{"id":1648,"date":"2024-03-04T10:10:16","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T10:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/edi\/?p=1648"},"modified":"2024-03-04T10:10:16","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T10:10:16","slug":"emma-shields-international-womens-day-2024-history-of-women-and-workers-rights-which-inspires-inclusivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/edi\/2024\/03\/04\/emma-shields-international-womens-day-2024-history-of-women-and-workers-rights-which-inspires-inclusivity\/","title":{"rendered":"Emma Shields: International Women\u2019s Day 2024 \u2013 history of women and worker\u2019s rights which inspires inclusivity"},"content":{"rendered":"

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International Women\u2019s Day 2024 \u2013 inspiring inclusivity <\/strong><\/p>\n

On the 8th<\/sup> March 2024, there will be celebrations and activities across the world to mark International Women\u2019s Day. This year\u2019s theme is to \u2018Inspire Inclusivity\u2019.<\/p>\n

Manchester has a rich history relating to women and worker\u2019s rights. To me, these rights are historically analogous; International Women\u2019s Day started as a protest by women workers over unfair conditions in the workplace. In New York City on the 8th<\/sup> March 1857, textile workers marched in protest of the dangerous and underpaid working conditions in the factories, and for equal rights for women. On the 8th<\/sup> March 1908, workers in the needle trades marched through New York City’s Lower East Side to protest child labour, sweatshop working conditions, and demand women’s suffrage. This is now annually observed as International Women’s Day.<\/p>\n

In order to understand and celebrate this year\u2019s International Women\u2019s Day<\/a>, we must examine our collective history with an inclusive lens. Let’s look further into the legacy of women in Manchester. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Inclusive Women\u2019s History \/ The other side of the coin <\/strong><\/p>\n

Women\u2019s history is often studied through a narrow lens.<\/p>\n

I remember questioning my teacher in primary school during his lesson on the Suffragette movement in Manchester. He taught our class that \u2018only recently\u2019 had women joined the workforce. Prior to WW1, women did not work. After WW1, due to the absence of men, women had \u2018proven\u2019 themselves as \u2018good workers\u2019, and were therefore rewarded with the right to vote.<\/p>\n

This created a great deal of confusion for me, as my grandmother, her grandmother, and every woman in my lineage were workers. My teacher said that I must have been mistaken, as women were not workers before the war, they all kept at home and had children.<\/p>\n

I faced a new reality – some women were born into privilege that I couldn\u2019t comprehend.<\/p>\n

The truth is, my teacher and I were both talking about different women. \u00a0Neither of us were completely wrong. My teacher wasn\u2019t showing women\u2019s history with an inclusive lens.<\/p>\n

Suffragettes<\/strong><\/p>\n

The world knows the names of Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, and in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, \u2018Manchester\u2019 became synonymous with the \u2018suffragette movement\u2019. \u00a0<\/p>\n

However, it’s crucial to recognise that the struggle for women’s rights in Manchester isn\u2019t monolithic. While middle-class suffragettes dominate the narrative, working-class women, including those from diverse ethnic backgrounds, also played pivotal roles. Women like Selina Cooper, a mill worker, and Hannah Mitchell, a working-class suffragette, brought attention to the intersecting oppressions faced by women in both the public and private spheres.<\/p>\n

\"Hannah

Hannah Mitchell<\/p><\/div>\n

Hannah Mitchell – Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n

Documenting Dissent | Selina Cooper (1864-1946)<\/a><\/p>\n

Growing up, I remember hearing stories of Deaf women who had worked in gruelling conditions throughout the 18th<\/sup> and 19th<\/sup> Centuries in the cotton mills, the factories. They endured long hours, low wages, no sick or maternity pay, and faced a hazardous and noisy environment. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Here is a picture of an 18th<\/sup> Century woman\u2019s shoe, found in the attic of an old factory in Ancoats. I can\u2019t help but wonder what her life was like. Could she read? Did she have children? She is often overlooked in favour of a more sanitised narrative \u2013 one that ignores working class women\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\"18th

18th Century woman\u2019s shoe, found in the attic of an old factory in Ancoats<\/p><\/div>\n

Ancoats: From cotton to cool | Science and Industry Museum<\/a><\/p>\n

We should also reflect on the history and contributions of Black and minority ethnicity women in Manchester, who often faced unique challenges and discrimination. Sarah Parker Remond, an American abolitionist, came to Britain to raise awareness of the anti-slavery movement and appealed to mill owners and cotton workers to support the cause. In 1859, Remond spoke at Manchester Athenaeum, which is now part of Manchester Art Gallery, calling on women to support abolitionists. She supported the British suffrage movement and added her signature to the 1866 Women\u2019s Suffrage petition.<\/p>\n

Remond also appeared alongside Frederick Douglass, a women\u2019s suffrage advocate and American abolitionist. In Manchester, Douglass lectured and educated British people about his experience of being an enslaved person, speaking to millworkers at the Public Hall in Rochdale and anti-slavery meetings at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester.<\/p>\n

\"Sarah

Sarah Parker Remond<\/p><\/div>\n

Olive Shapley, born in London but lived in Manchester until her death, had a fascinating and radical career that challenged racial inequalities and fought for racial justice and gender equality. As a BBC broadcaster, in 1949 Shapley became the presenter of the daily Woman’s Hour. She brought formerly taboo subjects, like menopause and women without men, onto the air.<\/p>\n

I have listed some links about this subject here:<\/p>\n