100 Years since women got the vote

GrannyRowe Looking back do you feel you made the right choice?

I shall celebrate in ten years time with more enthusiasm. Giving the vote to over thirty year old property owners would not have helped the women in my family in 1918.

I also feel we should restrain our admiration of some of the suffragettes' methods. I would have chained myself to railings and probably thrown a few tomatoes at MPs but I hope I would not have burned homes, detonated bombs or admired those who did.

I value my vote and always use it but it was probably gained more by the suffragists (and the peaceful endeavours of women during WW1) than by the activities of the suffragettes.
I daresay I'll get backlash from this post but we have all witnessed too many outrages in recent years by people who (in their own minds) felt the end would justify the means. Endangering innocent lives is terrorism, whatever the cause.

In light of the research that stated that the brain isn't fully developed until age 25 I think that the voting age should be raised to 25. Talk of reducing it to age 16 is ridiculous.

Oh, I agree nigglynellie

In Denmark women were granted the vote in 1915, but sadly here too, most people (both men and women) know nothing of the hard work women (and a very few men) put in to make it possible for women to vote.

By 1915 women had been able to go to university since the late 1890s, simply because one brave young woman made up her mind she would read medicine. Once she had persuaded the University of Copenhagen to admit her, a couple of others followed suit and two years later the Faculty of Arts admitted a woman too. Now there are more women than men reading the humanities and more or less an equal number of both reading medicine or law.

A lot has happened in the last hundred years and now the women of Saudi Arabia will soon be legally able to drive cars! Another thing the rest of us take for granted!

I'm sure they did Jalima, but to effectively say that those who didn't are ill educated in every respect and therefore not fit to vote is, to say the least a sweeping, patronising and simply not true statement, however you look at it!

nigglynellie I think a slightly higher proportion of women voted to remain than men.

Are you suggesting that people should have an IQ test and a certain level of education before they are given the vote ExaltedW?
in which case I think quite a few of the male species may fail.

What a patronising comment EW! I think you'll find that quite a few educated thoughtful women were among that 17 million voters!!

Thanks Gadaboutgran
I’ve never heard that song before much to my shame. What a great anthem to have at your funeral - not for many years we hope!

There's no point in universal sufferage until you have a reasonably well-educated society. You'll just get Brexit, but worse.

Love that brooch Mags50 - we all need to celebrate the work done by our grandmas to get us the vote - proud to say that the Pankhursts lived in the next street to my own grandma in Seedley, and that Emelline got married in the same church I did, and that my daughter went to Manchester High School for Girls which is where the Pankhurst girls went - great northern traditions underpin the suffragette movement - I'm in celebratory mood today.

The Scottish Parliament works 'family friendly' hours and MSPs are only allowed to vote if they have been in the chamber during the debate. High time Westminster adopted the same rules.

One of the reasons that there are so many Women MSPs (and a gender balanced cabinet) is that for most (but not for MSPs for Highlands and Islands) it is perfectly possible to have a normal family life, going to work in the morning and home most evenings, living in and spending weekends out and about in their constituency. This is good for male MSPs too, and shows what can be done where there is a will to change.

On the other hand MPs from Scotland (and other far flung parts of the UK) have to split their time between London and Home, maintaining 2 homes, spending hours travelling and seeing little of their families - a horrendous schedule which has destroyed many marriages.

Surely it is time to move to a sensible, centrally located modern Parliament and dispense with all the outdated, arcane rules and practices which lead to bad governance and undue strain on MPs trying to do their job of representing their constituents.

I very nearly abstained in the referendum as I was so undecided, but I knew I HAD to vote, I just couldn't not, so I weighed it all up for the umpteenth time,and - voted!

Good to see that Labour has a gender balanced shadow cabinet

Thank you gadaboutgran.

I have always valued my vote and never miss the chance to use it, as a point of respect for those brave ladies.

I was one of the ones that got the chance to vote at eighteen, when the voting age was changed, and the first time I voted was in the referendum to JOIN the EU. But I remember my much loved Auntie saying to me "women died to get you that vote, NEVER forget that! You owe it to those women to always vote! And if you don't, I'll come back and haunt you!"

We have come a long way - Womens Hour was interesting this morning.The next step for me is the need to alter the hours of parliament to 9-5 like most of the rest of us. Possibly a day a week in the constituency. Six weeks holiday, not school terms! and illegal to have a second job. Voting at midnight after the men have been to their club is ridiculous in 21st Century.

My DD is with a grouo of dancers from Rambert performing a celebration of the Anniversary at Victoria Station in London today. I am celebrating by belting out the March of the Women at the too of my voice, all day long. Here’s a link if anyone wants to join in. (I want this played at my funeral)
vimeo.com/109623197

I'll open the beer! And say cheers to those who don't have this freedom. That's a very pretty broach Mags50, I didn't know the significance of the colours.

I am wearing a broach that belonged to my grandma. It's only paste but the colours are those of the suffragette movement, green, white and violet (thought to stand for Give Women the Vote) with a chain around the edge. Unfortunately, although my mum wore it a lot I never asked why and there's no one left to ask. As relevant today as it was in Grandma's day.

"Shoulder to Shoulder" - the song from the Mary Poppins film:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvk1NZDFvZU

A hundred years ago women got the vote and now half of them are vituperative about the way the other half vote. I suppose it is the way of the world.

No amazing series to celebrate the Suffragettes on TV is there? I loved 'Shoulder to Shoulder' when that was on.

'Suffrafette', the movie is on this week but I found that rather insipid given all that went on.

There have been women on chat shows this morning, none of them worthy to lick the boots of the women who won them the vote, basically they were all flogging their latest book and simpering at the camera.

The campaign took the best part of 100 years and seems to have been condensed to a little stone throwing and the Derby day incident.

The women were abused by the authorities in every way possible and are not venerated nearly enough.

I am not sure if they would welcome the notion of a 'pardon' for their deeds, they were wiser than that, braver, and proud of what they did.

I kid you not a woman at work 50 years old, didn’t know what a suffragette was. I think my chin genuinely hit the floor. I told her that women died etc for her to be able to vote. Her reply was ‘they didn’t do it for me they did it for themselves.’ I still tell people about her as I’m so astounded she really didn’t know. Just shocking