Transatlantic Suffragist Alliances
Monday, May 26, 2025 - 09:00
I think this chapter is the weakest in terms of framing the topic as "queer" since it's basically "suffragists in the US and Britain talked to each other and sometimes had the same types of interpersonal relationships with each other that they did with their fellow contrytwomen. Also: there was a lot of Pankhurst fangirling.
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Full citation:
Rouse, Wendy L. 2022. Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women’s Suffrage Movement. New York: NYU Press. ISBN 9781479813940
Publication summary:
For anyone who wishes to write sapphic fiction set in the American suffragist era—whether your characters are participating in that community or not—this book is absolutely essential. It provides many varied and concrete examples of women’s lives that can in some way be classified as “queer” which will expand your understanding of the possibilities and their reception.
From a structural point of view, the book’s arguments feel very repetitive, but its strength is in “bringing the receipts” with multiple specific biographical examples for each topic. Usually, for a work like this, I’d add blog tags for each specific individual mentioned, but that would rapidly become unmanageable in this case (in addition to the problem of categorizing each individual as to where they fall on the queer map).
Chapter 4: Queering Transatlantic Alliances
US and British suffrage movements existed at roughly the same time, but different approaches created a context for sharing tactics and experiences. This chapter looks at how US suffragists learned techniques and created alliances with their British counterparts in the early 20th century. These alliances also included transatlantic romantic relationships. The British movement included a wing focusing on more militant techniques (the “suffragettes”) and some US women hoped to spread these tactics back home, including public speeches and demonstrations that appealed to the public rather than only addressing politicians.
At the same time, the US suffrage elements that wanted to erase visible queer elements in the movement—feeling that “respectability” would have more success—also argued against these more militant approaches. The chapter argues that defying traditionally feminine stereotypes by speaking up in public and risking arrest fall into the definition of “queer” behavior.
The techniques, however, grew successful. British suffragists, like their US counterparts, had a pervasive element of female partnerships and gender-bending presentation.
As usual, this chapter has a large number of micro-biographies of women who relate to the theme. There is a particular emphasis on personal connections and inspirations involving the British Pankhurst family. While these connections included close friendships and hero worship, the blanket labeling of such connections as “queer” strains the definition somewhat. However the chapter provides essential details on the parallel connections between suffrage movements in the two countries.
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