Punch Magazine depiction of a female Chartist.
Women within the Chartist Movement During the 19th Century
Chartism is frequently portrayed throughout history as an entirely male-dominated movement, as the demands and claims of the organisation wanted universal suffrage for men. In addition to this, the main leaders were male, making it incredibly easy to overlook the important role women played in furthering the cause. According to Dorothy Thompson (1993:14), the only really obvious inclusion of women in the history of Chartism comes during William Lovett’s attempt to include women’s suffrage as one of the main points of the Charter, which was over-ruled due to fear it would damage the cause because of its extremity and would therefore alienate many reformers. However, it is difficult to deny the considerable and unwavering presence of women throughout the movement, although hidden from the limelight, they continuously helped pursue the Chartist cause.
Dorothy Thompson’s research into the inclusion of women in the Chartist movement, highlights not only that women were present but that they were highly active members, creating their own female Chartist associations and ‘presented banners, made and presented gifts to visiting speakers, and invariably marched in the great processions and demonstrations, usually at the head’. Women appeared to be in charge of the cultural capital of the movement; their involvement in banner making entrusted to them a vital role in spreading the word of the cause further. Their stereotypical aptitude for needlework and creativity, meant their involvement in cultural aspects of the movement was an intrinsic part to the success of the whole operation.
Chartist women, as Anna Clark argues (1995), as a result of their involvement, ‘fashioned a political identity for themselves as mothers, workers and activists’, which in turn created what she states as a ‘militant domesticity’ integral in their actions and roles as women. Although Chartism appeared to be the pursuit of men and did not offer women any form of political freedom or equality, this did not prevent a significant female following from being established – it is thought that in its first two national petitions women made up around one third of all the signatures taken in the charter, (Cowman, 2010:36).
‘How To Treat Women Chartists’ taken from Punch magazine
According to Krista Cowman, the creation of separate female dominated organisations was partly due to the ideas of men that women could be merely supporters of the cause not activists, with The True Scotsman appealing for women to join the Chartist movement as the men needed ‘your aid to assist us’, (2010:37). Jutta Schwarzkopf (1991) disagrees with this passive image of women and has stated that whenever Chartist riots seemed to take place, women were always heavily involved, and that their ‘presence in Chartist riots was often conspicuous’. However, it is important to consider that the press coverage of these riots stating that women were seen to be rampaging violently and conducting in unladylike behaviour, may be an over exaggeration as a way of discrediting protests and damaging the cause. Nevertheless, Schwarzkopf believes, that due to the continuous references to women in the reports concerning Chartist violence it makes their contribution incredibly likely.
Nonetheless, as Krista Cowman argues, not all participation by the women in the Chartist movement was seen to be controversial or violent, they ‘proved themselves successful petitioners and enthusiastic fundraisers’. The women were able to harness socially acceptable feminine skills in order to benefit the political aims of the movement; by making scarves or caps of liberty for male Chartist leaders as well as designing and embroidering banners carried on mass demonstrations, they were able to bring to the movement methods that promoted unity.
Michelle de Larrabeiti’s analysis of women’s involvement in the Chartist movement suggests that their construction of themselves as ‘militant mothers’ in fact gave them a much greater degree of agency than it was first thought. The movement, although it wasn’t able to bring suffrage to the women, did bring a new found awareness and confidence in the impact women could have when united in a cause. Although the success of Chartism is still a disputed topic, it is clear in reference to women that it empowered them in ways that had never been seen before and set a path for future female protests such as the Women’s Suffrage Movement.
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