British Womens Suffrage Campaign vs Grounding of Modern Feminism - Book Report/Review Example

COMPARATIVE BOOK REVIEW By Comparative Book Review Introduction Many have sought to describe the origin of the women’s movement and feminism. Many of them strive to present a background understanding of the modern day feminism. Evidently, the women’s movement emerged in the 19th century and has made strides until the feminism existing in the modern day. Harold Smith is one of the authors who have focused on offering an historical analysis of the womens movement as is evident in his book titled The British Women’s Suffrage Campaign, 1866–1928. As the title highlights, Smith focused on the suffrage campaign in Britain, which occurred in the years 1866 to 1928. In addition, Nancy Cott authored a book titled, The Grounding of Modern Feminism, in her effort to present a historical overview of modern feminism. This paper will present a comparative review of these two books, highlighting the main ideas in each book. Smith’s book is an intriguing analysis of the events that surrounded the women’s suffrage campaigns. In the 19th century, women in Britain were not allowed to vote. The suffrage campaign was established to demand for the voting rights of women. During that time, it had been assumed that men in the franchise covered women. The main reason for this was that the law did not allow women to own property. Therefore, women sought to have voting rights as well as property ownership rights. Smith highlights that women needed to have property ownership rights before they could be granted a right to vote. According to his book, the suffrage campaign cannot be viewed independently from other issues affecting women. This is because, women sought their right to vote so that they could exercise their political power in an effort to establish new gender structures. Therefore, Smith opined that it was difficult to understand the suffrage campaign without the consideration of contemporary gender identities and roles. Having a prior understanding of the gender structure that existed before the suffrage campaign helps to lay a foundation of analyzing its purpose1. Smith was keen to highlight some of the findings highlighted by previous authors concerning the social and gender structures that existed in Britain before the campaign. These historians had identified that the Victorian societal structure had encouraged women to view themselves in a sense that was not reflective of their class and party. In addition, Smith argues that different women who participated in the suffrage campaign viewed issues related to equality differently. However, they all agreed on the fact that they needed the franchise. Smith explores different factors that influenced the suffrage campaign and highlights how they served to shape the women’s movement. On the other hand, Nancy Cott seeks to analyze how the women’s movement was structured before and after the suffrage campaign. Her book offers a historical overview of how the women’s movement operated before the suffrage campaign and what it became after the campaign2. She explores political strategies that were used in the suffrage campaign, and how the emerging feminism served to affect the social, political, and cultural aspects of the society3. Her book also considers how feminism is reflected in consumerism. Moreover, Cott describes how the women’s movement changed the face of marriage, making it a different thing from what was known in the Victorian era. Evidently, Smith and Cott explore related subjects and their focus is the suffrage campaign4. Main Arguments and Findings in both Books The suffrage campaign appears as a main theme in both books. As highlighted above, Victorian women did not have the right to either vote or campaign for any political office. The fact that women did not vote contributed to the emergence of civil inequality. In a bid to combat this inequality, the suffrage bill was developed, which sought to present women with an entitlement to vote. Both Smith and Cott reveal that the suffrage campaign and its evidence success were one of the critical factors that shaped the women’s movement. The National Union of Womens Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) played a critical role in the suffrage campaign. The organization sought to ensure that the suffrage bill allowed women an equal right to vote. However, the suffrage campaign faced a problem if it needed equal rights for women5. The fact that voter eligibility in the Victorian era was based on how much property a man owned, then, granting equal rights to women translated to the fact that only women in the middle and upper classes would enjoy the freedom to vote. An additional complication was the fact that women did not have the right to own property. After the marriage, all their property was handed over to the husband6. The purpose of the suffrage campaign was to ensure that women from all sorts of life had a privilege to vote. Both Smith and Cott highlight the fact that the suffrage campaign was critical in determining whether women would own property or participate in politics. The women leading the organizations that participated in the suffrage campaign relied on petitions and public meetings. Moreover, some groups in the suffrage campaigns relied on the militant view. Cott highlights that the suffrage campaign was the first issue addressed by the women’s movement. She mentions that the establishment of the women’s movement was motivated by liberalism resulting from enlightenment as well as evangelical Protestantism. Both of these events had served to highlight that women had a higher moral sense that men. This was a factor evident in their contribution to the family. Therefore, if they took part in politics, they would have a positive impact on the political structures because of their high moral sense. Cott then highlights that the term feminism was adopted after women were granted the right to vote in an effort to ensure that, the term represented the purpose they had of obtaining political and organizational stability7. In addition, she highlighted that feminist agendas conflicted with some of the ideas surrounding women’s engagement in politics8. Without doubt, the suffrage campaign had granted women the opportunity to vote and hold political positions. However, there was confusion on whether they will do so through parties or through the support of voluntary organization. According to Cott, there was an evident need for a proper definition of the sphere of women in politics. However, she reveals that women opted for the voluntary associations because the class defined party politics. In accordance with the views of Cott developed in the book, it emerges that the suffrage campaign was not an easy battle for women. The women’s movement needed proper organization as well as ideologies, even after being branded suffrage9. In addition, Cott explores how feminism affected the emerging trends for consumerism. She opines that both modernity and urbanity proved receptive of the feminist agenda and sought to represent it in different ways. This was evident in the changes in advertising that resulted. Prior to the feminist movement, advertising had focused on different goods and services for women. However, after the popularity of feminism, advertising placed emphasis on heterosexual factors in marketing. The recognition of the fact that the movement had given women freedom of choice, and rationality, and advertisers took note of this in their promotion of consumerism. However, she mentions that there was a condition of the liberation of women from housework as well as the rejection of the sexual division of labor. The society was placed in a dilemma concerning different roles because feminists advocated against division of labor based on sex. Cott also discusses the issue of marriage in the light of feminism. Prior to the emergence of feminism, women were considered subordinate to men and the focus of marriage was property and purity. However, feminist highlighted that marriage partners were supposed to be equal as well as sexual partners. She mentions that a controversy also emerged surrounding the independence of women and the emerging view of marriage. This was because women had begun to take up careers and gained financial independence. Therefore, they could choose not to marry. On the other hand, viewing marriage as companionship had served to introduce a psychological understanding of sexual drive. This triggered a negative view of women who chose not to marry. Therefore, financially independent women were confused on whether to be married or not because of the differing feminist views. Moreover, Cott describes how the success of feminism registered outcomes that could be considered as negative. This is because women who took up careers and became professionals no longer relied on the movement when they needed help concerning different issues that affected them. They preferred to handle those issues on their own. This is a rhetoric of the success of feminism as Cott describes it. In her opinion, it was a probabilistic representation of the dying feminist spirit. Cott is also keen to highlight that some of the feminist agenda promoted during that time placed women at an antagonism with men. It became confusing on whether women were supposed to pursue feminist messages that resulted to antagonism while at the same time liberating them in some way10. On the other hand, Smith highlighted that the suffrage campaign was inseparable from other issues that women were pursuing11. According to him, the right to vote was pursued as an avenue to ensure that women could exercise their political power and alter the existing gender structures. He reveals that gender was not the principal problem that had caused a disadvantage to women. However, there were class complexities that made it harder for women to enjoy equal rights. This was especially the case if suffrage was to be given on similar conditions as those applying to men. Such a situation would disadvantage women from the lower level of the society, who did not own any property. Smith then indulges in an extensive discussion of how political parties reacted to the women’s movement and the suffrage campaign. According to him, political parties only supported the suffrage campaign after a close analysis of whether it would present any positive effects to it. For example, the liberals were afraid of fully supporting the suffrage campaign because of their conviction that it would benefit the conservative parties more. Notably, Smith highlights that the Labor Party was the first one to declare its full support for the suffrage campaign. Such support resulted from the fact that that labor party did not consider gender issues as a priority. According to this book, many parties did not support the suffrage campaign because they feared what would result from a gender conscious and class-based society. In addition, Smith highlights that the suffrage campaign in Britain exhibited remarkable diversity. Its leaders and participants belonged to different social and political levels. Smith also reveals that the suffrage campaign was not concluded during the First World War Notably, 1914 brought several changes to the feminist movement, but did not surface to conclude the suffrage campaign. He admits that he views the suffrage campaign as highly involving and requiring efforts from different people and groups. Organizations formed to promote the feminist agenda were actively involved in ensuring that women received suffrage. The focus of smiths work is Britain. This explains why he handles the context in a way that would prove relevant to the Britain context12. Smith also presents an assessment of the strategies and impacts of the suffrage movement. In this assessment, he highlights different aspects that caused controversies as well as the level of success registered by the women’s movement. He backs up his argument using primary documents, which serve as evidence of the women’s suffrage movement in Britain. He analyzes the issues surrounding gender structures as many women perceived them after the suffrage bill was passed13. Smith also presents highlights of the suffrage movement in other regions apart from Britain. Notably, he offers that in brief paragraphs, keeping his focus on what shaped the suffrage movement in Britain. Evidently, the arguments of Smith had based on his critical analysis of what other historians have observed. He succeeds in offering a synthesis of the suffrage campaign making his findings reliable. Comparisons of the Arguments, Approaches, and Methodologies used in both Books Whereas Smith focuses on describing the suffrage campaign in Britain, Cott prefers to consider the suffrage campaign in general terms. In order to achieve his purpose, Smith relies on data and facts, which are true in the British context of the suffrage campaign. He presents the reader with an overview of the suffrage movement, a description of how it developed, and finally how much success it registered. However, the fact that he chooses a specific focus does not limit his understanding and recognition that the suffrage campaign inseparable from other issues affecting women. On the other hand, Cott discussed the establishment of feminism during different eras, and how both society and politics shaped its foundation and development. She considers numerous aspects that influenced the women’s movement. She regards the suffrage campaign as a critical aspect of the feminist movement. She acknowledges that the suffrage campaign marked the beginning of collective action by women. This reveals that her views conform to those of Smith regarding the suffrage campaign as a pacesetter in women’s movements14. Since Smith was writing a paper for seminar studies, he was limited to an identified number of pages as well as the format to be followed. He was therefore not allowed to include his own ideologies concerning the subject, but rather present the findings of other authors and synthesize them effectively. Moreover, seminary studies require the inclusion of primary documents, which are supposed to serve as evidence of the analyzed findings. This explains why Smith presents numerous primary documents15. On the other hand, the work of Cott was designed as a book, a factor that allowed her to offer a detailed description of how the feminist movement was grounded. She relies on her analysis and examples to elaborate the arguments that she presents. Her main subjects presented in the book include feminism, suffrage, Progressivism, New Era, consumerism, professionalization, and advertisement. Cott gives attention to each of these subjects in details and relates them to her main subject, which is feminism. Both authors discussed in this paper were keen on the issues surrounding feminism in the 20th century. However, they presented historical backgrounds of how the womens movement had emerged in the 19th century. A close analysis of both books reveals how the suffrage campaign was a central aspect of the feminist movement. Evidently, the authors depict that the success of the suffrage campaign presented feminism with the require momentum to pursue other issues related to gender structures. Both Smith and Cott recognize that the success of the suffrage campaign cannot be underestimated. However, they mention that addressing other issues related to gender structures was more complicated than women had perceived initially. From the views of these authors, it emerges that feminism faced difficulties in addressing problems related to gender structures. Many of the agendas promoted by feminism created a measure of controversy. In the view of both Smith and Cott, understanding the critical historical background of feminism is a precondition of analyzing modern feminism. The Books’ Contribution to Scholarship Smith’s work is a critical contribution to scholarship because it presents an analysis of the suffrage campaign in Britain. The author succeeds in presenting specific details and a document related to the suffrage movement and proceeds to assess it. Other authors have not carried out such an analysis of the existing primary documents concerning the suffrage campaign in Britain. Therefore, Smith’s work serves to augment the views of other authors concerning the factors that contributed to the suffrage campaign16. He sheds a new light on how the success of the suffrage campaign only introduced more complexities as the women’s movement sought to address issues related to gender structures. The fact that he includes several primary documents makes his work more reliable as a trusted source of the suffrage campaign in Britain. His work can be used by other scholars who intend to carry out further analysis of the suffrage campaign in Britain. On the other hand, the work of Nancy Cott is a critical contribution to scholarship because it offers details of the emergence of feminism. The relevance of the feminism subject in the modern day cannot be underestimated. Therefore, Cott presents her work as a starting point in understanding factors that shaped feminism before and after the suffrage campaign. She presents details on how feminism has affected consumerism, advertising, and even professionalism17. This makes her work reliable because other authors have not presented an in depth analysis of these subjects. Her work reveals challenges that the feminist movement faced, which modern scholars have not considered. The book is an excellent read for scholars and students who have the intention of understanding how the modern feminism was established and how it has been transformed by different aspects over time. Interestingly, Cott also presents a critical view of the controversies resulting from confusing feminist agendas. Her book is an excellent presentation of all the main subjects that define feminism in the modern day. Many scholars have appreciated its content and have highlighted that it is a reliable source in modern gender studies. Conclusion Without doubt, feminism has gained popularity in the modern day, making it one of the controversial movements in the globe. The two books analyzed in this paper bring the reader to a critical understanding of how feminism began. Readers are compelled by the contribution of the suffrage campaign to the agendas pursued by feminism. Smith and Cott share views on the fact that the suffrage campaign was a crucial determinant of the success of feminism. It marked the initial venture defined by a collective voice of women. However, both authors highlight that the success of the suffrage campaign did not translate to success in changing gender structures. Women had to think of effective strategies of pursuing other rights of women and breaking down gender structures that had limited women’s opportunities. Evidently, both books are worthwhile reads in modern gender studies. Bibliography Cott, Nancy F. The grounding of modern feminism / Nancy F. Cott. n.p.: New Haven : Yale University Press, c1987., 1987. OhioLINK Library Catalog – LR, EBSCOhost (accessed September 27, 2014). Mcarthur, Judith N. 2005. Minnie fisher cunningham: a suffragists life in politics. New York: Oxford University Press. Smith, Harold L. The British womens suffrage campaign, 1866-1928 / Harold L. Smith. n.p.: Harlow, England ; New York : Pearson/Longman, c2007., 2007. OhioLINK Library Catalog – LR, EBSCOhost (accessed September 27, 2014). Thomas, Tracy A., and Tracey Jean Boisseau. 2011. Feminist legal history: essays on women and law. New York: New York University Press. Zerilli, Linda M. G. Feminism and the Abyss of Freedom. Chicago, Ill: University of Chicago Press, 2005. Print. Read More