Catalogue Number
NMLH.2019.18
Object Name
Postcard
Title
This is "THE HOUSE" that man built, And these are a few of the Ladies of Fame, Anxious to write M.P. After their name, With each sex on a par why put up the bar? For M.P. means either Mama or Papa. Quoth the sweet Suffragette We're entitled to get Into
"THE HOUSE" that man built
People
Suffragettes
Events
1918 Representation of the People Act
Description
Postcard, showing three young women in Edwardian dress standing outside of the Houses of Parliament. One of the women holds papers saying 'Vote for Women'. Beneath the picture reads 'This is "THE HOUSE" that man built, And these are a few of the Ladies of Fame, Anxious to write M.P. After their name, With each sex on a par why put up the bar? For M.P. means either Mama or Papa. Quoth the sweet Suffragette We're entitled to get Into "THE HOUSE" that man built.'
This anti-suffrage postcard questions why women should bother trying to get involved in politics. It places MPs (members of parliament) in a parental role, and frames suffragettes goals as irrational entitlement - they just want to get inside the building, rather than caring about politics or representation. The women are dressed in modern fashions of the day, and are young - youth and femininity were commonly used as a way of dismissing suffrage campaigners, however older and less feminine suffragettes were also vilified for these things.
Women over the age of 30 gained the right to vote in 1918. Universal suffrage, where all adult women and men could vote equally was passed into law in 1928.
Multimedia
