It's been more than 100 years since Emmeline Pankhurst rushed parliament, demanding that women get the vote.
Now, her great-granddaughter Helen, along with grassroots organisation UK Feminista (and some of the Olympic opening ceremony suffragettes) is leading a group of young feminists for a very modern lobby of parliament.
Why? According to Kat Banyard, author and founder of UK Feminista, because it’s about time women were listened to.
"The demand has changed but while there have been massive advances since then we've still got a very long way to go,” she tells The Huffington Post UK.
On 19 February 1906 Emmeline Pankhurst led hundreds of women to the Houses of Parliament to lobby MPs
“I think we've seen a massive rolling back of women's equality in the past two years... there has been a resurgence in feminism, a doubling of feminist activists groups, but at the same time we've got increasing threats coming from parliament to hard won rights," she says.
“Too often the issue of women's rights and sexism is left off the agenda and only by us all taking action will we make sure it's put back there and that we see the advances that we so desperately need."
Suffragettes marching in London
Banyard says women’s inequality has been a “side issue” in parliament, pointing to recent “attacks” on abortion time limits by the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and culture secretary and women’s minister, Maria Miller.
“What we'll be doing on Wednesday is putting feminism and women's rights back where they belong, at the heart of government,” she says.
Then there's Page 3, which Banyard describes as “emblematic of the sexism that is still rampant in this society.”
Banyard describes Page 3 as 'emblematic of the sexism that is still rampant in this society'
“Page 3 is but one part of a wider problem of women being relentlessly objectified and dehumanised. On Wednesday we'll be calling on urgent action by the government supporting recommendations in the Leveson inquiry to stop discrimination against women in the press,” she says.
The group will be joined by Bpas, the Fawcett Society, end violence against women coalition Women for Refugee Women, Daycare Trust and Object as well as Conservative MP Amber Rudd, Green MP Caroline Lucas and Labour MP Yvette Cooper who are all speaking at the “unique event.”
In response to questions about if she should just calm down (dear), Banyard maintains that there have been a series of “backlashes” against women’s rights.
“The reason that people are mobilising and coming to parliament is to create a world where women and men are equals, we need to take action,” she says.
"What is clear is that women's inequality and the fact their voices aren't being heard has real consequences.. the fact that the government have enacted a series of devastating cuts to welfare and services, the fact that they didn't take into account the fact that women live different lives means they have been hit disproportionately by these cuts.”
Then there’s cuts to domestic violence services, which she claims are putting women at risk.
The group, which Banyard expects will be hundreds-strong will ask MPs to take action to end the “sexualisation” of women in the media, take action to support women seeking asylum, protect reproductive rights, support investment in childcare for all and ask schools to support education about prevention of violence against women and girls - a shopping list of demands which will gain support from MPs across the country.
In a statement, Dr Helen Pankhurst said she lobbying the Commons was "as urgent and vital as it has ever been", 106 years after her great-grandmother did.
"In the century since the Suffragettes lobbied parliament much has changed for women, yet age-old inequalities persist and new forms arise.
"Politicians and other leaders can and must do more to tackle the serious injustices against women that persist - and the human rights violations that they contribute to - and that continue to thwart our potential as a society.
"Women and men coming together on one day in a mass lobby of parliament is a perfect way to remind our leaders that we expect more from them – they can and must do more!"
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Granddaughter Of Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr Helen Pankhurst Leads A Lobby Of Parliament On The Erosion Of Women's Rights
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Campaigners, some dressed as suffragettes, attend a rally organised by UK Feminista to call for equal rights for men and women on October 24, 2012 in London, England. Hundreds of women from around the UK will congregate in Westminster to attend a rally and lobby their local MPs to demonstrate against any legislation that damages women's rights. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Granddaughter Of Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr Helen Pankhurst Leads A Lobby Of Parliament On The Erosion Of Women's Rights
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Campaigners, some dressed as suffragettes, attend a rally organised by UK Feminista to call for equal rights for men and women on October 24, 2012 in London, England. Hundreds of women from around the UK will congregate in Westminster to attend a rally and lobby their local MPs to demonstrate against any legislation that damages women's rights. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Granddaughter Of Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr Helen Pankhurst Leads A Lobby Of Parliament On The Erosion Of Women's Rights
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Campaigners, some dressed as suffragettes, attend a rally organised by UK Feminista to call for equal rights for men and women on October 24, 2012 in London, England. Hundreds of women from around the UK will congregate in Westminster to attend a rally and lobby their local MPs to demonstrate against any legislation that damages women's rights. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Granddaughter Of Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr Helen Pankhurst Leads A Lobby Of Parliament On The Erosion Of Women's Rights
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Campaigners, some dressed as suffragettes, attend a rally organised by UK Feminista to call for equal rights for men and women on October 24, 2012 in London, England. Hundreds of women from around the UK will congregate in Westminster to attend a rally and lobby their local MPs to demonstrate against any legislation that damages women's rights. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Granddaughter Of Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr Helen Pankhurst Leads A Lobby Of Parliament On The Erosion Of Women's Rights
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Campaigners, some dressed as suffragettes, attend a rally organised by UK Feminista to call for equal rights for men and women on October 24, 2012 in London, England. Hundreds of women from around the UK congregated in Westminster to attend a rally and lobby their local MPs to demonstrate against any legislation that damages women's rights. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Granddaughter Of Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr Helen Pankhurst Leads A Lobby Of Parliament On The Erosion Of Women's Rights
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Campaigners, some dressed as suffragettes, attend a rally organised by UK Feminista to call for equal rights for men and women on October 24, 2012 in London, England. Hundreds of women from around the UK congregated in Westminster to attend a rally and lobby their local MPs to demonstrate against any legislation that damages women's rights. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Granddaughter Of Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr Helen Pankhurst Leads A Lobby Of Parliament On The Erosion Of Women's Rights
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Campaigners, some dressed as suffragettes, attend a rally organised by UK Feminista to call for equal rights for men and women on October 24, 2012 in London, England. Hundreds of women from around the UK congregated in Westminster to attend a rally and lobby their local MPs to demonstrate against any legislation that damages women's rights. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Granddaughter Of Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr Helen Pankhurst Leads A Lobby Of Parliament On The Erosion Of Women's Rights
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Campaigners, some dressed as suffragettes, attend a rally organised by UK Feminista to call for equal rights for men and women on October 24, 2012 in London, England. Hundreds of women from around the UK congregated in Westminster to attend a rally and lobby their local MPs to demonstrate against any legislation that damages women's rights. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Granddaughter Of Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr Helen Pankhurst Leads A Lobby Of Parliament On The Erosion Of Women's Rights
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Campaigners dressed as suffragettes attend a rally organised by UK Feminista to call for equal rights for men and women on October 24, 2012 in London, England. Hundreds of women from around the UK congregated in Westminster to attend a rally and lobby their local MPs to demonstrate against any legislation that damages women's rights. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Granddaughter Of Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr Helen Pankhurst Leads A Lobby Of Parliament On The Erosion Of Women's Rights
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Campaigners, some dressed as suffragettes, attend a rally organised by UK Feminista to call for equal rights for men and women on October 24, 2012 in London, England. Hundreds of women from around the UK congregated in Westminster to attend a rally and lobby their local MPs to demonstrate against any legislation that damages women's rights. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Granddaughter Of Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr Helen Pankhurst Leads A Lobby Of Parliament On The Erosion Of Women's Rights
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Campaigners dressed as suffragettes attend a rally organised by UK Feminista to call for equal rights for men and women on October 24, 2012 in London, England. Hundreds of women from around the UK congregated in Westminster to attend a rally and lobby their local MPs to demonstrate against any legislation that damages women's rights. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Granddaughter Of Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr Helen Pankhurst Leads A Lobby Of Parliament On The Erosion Of Women's Rights
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Campaigners dressed as suffragettes attend a rally organised by UK Feminista to call for equal rights for men and women on October 24, 2012 in London, England. Hundreds of women from around the UK congregated in Westminster to attend a rally and lobby their local MPs to demonstrate against any legislation that damages women's rights. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Granddaughter Of Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr Helen Pankhurst Leads A Lobby Of Parliament On The Erosion Of Women's Rights
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Dr Helen Pankhurst (R), granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, and her daughter Laura Pankhurst, join campaigners at a rally organised by UK Feminista in Parliament Square to call for equal rights for men and women on October 24, 2012 in London, England. LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Hundreds of women from around the UK, some dressed as suffragettes, congregated in Westminster to attend a rally and lobby their local MPs to demonstrate against any legislation that damages women's rights. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Granddaughter Of Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr Helen Pankhurst Leads A Lobby Of Parliament On The Erosion Of Women's Rights
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 24: Campaigners dressed as suffragettes attend a rally organised by UK Feminista to call for equal rights for men and women on October 24, 2012 in London, England. Hundreds of women from around the UK congregated in Westminster to attend a rally and lobby their local MPs to demonstrate against any legislation that damages women's rights. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
It's been more than 100 years since Emmeline Pankhurst rushed parliament, demanding that women get the vote.
Now, her great-granddaughter Helen, along with grassroots organisation UK Feminista (an...
It's been more than 100 years since Emmeline Pankhurst rushed parliament, demanding that women get the vote.
Now, her great-granddaughter Helen, along with grassroots organisation UK Feminista (an...
However much you dress it up in ideas of gentility and kindness (and a wimple), at the core of the concept is still the idea that women are weaker, and that we need men to lend us that helping hand.
Rarely, in recent memory, has something I read crawled so under my skin. I chanced upon Natalie Gyte's vitriolic and irrational diatribe against Eve Ensler and her recently launched One Billion Rising (OBR) campaign right before I was about to go to bed. The factual, philosophical and logical craters in Gyte's essay 'Why I Won't Support One Billion Rising' swallowed my sleep for the night. But what truly kept me awake were the unnecessary personal attacks against a brave woman and her path-breaking work.
As much as I hate to admit, this is still a man's world. But I don't think feminism is going to change it... I don't like being called a feminist. I'm a woman. That's it. Just because I believe women should be equal doesn't mean I want to pick up a placard and protest. In fact, I'm not alone.
Thinking about recent local events, it is disturbing in the extreme that women have been called 'whore' and 'slut' by their male Union members when attempting to speak in debating contests. Here in the 21st Century the association between a woman's open mouth and her 'open' sexuality are again, however subconsciously or otherwise, being disseminated.
When I see women sweeping the streets, collecting the wheelie bins, bricklaying, putting up scaffolding digging the roads...I will say equality has now arrived.
tripcony: When I see women sweeping the streets, collecting the wheelie
I don't understand these people at all... I am a woman and have NEVER felt that I have less rights because of my gender.. If you want to work for women's rights, do that in a country where they are forced to hide their faces, terrified of breaking some idi**ic Sharia law instead!
Stop talking about women as victims all the time, maybe that's why you feel so underprivileged because you put yourself in that position?
No, what you should focus on are equality, women AND men's rights...
Because you DO know that there are boys growing up here that go through similar problems as girls, not to have any voice, see half naked muscular perfect men, think a man have to be big, strong and cool to get a girl?
scocic: I don't understand these people at all... I am a
But they need you to feel victimised and underpriviledged otherwise you'd have no need for heroic advocates to champion your interests and concerns. They are proving their credentials and demonstrating their leadership abilities. There are good career opportunities for such women.
aphoriac: But they need you to feel victimised and underpriviledged otherwise
“The reason that people are mobilising and coming to parliament is to create a world where women and men are equals, we need to take action,” she says.
I would suggest that Kabul is the ideal environment for these "frontline" feminista protests, but realistically our brave armed forces would have to place there own lives at risk to rescue the feministas from there kidnappers.
There isn't a single poppy being worn in the numerous photos, it's not compulsory, but the poppy appeal was being launched a few hundred yards away in Trafalgar Square. There are plenty of brave women, amongst the fallen, whose sacrifice should be commemorated, I suspect that they marched past the memorial in Whitehall which does exactly that with complete indifference.
Tommy_Atkins: “The reason that people are mobilising and coming to parliament
It was a woman who purchased Playboy brand underwear, with the brand name to be worn visible to all, for my then ten year old and it was the child's mother who told me not to be 'silly' in objecting to the child wearing it. I am, tired of women's hypocrisy. It is women who primarily exploit their gender, bodies and sexual appeal.
It is primarily mothers who inculcate into young boys the very attitudes they object to in adult men.
GearoidOD: It was a woman who purchased Playboy brand underwear, with
Isn't he saying that he doesn't like the hypocrisy that many women exhibit when these issues are discussed? Isn't he allowed to say this without being accused of disliking women? If you make a criticism of a particular group of men or the behaviour that some men exhibit, is it because you dislike men?
aphoriac: Isn't he saying that he doesn't like the hypocrisy that
I take it you don't like men much, especially ones that dare to have an opinion which doesn't meet the feminist dogma, and even worse dares to voice it!
piran: I take it you don't like men much, especially ones
Page 3 = David Beckham with his top off.
Women like to look at attractive men.
Men like to look at attractive women.
And page 3 / stupid aftershave ads are not the cause of that - it's tacky, and i avoid them both like the plague, but they're getting the cart before the horse to think that objectification exists because of these things... these things only exist and continue *because* objectification is a natural human behaviour.
Thankfully, quite a lot of people (and i'd like to count myself amongst that number) are able to recognise the real aspects of themselves, admit the tacky stuff and aim for the higher stuff that counts a little more.
Page 3 is an aunt sally, and there are genuine, better causes to fight for, i personally believe.
Lykos: Page 3 = David Beckham with his top off. Women
It's not an aunt Sally. It's a stalking horse. It's a fundamental and necessary part of the underpinning of a fundamentally dishonest and discriminatory ideology.
aphoriac: It's not an aunt Sally. It's a stalking horse. It's
again the cheaper, easier target because of appearance' sake, not because of where the real fight is: And *that's* the main reason why this is an aunt sally.
Lykos: again the cheaper, easier target because of appearance' sake, not
There is extraordinary amounts of sexism in TV ads -- directed at men. Men are shown as titillating sex objects for women, shown in slow-motion taking clothes off tanned & muscular bodies. The same sexual objectification would never be permitted to be broadcast into people's homes with women as the object. And I say this as a gay man who has no interest in looking at page 3.
coolstuck: There is extraordinary amounts of sexism in TV ads --
Ads also make men out to be thick, one ad has a woman flashing at a man, one has a woman "beating up" a man, none of which would be allowed if the other way round!
Most of my women friends have confessed to me over a glass of wine that all they really want is a strong minded man to come along and look after them and make everything alright.I beleive a real genuine old fashioned king of guy completes a woman and an old fashioned genuine kind of woman completes a guy...they love each other and feed each other in humour in caring in sharing ,in there souls ,in love.Theres nothing more beautiful.To my mind all women are my equal,all men are my eual.There is no question.
geezer7261: Most of my women friends have confessed to me over
See, I was with her right up until she started having a go at Page 3...a recent campaign against badger culling got well over 100,000 names, the one against Page 3 barely made it to 35,000 even with all the publicity about it.
Why I hear you ask?
Because looking at women's breasts is just something men do, something that's not going to stop if you ban Page 3 (and presumably The Star, The Sport and every lad's mag out there as well) but more importantly because most women don't care if a man takes a quick look at Page 3 (and believe me girls, most of the time it's a quick glance then we move on to the sport pages) so long as they don't get obsessed about it. Besides, what about the WonderBra ads or the Calvin Klein male models? Boxing matches with the girls in bikini's? Topless beaches? Porn on the internet?
We either live in a free society or we don't, if you start banning things basically because you don't like them that's censorship followed by dictatorship, hardly feminist is it?
Nathan0316: See, I was with her right up until she started
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The Huffington Post UK | By Dina Rickman Posted: 24/10/2012 08:04 BST | Updated: 22/04/2013 15:52 BST