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Deeds, not Words*

© Marthe Arends

Deeds, not Words*

Imagine yourself in prison: miserable, isolated, ill-treated. Now imagine yourself torn from the bosom of your friends and family and locked away from society not because you have committed a crime, not because you have murdered, attacked, or abused anyone, but simply because you believe women should have the right to vote.

Welcome to the world of women's suffrage.

For many of the years before and after the turn of the twentieth century, women who fought for suffrage were arrested and sent to prison for a variety of reasons—some charges were legitimate, such as the acts of vandalism caused by the militants, other charges were trumped-up to send a message of fear and intimidation to those who supported women's suffrage. Despite the causation, all were in prison because of one basic, underlying fact—women having the vote threatened the male-dominated balance of power. Men didn't think women had the brainpower to understand the complex issues which were placed on the ballot. A woman's experience, and thus the sum total of her knowledge, was limited to that to which she was suited--the health and welfare of her family. Women knew nothing about the issues of national importance, so how could they be expected to make an intelligent decision when faced with casting a vote in parliamentary elections? If, most males reasoned, you gave women the vote, God only knew what chaos would result.

Like most women of my thirty-something generation, I was tolerably familiar with the basics behind women's suffrage; I knew women had chained themselves to railings, held marches and rallies, went to prison, and in some cases, indulged in violent acts to gain attention for their cause. I had a vague notion of the dedication the suffragettes displayed, and a mild sense of gratitude for those generations of women who fought so their descendants would have the right to vote.

I had no idea of what cruelties, torments, and sacrifices they made.

When I decided to write a historical suspense about a suffragette, I thought I would do a little research to get the events and dates correct, and a better understanding of what drove the women--and a few men--into doing what they did. A bit of online research led me to some wonderful bibliographic references, and soon I found myself elbow deep in first-person narratives, contemporary social accounts, and social histories which tried to explain the history of the women's suffrage movement.

The copyright of the article Deeds, not Words* in Women's History is owned by Marthe Arends. Permission to republish Deeds, not Words* in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.