Sex and Suffrage in Britain, 1860-1914

"In this intelligent and thoughtful work, Susan Kingsley Kent contends that the campaign for women's suffrage was not narrowly political but was, rather, the culmination of a unified feminist movement whose chief objective was the abolition of `the double standard of morality, prostitution, and the sexual objectification and abuse of women.' . . . a lively, well-written and clearly argued book."—Deborah Gorham, Modern Europe

"This is a valuable addition to existing work on two counts: it expands our understanding of the nature of the radicalism of first wave feminism, and the interconnectedness of many issues; it reinforces the growing realisation that suffragism was much more than a 'single-issue' campaign resting solely on restricted liberal notions of equality. . . . [The book] offers a stimulating and provocative introduction to the area, and one certain to spark fresh interest and debate."—Sandra Stanley Holton, Gender and History

"[Kent's] starting point is that Christabel Pankhurst's cry, `Votes for Women; Chastity for Men,' is less the manic aberration that historians have assumed than a statement of one motivating theme of the women's movement. Many women detected as a source and prop of their subordination, the sexual double standard. . . . [Kent argues] originally and convincingly [that] `private' and `public' experiences were not distinct but closely interrelated; and many feminists perceived that the public world could not be reshaped without the private changing also."—Pat Thane, Parliamentary History