“We’re in every home. We’re half the human race. You can’t stop us all.”
Get ready to feel some feelings. Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep, and Helena Bonham-Carter star in the upcoming film Suffragette, a historical drama about the fight for women’s voting rights in Britain. Streep plays Emmeline Pankhurst, founder of the Women’s Social and Political Union, an activist known for her radical—and often violent—protest tactics. Suffragette tells Pankhurst’s story, as well as the stories of other women who fought alongside her.
The Women’s Social and Political Union was founded in 1903 with a mission statement of “deeds, not words.” Women’s suffrage in Britain was hard-won and often employed militant practices, including hunger strikes, property destruction, assaulting police officers, and arson. You did not want to mess with these ladies. Being a suffragette meant risking everything— your job, your family, your home.
Pankhurst fought for suffrage her entire life; she died only weeks before 1928’s Representation of the People Act granted all women over the age of 21 the vote in Great Britain. We’re so excited to see this hero’s story brought to the big screen.
‘Suffragette’ is out on October 30th. Don’t miss it. Catch the trailer here:
Image via teaser-trailer.com
