What a Woman may be, and yet not have the Vote

What a Woman may be, and yet not have the Vote, 1912 - originally block printed by the Suffrage Atelier, which was formed as an 'Arts and Crafts Society' in February 1909 by members of the Kensington Branch of the Women's Social and Political Union.

The aim of the Atelier was to encourage artists to support the women's movement, and particularly women's suffrage, by means of pictorial publications, and it specialised in producing art that could be quickly reproduced and circulated in response to events.

The Atelier ran printmaking, banner-making, drawing and stenciling workshops and often used block-printing, both in wood and linocuts as a relatively easy means to reproduce images quickly in large numbers.

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Campaigns for suffrage in the UK, including the Chartist movement of the first half of the 19th Century, included calls to include women, but often these calls were swept aside, either temporarily as something to achieve once men’s suffrage had been achieved, or permanently as it was considered undesirable.

A Woman’s Suffrage Committee was formed in 1867 and from 1893 worked within the Independent Labour Party (ILP), aimed at securing votes for women. The NUWSS, formed in 1897.

The NUWSS was dedicated to winning women's suffrage through peaceful means, and focused on trying to get sympathetic MPs elected to Parliament. The Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), split from the NUWSS in 1903 (when patience with the ILP had run out) and became known as the suffragettes, employing more militant tactics.

In the UK, before the start of the First World War, many Suffragettes were involved in a campaign of direct action, including bombing and arson, disruption and mass demonstrations. Suffragettes were often attacked and sexually assaulted by the police and special constables conscripted specifically for the purpose. Imprisoned Suffragettes who went on hunger strike were barbarically force fed. As their health deteriorated, they could be released and re-arrested when they were considered to have recovered enough.

At the outbreak of the war, the WSPU split as the majority decided to support the war effort. A significant group, including Sylvia Pankhurst, broke away, took a strong stance against the war and formed the East London Federation of Suffragettes. They published The Woman’s Dreadnought, which later became The Workers Dreadnought and was adopted as the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Great Britain.