In Europe in the 19th century, men and women were expected to fill separate spheres of society, a patriarchal society. Women could not vote, become MPs or do anything political. At the end of the 20th century women had gained the vote, been elected for MPs, had the same jobs as men. The equal pay act was passed, although research shows there will not be equal pay for women until 2067. Life for women changed a lot during the 20th century, they have become a lot more equal to men, in rights but not in society.
Women over 30 gained the vote in 1918 after world war one. The suffragettes (a movement that campaigned for equal opportunities for women) played a big part in this, for example, one woman, Emily Davison, ran out onto the track at the derby, to try and stop the king's to get his attention, although some think she committed suicide. The suffragettes helped by getting the public and prime minister's attention with violence, so although the government could not be seen to give in to suffragette violence, politicians could not face a return to suffragette violence after the war, and that is one of the reasons they gave women the vote.…show more content… That won them considerable respect and admiration. Commonly referred to as the 'weaker sex', women have proven to be the every bit of equal to men. In 1928 women over 21 could vote, making them equal to men in this area. In 1918 Constance Markievicz was the first woman MP elected to Westminster, but as she was an Irish Republican, she did not take her seat. Today there are a total of 650 MPs only 191 of them being female. This is a big improvement since 1918 with only one woman being elected. Even though there are female MPs, this does not mean women are equal to men as there are only 29% of MPs that are
