Catalogue Number
NMLH.2019.15
Object Name
Postcard
Title
'The Suffragette Not At Home'
Place
UK
People
Suffragettes
Events
1918 Representation of the People Act
Description
The postcard depicts a man at home making a pot of tea. He is overfilling the pot and the spilled hot water is pouring onto a startled cat. There is an older boy trying to make toast using a toasting fork in the background, and a baby sat at the table. On the wall is a poster 'Womens' Suffrage. List of meetings.' There is a handwritten note on the floor which says 'Dearest, afraid shall be late. Important Committee meeting. Alice.'
The postcard suggests that with a suffragette woman campaigning outside the home, life within the home is chaotic. This message is harmful and intent on shaming womens' suffrage campaigners, framing politically involved women as selfish and neglectful of their families. However it is also harmful to men, suggesting that men are so incompetent that they cannot possibly even mange to fill a teapot if their wife isn't there to do it for them.
The back of the postcard has been filled in, demonstrating that these were readily available items. This helps us to understand the attitude to suffragettes that the general public were encouraged to have. Women over 30 years old achieved the right to vote in 1918, and suffrage was extended to all adult women in 1928.
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