An Interview with June Purvis: The Demonisation of the Suffragettes

Today is the 103rd anniversary of Emily Davison’s death. I interviewed June Purvis on Emily Davison’s impact on the Suffragette movement and portrayals of women who protest.

Bluestocking Oxford

By Sophie Dowle.

I remember being fascinated by the suffragettes from a young age, devouring the ‘My Story’ book about a girl who joins the movement, and reading as many books as I could get my hands on (that weren’t beyond an eight-year-old’s reading ability). Something struck me about the narratives I was reading; the suffragists, with their peaceful methods of protest, were presented as preferable to the dangerous and violent suffragettes. And Emily Davison, who was dismissed as “crazed” or an outcast, often bore the brunt of the disapproval.

It is clear to me now that many of the writers of the books I was reading were shocked by the notion of women using violent methods of protest, thereby helping to perpetuate the narrative that women should be peaceful and timid.

June Purvis

My interest in the campaign for women’s suffrage in Britain continues to this day, and it…

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Singing for Peace in Mali

This article was written for and published by Oxford International Relations Society’s blog.

 

Music has a long history in Mali, and has been a part of the fabric of its history for thousands of years. From the griots, who were historians, storytellers, poets and musicians, to the tribal festivals and gatherings, to which poetry was an essential part, music and oral tradition played an essential role in ancient Malian identity and history.