A little doodle to celebrate Emeline Pankhurst and her courage. I drew her on a black paper.
I used white ink to materialise her stepping in the light, leaving the darkness of the background her being born a female would dictate her to dwell into.
She gradually captured the meager window of freedom she was given and boldly transformed it, multiplying it and defracting it into a myriad of beams, like millions of diamonds and droplets of enlightening wisdom and perseverance that inspired others, waves rippling onto the steady but muddy and stale waters of patriarchy.
A true light to cast upon this half of the population that was only forced into silence, various types of enslavement, domination, duress, humiliation, occasionally celebrated for its beauty, but never brains or ideas, or intelligence, by the unchallenged domination of the other half.
Before her, many other women campaigned for votes and equal rights for women. Think Manon Roland and Olympe de Gouges, among others.
Olympe had not been given the opportunity for her Voice to echo within the minds and hearts of good willing souls, men or women. Her fantastic Declaration of the Woman and the Female Citizen’s rights, (written immediately after the Declaration of Man’s rights had been crafted by men of the Peuple who conveniently forgot they were born , married too, loved by, supported and generally encouraged by Women), faded too quickly into oblivion, as she narrowingly escaped the guillotine.
Although her addition to the Declaration of Man’s rights is a masterpiece, it took years before it was brought to light . It is not, to my knowledge, studied in schools, or in history classes
It has been engraved on the entrance walk of the Senate in Paris, though the French political class seem to never have read it in order to respect and follow its principles, as women are still regularly attacked in mean and vile ways by those men elected to represent ALL citizens.
Emeline and her sisterhood of suffragettes took a stand, probably because English society could not fathom sending a gentry lady to the guillotine, even if her plea was irritating to the ears those males.
She fought, they fought. They chained themselves on the fences of the Parliament.
But as she was educated (privately), and rich, and a child of the best society, the crème de la crème, she was eventually listened to
And she won the 1st round of the battle.
Vote.
It was revolutionary in a men’s world.
Apparently, requiring that basic rights be given to all citizen, regardless of sex, status or sexual preferences still is.
Recent sad laws or events show yet again that the need of toxic masculinity to dominate those different to them, in a way (being a female) or another (not being hetero, for instance) is very much a worrying thing.
But let not lose faith, for even giant terrifying dinosaurs and ferocious T Rexes, unequipped for modern times, eventually went extinct.
