There is a new movie out called Suffragettes. Never heard the word before? Let us tell you a bit about who they were.
The Suffragettes was the name of an organisation in the late 19th and 20th century. The English Suffragettes were led by Emmeline Pankhurst, who pressed for women’s right to vote. It is hard to believe today, but what they needed to do in order to get men to let women vote included: chaining themselves to the palace gates; throwing bricks at shop windows, and one lady even went as far as breaking paintings in the British Museum! When they were imprisoned because of these acts, they went on hunger strike and were force fed. One ‘breed’ of Suffragettes were called Bodyguards and they helped to protect Emily Pankhurst from arrest.
The definition of a Suffragette on google is: a women seeking the right to vote through organized protest.
Although the Isle of Man had enfranchised women who owned property to vote in Parliamentary elections in 1881, New Zealand was the first self-governing country to grant all women the right to vote in 1893. Then all women over the age of 21 were permitted to vote in parliamentary elections. In the UK the work of the Suffragettes was not done until 1928 when women got the same rights as men to vote, and that is only 86 years ago.
The official suffragette colors are white, purple and green.
By Emily and Loulou