Fighting for the Privileges of Citizenship: The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), feminism and the women's movement, 1928-1945

Journal article


Beaumont, C (2014). Fighting for the Privileges of Citizenship: The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), feminism and the women's movement, 1928-1945. Women's History Review. 23 (3), pp. 463 - 479. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2013.820600
AuthorsBeaumont, C
Abstract

In 1928 the YWCA welcomed the introduction of the universal suffrage by declaring that women in Britain were now entitled to the full political privileges of citizenship. This article will explore the way in which the YWCA, previously omitted from histories of the British women's movement, sought to educate and inform its members about the rights and duties of democratic citizenship. The involvement of the YWCA in citizenship education and its role in campaigning for the citizenship rights of women will be assessed, with a particular focus on workers rights and the appointment of women police. Despite its reluctance to be identified as overtly feminist, the YWCA was determined to ensure that women had access to social and economic rights within a democratic society. The article therefore argues that a new definition of the women's movement is required in order to uncover the full extent of female engagement in politics and public debate in the aftermath of the suffrage. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

Year2014
JournalWomen's History Review
Journal citation23 (3), pp. 463 - 479
PublisherTaylor & Francis
ISSN0961-2025
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2013.820600
Publication dates
Print04 May 2014
Publication process dates
Deposited02 Sep 2016
Accepted04 Apr 2014
Accepted author manuscript
License
Permalink -

https://openresearch.lsbu.ac.uk/item/87834

Download files


Accepted author manuscript
  • 97
    total views
  • 162
    total downloads
  • 1
    views this month
  • 2
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

“Battling, not Bottling”: the transformative power of WI activism
Beaumont, C. (2024). “Battling, not Bottling”: the transformative power of WI activism. WI Life.
How a photograph uncovered my grandmother's republican activism during the Irish Revolution
Beaumont, C. (2022). How a photograph uncovered my grandmother's republican activism during the Irish Revolution . The Conversation.
ODNB Profile Elizabeth Abbott
Beaumont, C. (2022). ODNB Profile Elizabeth Abbott. Oxford University Press (OUP).
ODNB Profile Rosamund Fisher
Beaumont, C. (2022). ODNB Profile Rosamund Fisher. Oxford University Press (OUP).
Women's Organisations, Active Citizenship and the Peace Movement: New Perspectives on Peace Activism in Britain 1918 to 1939
Beaumont, C. (2022). Women's Organisations, Active Citizenship and the Peace Movement: New Perspectives on Peace Activism in Britain 1918 to 1939. in: Gottlieb, J.V. and Gaynor Johnson (ed.) Gendering Peace in Europe c. 1880-2000 Routledge.
Post-War Societies: Great Britain and Ireland
Beaumont, C. (2021). Post-War Societies: Great Britain and Ireland . 1914-1918 Online: International Encyclopaedia of the First World War .
Women in Parliament from 1918-2020
Beaumont, C. (2020). Women in Parliament from 1918-2020.
Women’s Organisations, Active Citizenship, and the Peace Movement: New Perspectives on Female Activism in Britain, 1918-1939
Beaumont, C. (2020). Women’s Organisations, Active Citizenship, and the Peace Movement: New Perspectives on Female Activism in Britain, 1918-1939. Diplomacy & Statecraft. 31 (4), pp. 697-721. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592296.2020.1842063
Women in Public Life
Beaumont, C. (2020). Women in Public Life. in: Jolly, M. and Russell, P. (ed.) Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women's Rights The British Library.
Networks as ‘laboratories of experience’: exploring the life cycle of the suffrage movement and its aftermath in Ireland 1870–1937
Beaumont, C., Clancy, Mary and Ryan, L. (2020). Networks as ‘laboratories of experience’: exploring the life cycle of the suffrage movement and its aftermath in Ireland 1870–1937. Women's History Review. 29 (6), pp. 1054-1074. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2020.1745414
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography August 2019 Update Gertrude Horton
Beaumont, Caitriona (2019). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography August 2019 Update Gertrude Horton.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography August 2019 Update Margaret Fletcher
Beaumont, Caitriona (2019). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography August 2019 Update Margaret Fletcher.
The Transnational Women’s Suffrage Movement: how the vote was won in the USA, 1848-1920
Beaumont, C (2018). The Transnational Women’s Suffrage Movement: how the vote was won in the USA, 1848-1920. Adam Matthew.
Reference to Women's Place in the Home must be removed from Constitution
Beaumont, C (2018). Reference to Women's Place in the Home must be removed from Constitution. Irish Times.
After the Vote: Women, citizenship and the campaign for gender equality in the Irish Free State 1922-1943
Beaumont, C (2018). After the Vote: Women, citizenship and the campaign for gender equality in the Irish Free State 1922-1943. in: Ryan, L and Ward, M (ed.) Irish Women and the Vote: Becoming Citizens Dublin, Ireland Irish Academic Press.
What do women want? Housewives’ associations, activism and changing representations of women in the 1950s
Beaumont, C (2017). What do women want? Housewives’ associations, activism and changing representations of women in the 1950s. in: Tinkler, P, Spencer, S and Langhamer, C (ed.) Women in Fifties Britain: A New Look London Routledge.
Housewives and Citizens: Encouraging Active Citizenship in the Print Media of Housewives' Associations during the Interwar Years
Beaumont, C (2017). Housewives and Citizens: Encouraging Active Citizenship in the Print Media of Housewives' Associations during the Interwar Years. in: DiCenzo, M, Clay, C, Green, B and Hackney, F (ed.) Women's Periodicals and Print Culture in Britain: the Interwar Period Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press.
The Mothers' Union and the Women's Movement: a history of female activism 1876-2017
Beaumont, C (2017). The Mothers' Union and the Women's Movement: a history of female activism 1876-2017. Families First.
What is a Wife? Reconstructing Domesticity in postwar Britain before The Feminine Mystique
Beaumont, C (2015). What is a Wife? Reconstructing Domesticity in postwar Britain before The Feminine Mystique. History of Women in the Americas. 3, pp. 61-76. https://doi.org/10.14296/hwa.v3i0.2186
What Do Women Want? Housewives' Associations, Activism and Changing Representations of Women in the 1950s
Beaumont, C (2016). What Do Women Want? Housewives' Associations, Activism and Changing Representations of Women in the 1950s. Women's History Review. 26 (1), pp. 147-162. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2015.1123029