Feminist Language and Discourse in the British Suffrage Press

Words as Deeds

Martina Guzzetti

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040397275
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Women in History
• Index: Social Sciences

Feminist Language and Discourse in the British Suffrage Press: Words as Deeds offers a comprehensive exploration of feminist discourse, focusing on the dynamic and evolving concept of gender within the context of British suffrage periodicals from 1907 to 1914.

Though its motto was 'deeds, not words', the movement for British women's enfranchisement exploited the press to convey its message and aid the campaign. Adopting a (socio)linguistic perspective and a discourse analysis methodology, the book focuses on the theme of gender and on the development of feminist counter-language and counter-discourses using articles taken from the three major suffrage publications: Votes for Women, The Vote, and Common Cause. Through a combination of corpus linguistics and discourse analysis, the study of the interplay of language, representation, gender, and power provides insights into how these publications challenged and reshaped societal norms, with a specific focus on the case of medical misogyny.

Feminist Language and Discourse in the British Suffrage Press: Words as Deeds challenges traditional views of suffrage activities, and is of value to researchers in fields such as feminist studies, language and gender studies, and periodical studies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• Introduction
• 1. Feminism and language
• 2. Feminist words
• 3. The renegotiation of gender and language
• 4. Countering medical misogyny
• Conclusion
• References
• Index