Carey Mulligan stars in Suffragette, which tells the story of working class women in London, England in 1912 who are tired of working for sexist bosses for low pay. They want their voices to be heard in the public sphere and they want to create a better future for their daughters.
After Maud (Carey Mulligan) joins the movement by sharing a testimony about her life to a group of men, they ignore the evidence, dismiss Maud’s poor working conditions and refuse to change policies. In fact, they throw Maud and other women in jail for responding negatively to the news. When Maud and her friends become political prisoners, it marks the beginning of their fight and the end of Maud’s marriage.
Considering that Maud reveals she started working part-time at only 7 years old, this story is about not only women’s rights, but also child labour and poverty. Maud also highlights the wage gap between men and women, as women earn 13 shillings per week, whereas men receive 19 shillings per week for the same job.
Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep), one of the most famous suffragettes in the United Kingdom, inspires Maud and her friends to continue their activism, even if it puts them at risk. Her philosophy is that women laboured peacefully for fifty years and they were ignored, so now they must make a ruckus to be noticed. “We have been left with no alternative but to defy the government,” says Emmeline in a speech. “I would rather be a rebel than a slave.”
The dialogue reminded me of my women’s studies classes. For instance, one of the police detectives tells a woman she’s “nothing in this world” and Maud’s husband tries to brainwash their son. “Dad says you’re not well in the head.” Women who tried to change the system disgusted men and men called them crazy. For too many years, women were relegated as the second sex and this movie portrays this issue well.
Suffragette is intense, thought provoking and inspirational. “We’re half the human race. You can’t stop us all. We will win,” Maud predicts from jail. See the movie to see how much women were willing to sacrifice for the right to vote and the chance to change the law.
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=056FI2Pq9RY’]