A BRIEF HISTORY OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS
By Tim Lambert
Women's Rights in the Ancient World
Egypt was unusual among the ancient civilisations in that women had a great deal of freedom. They could come and go as they pleased. They could own property and they could sign contracts.
Things were very different in Ancient Greece. Although the Greeks worshipped goddesses as well as gods Greek women were definitely treated as inferior to men. Women played no part in public life. They were not citizens and they could not vote. In ancient Greece a woman's place was definitely in the home.
In a wealthy family women were women were kept apart from men. They were usually confined to the back or upper part of the house.
Girls married when they were about 15. Marriages were arranged for them and often their husband was much older than them.
In Rome the father ruled over his wife and children. He could whip or beat his children and he could divorce his wife for quite trivial reasons - even if she was no longer attractive.
However women were allowed to own and inherit property and some ran businesses. (In the New Testament there is a woman named Lydia who sold purple cloth).
Women's Rights in the Middle Ages and 16th and 17th Century
Upper class Saxon women had some freedom. However at the other end of society some women were slaves. Saxon women were allowed to own and inherit property and to make contracts. Life was hard for everyone in Saxon Times and the Middle Ages and women had to work as hard as men to survive.
In the 16th and 17th centuries the professions (teacher, lawyer, doctor) were closed to women. However some women had jobs. Some of them worked spinning cloth. Women were also tailoresses, milliners, dyers, shoemakers and embroiderers. There were also washerwomen. Some women worked in food preparation such as brewers, bakers or confectioners. Women also sold foodstuffs in the streets. A very common job for women was domestic servant. Other women were midwives and apothecaries. However most women were housewives and they were kept very busy. Most men could not run a farm or a business without their wife's help. Poor and middle class wives were kept very busy but rich women were not idle either. In a big house they had to organise and supervise the servants. Also if her husband was away the woman usually ran the estate. Very often a merchant's wife did his accounts and if was travelling she looked after the business. Often when a merchant wrote his will he left his business to his wife - because she would be able to run it. In the 16th century girls did not go to school. However girls from well off families were usually educated at home. Tutors taught upper class girls. Their mothers taught middle class girls reading, writing, arithmetic and skills like sewing. Merchant's daughters were very often taught to run their father's business. In the early 16th century some upper class women were highly educated. (Elizabeth I was well educated and she liked reading). They learned music and dancing and needlework. They also learned to read and write and they learned languages like Greek and Latin, Spanish, Italian and French. However towards the end of the 16th century girls spent less time on academic subjects and more time on skills like music and embroidery. Moreover during the 17th century boarding schools for girls were founded in many towns. In them girls were taught subjects like writing, music and needlework. (It was considered more important for girls to learn 'accomplishments' than to study academic subjects). In the 16th century marriages were usually arranged, except for the poorest people. Divorce was unknown. Legally girls could marry when they were 12 years old. However normally it was only girls from rich families who married young. The majority of women married in their mid-20s. Women's Rights in the 18th Century There was little change in women's rights in the 18th century. Girls from well off families went to school but it was felt important for them to learn 'accomplishments' like embroidery and music rather than academic subjects. At the end of the 18th century a woman named Mary Wollstonecraft, often regarded as the first Feminist, published a book called A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. In pre-industrial Britain women were given cruel punishments such as the ducking stool (a seat on a long wooden arm). Women who were convicted of being scolds or gossips were tied to the seat then ducked into the local pond or river. The last woman to be ducked in England suffered the punishment in 1809. In 1817 another woman was sentenced to be ducked but fortunately the water level was too low so she escaped being immersed. Another punishment for women was the scold's bridle. This was a metal frame place over a woman's head. It had a bit that stuck in her mouth to prevent her talking. The scold's bridle or branks was used in Scotland by the 16th century and was used in England from the 17th century. It was last used in Britain in 1824. Women's Rights in the 19th Century Women's rights improved in the 19th century and women gained more opportunities. In the 19th century working class girls began to get some education. In the early and mid 19th century the churches provided some schools. After 1870 the state provided them. In a Victorian family the Father was head of the family. He wife and children respected him and obeyed him (at least that was the theory!). Until 1882 all a woman's property, even the money she earned, belonged to her husband. Divorce was made legal in 1857 but it was very rare in the 19th century. In the 19th century wealthy women were kept busy running the household and organising the servants. Well to do women often also did charitable work. In 1874 the first successful typewriter went on sale and the telephone was invented in 1876. These two new inventions meant more job opportunities for women. From 1865 women in Britain were allowed to become doctors. The first British woman doctor was Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917). Elizabeth also became the first woman in Britain to become mayor of a town (Aldeburgh) in 1908. The first woman in Britain to qualify as a dentist was Lilian Murray in 1895. The first woman to qualify as an architect in Britain was Ethel Charles in 1898. In 1869 John Stuart Mill published his book The Subjection of Women, which demanded equal rights for women. In the late 19th century women gained more opportunities in education. At Oxford University
In the Isle of Man certain women were allowed to vote for the House of Keys (the Manx parliament) in 1880. In 1893 New Zealand became the first country to allow women to vote. The first Women’s Institute was founded in Canada in 1897. The first in Britain was founded in 1915.
Women's Rights in the 20th Century
The rights of women greatly improved in the 20th century. In Britain in 1897 local groups of women who demanded the vote joined to form the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). The organisation was moderate and its members were called suffragists.
However in 1903 a more radical organisation was formed called the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). Emmeline Pankhurst led it and its members were suffragettes. Some suffragettes broke the law and were imprisoned. Some prisoners went on hunger strike but in 1913 the government passed the Cat and Mouse Act which allowed them to release hunger strikers then arrest them again when they recovered.
However the suffragettes halted their campaign when the war began in 1914. Finally in 1918 in Britain women over 30 were allowed to vote. In 1928 they were allowed to vote at the age of 21 (the same as men). In 1919 Nancy Astor became the first female MP and in 1929 Margaret Bondfield became the first female cabinet minister. In 1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of Britain.
Other countries also granted women the right to vote. New Zealand was the first country in the world to allow women to vote in national elections in 1893. From 1906 Finnish women were allowed to vote. Furthermore in 1907 Finnish women became the first in the world to win seats in a national parliament. In Norway women were given the vote in local elections in 1907 and in national elections in 1913. Denmark allowed women to vote in 1915. In the USA women were allowed to vote from 1920 and in Turkey from 1930. In Spain women gained the vote in 1931. However in France women were not allowed to vote until 1944. Women in Greece were allowed to vote in 1952 but in Switzerland they were not allowed to until 1971!
In the 20th century more occupations were opened to women. They were allowed more and more opportunities. In 1910 the first policewoman was appointed in Los Angeles. In 1916 the first policewoman (with full powers) was appointed in Britain. The 1919 Sex Disqualification Removal Act allowed women to become lawyers, vets and civil servants. (The first female solicitor was Carrie Morrison in 1922). Also in 1922 Irene Barclay became the first female chartered surveyor.
In 1917 the WRNS (Women's Royal Naval Service) was formed. So was the WRAF (Women's Royal Air Force). In 1938 the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the female branch of the British army was formed.
Nevertheless in the early 20th century it was unusual for married women to work (except in wartime). However in the 1950s and 1960s it became common for them to do so - at least part-time. By the end of the century it was normal for married women to have their own careers.
In 1970 differences in pay and conditions between men and women were made illegal. In 1973 women were admitted to the stock exchange. From 1975 it was made illegal to sack women for becoming pregnant. Also in 1975 the Sex Discrimination Act made it illegal to discriminate against women in employment, education and training. In 1984 a new law stated that equal pay must be given for work of equal value. In the late 20th century the number of women in managerial and other highly paid jobs greatly increased.
In 1921 Dr Marie Stopes opened the first birth control clinic in England. Contraceptive pills became available in Britain in 1961. They gave women new freedom.
Among many firsts in the 20th century in 1930 Amy Johnson became the first women to fly from Britain to Australia. In 1963 Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. In Britain in 1995 Pauline Clare became the first female chief constable.
Famous female scientists of the 20th century include chemists Dorothy Hodgkin (1910-1994), Edith Flanigen and Helen Free and pharmacologist Gertrude Elion (1918-1999). In 1903 Mary Anderson invented windscreen wipers.
Last revised 2012