Popular Protests Of Women During The 19th Century

During the 19th century, women had almost no access to political power. Despite this exclusion, women did not remain entirely excluded from the public sphere. From the “White Feather Girls”, to the suffragettes as well as the women's popular protests in Berlin, women worked to remain as involved as possible in the political sphere despite the many boundaries that faced them. From middle to working class women of all social statuses came together to help shape the society in which they lived as well as establish some control over their lives and make their voices heard. Women also faced many obstacles in just obtaining citizenship. Not only were these women left out of the political spectrum while still being full active members of society, …show more content…
The purpose of this movement was for women to humiliate the men who were not actively seeking to serve Britain in war. The brigade was set up by Charles Penrose Fitzgerald in an attempt to move policy towards a mandatory military service for any and all men. At this time in Britain military service was volunteer based and this caused a lot of issues with replenishment and numbers. Women began to catch on immediately and searched public places for men in casual clothes pinning white feathers in reminder that they are not serving their country. Many accounts state that well into old age this stained men’s honor and made them feel like they were lesser in society. I find this ironic though because women throughout this time period were made to be the lessers. Was this a little bit or …show more content…
Women had many responses to the Great War but this was one that I believe surprised many feminists. For the first time in quite a while women were advocating for men to go fight in war. This was not only a shift in overall feminist views as being anti-war and for peace but it showed a sign of overall strength for women to advocate for men to go fight. I believe due to the lack of political leniency that women had they knew that they had very little shot at actually changing policy and ending the war at hand. I believe women came together in support of the White Feather campaign because they believed that the stronger the British army was and how outnumbered they could be over their enemies the faster the war would end and their husbands would come home. The White Feather campaign was a direct example of the ways women would pursue their agenda indirectly through strength and