teacher a woman, the flight attendant a woman and the pilot a man. Hence it is fair to say that gender bias is still a prominent issue in today’s society.

Many of you, I am sure, would pride yourselves on being feminists and we are right to do so. However, many young people today are celebrating and glorifying women in the media such as the Kardashians. Now, I am sure many of you have just sighed and are awaiting the rant about how Kim Kardashian is a poor role model for young girls. Don’t get me wrong, I am partial to the odd episode of ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ myself and I do admit that I messaged the group chat in shock as soon as I found out that Kylie was in fact pregnant and had given birth to Stormi.  However, when writing this article, I asked myself, “who do young people look up to?” and as clichéd as it sounds the Kardashians were the first names that popped into my head. Then I asked myself this, ‘what do the Kardashians represent?’ and being truly honest I couldn’t think of an answer. Unfortunately for many female role models today, it is breasts and bottoms before brains. Despite this comedic use of alliteration this is sadly true as in the media we are not celebrating the influence of women in the correct way. For women to be treated as equals they need to be taken seriously and be given equal prominence in the most important roles of society. Whether it be women given equal representation and opportunity at the top level of boards in FTSE 100 companies, in the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the judiciary or journalists just as a few examples.  

To be properly and equally empowered, women need to be truly and equally represented in all levels of society. As a school full of bright minded, intelligent and empowered women we should be looking up to role models that empower other women and fight for women’s equality. Women should be able to influence the world in which we and they live through what they do and what they say.  

Hopefully, in 100 years (or far less – fingers crossed) we will have achieved true gender parity and Purple Ink can publish an article titled ‘200 years celebrating suffrage and we are no longer suffering’.  

It’s up to us. We’re a generation that has the ability to change this inequality, to fight for women’s rights and not let any discrimination we may experience stop us from achieving our goals. I leave you with this quote from Michelle Obama: “There is no limit to what we, as women can accomplish.”

Carry on fighting the good fight!