On January 31, 1906, a Connecticut newspaper reported a new word from England: "suffragette." It was meant to be the feminine version of "suffragist."
Today, "suffragette" describes women who fought for the right to vote. It is not seen as a negative word. However, this was not its original meaning. The word was first used to mock women. Later, women reclaimed it and made it a symbol of empowerment.
The Origin of "Suffragette"
The term "suffragette" came from "suffragist." A suffragist was someone who campaigned for more people to have voting rights. Both words come from "suffrage," which means the right to vote. In the UK, only a few people could vote historically. By the early 1900s, women still could not vote at all.
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Start Your News DetoxSuffragists worked to give voting rights to women and to men who were not yet allowed to vote.
The term "suffragettes" first described members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). These women fought for the right to vote in more aggressive ways than typical suffragists. While suffragists usually campaigned without physical action, WSPU suffragettes sometimes used sabotage and violence.
Some newspapers did not support giving women the right to vote. The conservative newspaper Daily Mail created the word "suffragette" for these more militant female campaigners. It first appeared in the paper on January 10, 1906.
How "Suffragette" Became a Movement
The term was not just meant to show that these suffragists were women. The suffix "-ette" comes from French. It originally meant a smaller version of something. In English, it was often used to belittle women and make them seem small.
So, when the Daily Mail used "suffragette," it was meant as an insult to the women fighting for the right to vote.
However, these women took the term "suffragette" and changed its meaning. They owned the word instead of letting their opponents use it to mock them. In 1912, the WSPU launched a newspaper called The Suffragette to promote their cause.
A word once used to belittle women was transformed. The women it was meant to insult repurposed it into a unifying term. This helped them move forward toward their goals.
