Was it the suffragette movement, or the changes brought about by the Essay

Was it the suffragette movement, or the changes brought about by the great war, that enabled women to get the vote in 1918 - Essay Example So, some believe that the World War I is the major reason for women suffrage and few others believe that the suffrage movements played the key role. The suffrage movement in itself represents a broad range of protests and social movements and had people of both gender with varying views. For instance, Emmeline Pankhurst, who led the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903, was one of the leaders of suffrage movement and an English political activist and was so militant in the approach. There were diverse views about the â€Å"woman’s place† the different groups fought for. Some of them strongly felt that women were naturally kind and weak, and that these qualities may contribute towards political agenda and policies that have a great bearing on household, children and other social safety. They felt that they might have a civilizing effect on political affairs; for example, laws regarding alcohol or child safety, can be best supported and decided by women. A few others voiced for suffrage based on their strong belief in equal rights and woman’s role. They were against any discourse that listed any n atural role for women, rather supported the idea that men and women are equal and capable of same things. While such groups were led by their ideologies about women, other supporters of suffrage were guided by the opinion that all adults have franchise irrespective of class, gender or race. A significant section felt that women suffrage can cancel the votes of men belonging to lower class or non-white race. Each political activist group working towards women suffrage had its own ideology but working towards the same end. Suffrage basically revolved around the idea of human rights and equality. The history of suffrage movement goes back to 1800’s when, the first women’s rights meeting was held in Unites States and this was followed by the rising egalitarian or democratic spirit among women. However, it was the Nineteenth Amendment that