''The Freewoman'' was a feminist weekly review published between 23 November 1911 and 10 October 1912, and edited by
Dora Marsden
Dora Marsden (5 March 1882 – 13 December 1960) was an English suffragette, editor of literary journals, and philosopher of language. Beginning her career as an activist in the Women's Social and Political Union, Marsden eventually broke ...
and
Mary Gawthorpe
Mary Eleanor Gawthorpe (12 January 1881 – 12 March 1973) was an English suffragette, socialist, trade unionist and editor. She was described by Rebecca West as "a merry militant saint".
Life
Gawthorpe was born in Woodhouse, Leeds to John Ga ...
.
Although ''The Freewoman'' published articles on women's waged work, housework, motherhood, the
suffrage movement
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
, and literature, its notoriety and influence rested on its frank discussions of sexuality, morality, and marriage. ''The Freewoman'' urged tolerance for male homosexuality, advocated for
free love
Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues were the concern ...
, and encouraged women to remain unmarried.
''The Freewomans editorial stance distinguished it from the attitude of
suffragists
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
like
Millicent Fawcett
Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (née Garrett; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English politician, writer and feminist. She campaigned for women's suffrage by legal change and in 1897–1919 led Britain's largest women's rights associati ...
, who was so disturbed at the journal's approach to sexuality that she supposedly tore the first issue into little pieces.
Although its circulation probably never exceeded 200, it had a significant influence in
Modernist
Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
circles. Among its contributors were
Rebecca West
Dame Cicily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...
Edward Carpenter
Edward Carpenter (29 August 1844 – 28 June 1929) was an English utopian socialist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, an early activist for gay rightsWarren Allen Smith: ''Who's Who in Hell, A Handbook and International Directory for Human ...
, and
Guy Aldred
Guy Alfred Aldred (often Guy A. Aldred; 5 November 1886 – 16 October 1963) was a British anarcho-communist and a prominent member of the Anti-Parliamentary Communist Federation (APCF). He founded the Bakunin Press publishing house and edited ...
.
In March 1912 Gawthorpe resigned due to poor health and disagreements with Marsden. In September 1912,
W H Smith
WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and m ...
refused to carry ''The Freewoman'' and in October 1912, the journal folded. In June 1913 Marsden started ''
The New Freewoman
''The New Freewoman'' was a monthly London literary magazine edited by Dora Marsden and owned by Harriet Shaw Weaver. Initially, Rebecca West was in charge of the literary content of the magazine, but after meeting Ezra Pound at one of Violet ...
'' which was more concerned with literary modernism than feminism and was funded by
Harriet Shaw Weaver
Harriet Shaw Weaver (1 September 1876 – 14 October 1961) was an English political activist and a magazine editor. She was a significant patron of Irish writer James Joyce.
Life
Harriet Shaw Weaver was born in Frodsham, Cheshire, the sixth of e ...
''The Freewoman'' was a feminist journal/newspaper in publication during the early twentieth century in Britain.
Dora Marsden
Dora Marsden (5 March 1882 – 13 December 1960) was an English suffragette, editor of literary journals, and philosopher of language. Beginning her career as an activist in the Women's Social and Political Union, Marsden eventually broke ...
founded ''The Freewoman'' in November 1911, but the paper was also co-edited by
Mary Gawthorpe
Mary Eleanor Gawthorpe (12 January 1881 – 12 March 1973) was an English suffragette, socialist, trade unionist and editor. She was described by Rebecca West as "a merry militant saint".
Life
Gawthorpe was born in Woodhouse, Leeds to John Ga ...
. Despite being edited by both women, Gawthorpe's name and influence in the feminist society was used by Marsden to give the paper creditability and popularity. The paper was rooted in more radical feminist ideals that stretched beyond strictly suffrage. Marsden focused the paper around the discussion of sex and the idea of being sexual, causing many issues to arise amongst readers. After the first issue of ''The Freewoman'', the female readers, many of whom grew up during the Victorian era of feminism, thought the views presented did not reflect the ideals of the feminism they had grown to understand. One of their main objectives was the papers very obvious discussions and references to sex.
In the paper's first issue it stated that it sought to represent the feminist movement through intellectual thought by actual feminists of the time. It touched on the idea of marriage, motherhood, sexuality, women's rights, and the domestic man. Its radical approach on these ideas seemed misplaced for the twentieth century, however its influence amongst the feminist and sexual radicals was greater than its small circulation implied.
''The Freewoman'' ideals
According to many of the female readers, ''The Freewoman'' expressed beliefs more radical than most feminists during the early twentieth century. In the paper's first issue it discussed the definition of marriage. To ''The Freewoman'' marriage did not only mean men and women, nor did it mean that a couple had to have children. To the women who were raised during the Victorian era, this concept of marriage did not register with them. Marriage in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and even in the current day, meant a man and woman and usually resulted in children. However, with the job opportunities and improved possibility of economic and social independence from the years preceding and during the war, women were able to forge a new identity separate from the confines of marriage.
As feminism began to grow throughout the twentieth century, the paper began to put a new label on these more radical feminists - 'The New Woman'.
''The Freewoman'' began to redefine and transform feminism from being solely related to suffrage and the suffrage movement, but to show feminism in its purest form. It aimed to say that feminists needed to strive for more than just the right to vote. Marsden's rather liberal and forward thinking opinion on the definition of feminism is what caused future debates amongst other prominent feminists of the time. The New Woman was to be a politically, socially and economically independent woman. ''The Freewoman'' did not reject the domestic life that most women during the twentieth century lived, but rather used the domestic life of a woman as a tool to show women that they could take an active role in protecting their interests.
In the paper's third publication it discussed the idea of the domestic man. It raised the idea that a man can do the work of a woman in the domestic sphere. The goal was to “work towards the evolution of the New Housekeeping.” Its rationale hinged on the argument that the house and its inner workings were no different from that of a restaurant or even a milliner's shop. The paper also suggested the idea of communal cooking and man and wife dividing up the household duties that would allow women to work outside of the domestic life. This idea of the domestic man also supported the idea of the homosexual family. With a man being able to do the domestic work, it presented the idea that man and man could live as a couple. To say that this openly happened is not likely, however ''The Freewoman'' implied and even supported this life style choice. The paper again showed its liberal and progressive beliefs with its idea of the domestic man.
The Freewoman stated that: "It is high time for a reversal of the servile notion of government from above. Free government proceeds from the individual outwards, not from the sum total inwards. It is for this reason that, considering the trend of Syndicalism, we are of the opinion that it is likely to make a far more intimate appeal to the nation than Socialism ever has. Its aims are the same: the means of production and exchange to be the property of the community as a whole, but under Syndicalism the control of conditions of work are to be in the hands of those who perform it."
The Big Debate
With the papers candid nature of expressing many of its beliefs, there were bound to be arguments. One of it biggest criticisms and continuous debates with some readers came from its stance on the suffrage movement. It openly challenged the ideals of the movement and its organization. Despite being co-edited, these views were mainly the opinions of Marsden and not Gawthorpe. With the paper's belief that feminism was more than just the right to vote, its views on the suffrage movement were unlike most feminists in Britain during the twentieth century. During this era women were fighting for the right to vote and to be regarded as political equals amongst men. Not all feminists believed in complete female independence from the strongholds of the normative female life. ''The Freewoman'' wanted to stray away from this concept of feminism. It wanted women to not only be politically equal, but economically and socially self-sufficient as well. It rooted its beliefs in complete female independence from the norms of society.
The Closing Years
The publication of ''The Freewoman'' did not last long. Its final paper was published in 1912, but was later revived in May 1913 with the new title ''The New Freewoman''. Despite the attempts to revive the paper and inspire more readers, the paper finally ended publication in 1914. Its publication did not reach a large market, mostly due to its views on feminism and the suffrage movement. The paper, but more specifically Dora Marsden's beliefs and opinions were far too liberal and progressive for its early twentieth century audience. The audience was still rather conservative in their views. It would not be until the years of the Great War that women began to take small strides in some of the ideals that ''The Freewoman'' expressed. Despite having an extremely small circulation, the paper's strong beliefs and opinions were widely known and debated against and provided the impetus for future feminist activists.
*Doughan, David and Denise Sanchez, (1987) ‘’Feminist Periodicals’’ ()
*Bland, Lucy (1995 Heterosexuality, Feminism and The Freewoman Journal (Retrieved May 27, 2007)
*''The Freewoman'', Facsimile Reprint of Volume 1 & 2 (47 issues), ()
*Delap, Lucy. “Philosophical vacuity and political ineptitude’: ''The Freewoman''s critique of the suffrage movement.” ''
Women's History Review
''Women's History Review'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal of women's history published by Routledge. The editor-in-chief is June Purvis (University of Portsmouth) and Sharon Crozier-De Rosa is deputy editor.
Abstracting and indexin ...
''. 11.4 (2002). 614. EBSCOhost. Web. 18 Feb. 2013
*Franklin, Cary. “Marketing Edwardian Feminism: Dora Marsden, Votes for Women and ''The Freewoman''.” ''Women’s History Review'' 11.4 (2002): 632-636. Historical Abstracts. Web. 19 Feb. 2013
*Marsden, Dora, and Mary Gawthorpe. ''The Freewoman''. 1.1 (1911): 1-5. Print (pdf)
*Marsden, Dora, and Mary Gawthorpe. ''The Freewoman''. 1.3 (1911): 4. Print (pdf)
Modernist Journals Project The Modernist Journals Project (MJP) was created in 1995 at Brown University in order to create a database of digitized periodicals connected with the period loosely associated with modernism. The University of Tulsa joined in 2003. The MJP's websit ...