Saturday 17 November 2018

Bookstagram storytime - Excerpts from Suffragettes, part 1


Like I mentioned in my review of Suffragettes: The Fight for Votes of Women, an anthology about British female suffrage edited by Joyce Marlow, I screenshot excerpts from each chapter and began posting them in Instagram story format, including reactions and/or snarky commentary :D xD (still at it on @martaluthien, you can find the story highlight here). I thought it would be interesting to post these excerpts in a couple of posts here as well, so here goes :)


Chapter 1: Victorian suffrage (Open in new tab for full size pics)

-Harriet Taylor Mill (1807-1858), philosopher and women's rights advocate, largely influenced the feminist mindset of second husband John Stuart Mills (but of course people know way less about her!).


-Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847-1929), intellectual, writer, activist, and leader of the non-militant suffragists.
-Elisabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917), Suffragist and Britain's first woman doctor.
-Emily Davies (1830-1921), Suffragist and pioneering campaigner for women's rights to university access.


-Lydia Becker (1827-1890), a leader in the early suffrage movement and amateur scientist with interests in astronomy and biology.
  

I'm also 100% writing future posts on all these women :D

 Meanwhile, Victorian dudebros be like *eyeroll* *facepalm*  (and things haven't changed that much in many respects, mind)
 

Also featuring Churchill and Queen Victoria being sexist af :/ -

 


And special MRA mention of the chapter, however, goes to this truly devout dude xD *facepalm*

If you liked this kind of thing (historical quotes+feminist snark is definitely my jam xD), there's more coming soon!

Friday 16 November 2018

Goodreads feminist reviews - Suffragettes: The Fight for Votes of Women (Joyce Marlow)

5/5. Goodreads review here.


This is a really well-organized and researched book about women's suffrage in Britain from the Victorian times to 1928, when women were finally enfranchised. An anthology which compiles and draws on actual material from the times, it includes excerpts from letters, journals, newspapers, diaries and official documents, as well as sometimes also quoting from other books written about the events. It's organized in a way that I found really engaging and informative, showing the voices of many different women (male suffragists and allies also make an appearance) with different backgrounds and classes, motivations and mindsets. The book also shows the contrasting views of the Antis, not at all dissimilar from our modern MRAs, sexist dudebros and complicit anti-feminist women (no surprises there, we haven't come *that* far). The added notes and appendices by author Joyce Marlow are a plus for this great anthology, organizing all sources in a clear and entertaining way, with dates, names, places and events being easily put into context.

I totally recommend this book to everyone who's interested in the suffrage movement in Britain and would like to know more, especially because of the fresh and informative view that comes with an anthology with so many original, unedited and unquoted source material. Reading all those original sources was definitely a highlight for me, easily making this one of my fave feminist books. I loved delving deeper and learning more about the timeline and events of the suffrage struggle. Kudos to all those brave women!

I liked this book so much I screenshot excerpts from each chapter and began posting them in Instagram story format, including reactions and/or snarky commentary :D xD Still at it on Instagram (@martaluthien, you can find the story highlight here), and will be posting the stories here as well :)