First Wave Feminism In Canada

First Wave Feminism Focusing on Canada First wave feminism refers to the period of feminist activity in the late 19th century and early 20th century in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States of America and Canada. “While the word suffrage, derived from the Latin “suffragium,” it simply refers to the right to vote, the modern connotation specifically calls to mind the women’s suffrage movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries” (Dolton, Graham, 2014). Certainly the period of first wave feminism affected many people, women and men, and Caroline Gordan Archibald was one of those many people. As a result of Caroline Archibald being born in in the beginning of the women’s movement in 1854, she would have lived through many

The first suffrage Association appeared in Toronto in 1877, disguised as a Woman’s Literary Society and by 1918 all women over the age of 21 had a federal and most provincial ballot” (Bacchi, 2002). During first wave feminism many people had different opinions, some women wanted the vote, an education, the right to own property, to be able to appear as a witness in court, sue in court, have the same political rights as men and have a wider range of job opportunities. Women wanted and fought for greater control over their person, and greater sphere of influence. There were plenty of reasons why women wanted the vote and argued that “giving the vote to women, especially to married women, increases the weight of the family vote and so of the solid, stable element in political life” (Bacchi, 2002). While a portion women believed that women having the vote would help the family, several women just wanted to have a voice of their own, it could be argued that the home protection argument was largely rhetorical design to make the movement more palatable to the public. For example, Dr. Emily Stowe, founder of the Toronto Women’s Literary Society was considered the “mother of the suffrage movement in Canada” (Bacchi, 2002), she campaigned for professional educational and occupational opportunities for women. Dr. Emily Stowe considered the “home circle too narrow and too confining to absorb all a woman’s capabilities and insisted instead that every field of activity be open to women” (Bacchi, 2002). Even though I am unsure how Caroline Gordon Archibald felt about women getting the vote and being included in the part of the women’s movement, I would like to think that she wanted the vote and wanted more possibilities for women. Feminist, journalist, and business woman Flora McDonald Denison strived for complete economic independence for both