My research on this thesis brings me all the way back to theRenaissance in Italy, when reading was a privilege given only to men andcourtesans, known also as cortigianaonesta; which in present time hasbecome an euphemism to designate a well-educated and worldly escort or aprostitute of dignified etiquette who attracts wealthy, powerful or influentialclients. Even though opportunities for education arose for the daughters of therich and wealthy, what they were able to do after that, lead right back to thetypical spot of a woman: a housewife. Marriage and procreation being theprimary duties of women, their main role in society was to carry a child,preferably a male, and raise that child into a strong, educated individual thatwill contribute positively to society. In case of need to read God’s work, itwas mandatory for women to learn to read and to write, and sometimes the only pathfor them towards education was to become a nun. However, women have sufferedgreatly from stereotypes set by society and have missed out on great opportunitiesin science, poetry, art and many other fields. Education, changing drasticallybetween the 15th and 17 centuries, was certainly kept from women andthe “education” that women did receive generally showed the views of theimportance of childbearing and their future roles as wife and mother.Later on, in the Victoria Era, even though times may havestarted to improve for women, there were still a great deal of female writerswho published and presented their works under male pseudonyms.
This brings usto the conclusion that women had no right to vote, no rights for their children,neither to have their own property. Aslong as the ages passed, women organized themselves and form a movement knownas suffragette movement led by anincredible woman known as Emmeline Pankurst, and activist and a politicalleader in ” The Women’s Social and Political Union. The main duty for thismovement was to give women the right to vote. However, with their great desireand bravery women in Britain gained some rights and as said and unfair thissounds, thanks to Emily Wilding Davison’s women gain some rights to vote. Shewas a suffragist who suicide herself stepping in front of the King’s horse justto draw attention on media. This act cause windstorm of comments but it ended wellwhen in 1918 the vote was given to certain women aged over 30 and afterwards,in 1925 the law recognized a mother’s rights over their children. Emily’s deathdrew global attention and it was reported across the whole world. She stoutlysaid: ” The idea in my mind was “one big tragedy may save many others” and shewas right, because in 1928 some women achieved the same voting rights as men.Owning to Emily Wilding Davison and many other suffragists nowadays millionsand millions of women have the right to vote and freedom to publish and topresent their works with the rest of the world.
