Gender Stereotypes From 1856-1975

The white British male population determined much of the British experience for men, women, and racial minorities from 1856-1975. Women advanced their political and social rights, yet much of this progress was done when the men felt it was beneficial to them or on their agenda. Ethnic minorities also felt a similar strain as they were discriminated against for not being the typical Englishman and continually not included from the British definition. Stagnant ideas of what it meant to be British and the role of each gender or races in society was held stagnant by white men to allow their supremacy in Britain. Women gained practical political rights from 1856-1975 including the right to vote and equal pay, but the historic male dominance ideology

In 1850, women did not have access to divorce under any circumstances. It did not matter if the husband had cheated or had left his wife because she was seen as property and the husband could use her as he pleased. The commentary of Sir William Blackstone, a judge, supported this ideal as he said “By Marriage, the very being or legal existence of a woman is suspended, or at least it is incorporate or consolidated into that of the husband, under whose wing, protection and cover she performs everything, and she is therefore called in our law a feme covert.” Blackstone’s theory that women lost legal rights when they were married persisted in common thought well into the 19th century even as divorce law reform began to slowly change. Men continued to have the upper hand in divorce processes. They had an easier time proving their case and typically had fewer charges to prove. The 1857 Matrimonial Causes Act allowed women to file for divorce at a more affordable fee, but they still had to prove adultery as well as one other problem, which could include cruelty or desertion.

John Stuart Mill, who was a supporter of women’s right to vote, highlighted the notion of women’s suffrage and brought national attention to the issue. He proposed a law in 1867 to allow unmarried women the right to vote, which did not pass but did create discussions about the inequality. Women first started gaining access to politics through local government and by 1879 there were 70 women in local school boards, women could stand as poor law guardians, sit on the poor law board, and from 1907 they could sit on borough and county councils. This gave women a way into politics, but men deemed these the lesser positions that women could handle, where as the parliament seats and more prominent positions were strictly kept for men. This also did not give them any authority in the national decisions. Even after a great deal of struggle and protests by women, there was no national action on women’s suffrage until after World War I, after which it was felt that women had earned the right to vote because of their work during the war. Even with this new law, only women ratepayers over the age of 30 were allowed to vote. This action feels more like a consolation prize for helping the war cause and not because women were valued or felt to have worthwhile opinions that