With women making up 51% of the Scottish population voting in the referendum on September 18th, what independence holds for women could be a key factor in deciding the outcome.
The last time women possessed such influence was after the First World War when the Representation of the People Act was introduced to thank them for their war effort. The franchise was initially extended to a proportion of women over 30 with the vote only being given to all women over 21 in 1928. Such a concession was not as generous as it was made to appear. After the carnage of the First World War, women greatly outnumbered men. Had every woman been given the vote, women would have had a majority say in the running of the country and that would not have been spiffing at all.
In researching her book ‘Scotland’s Hidden Harlots and Heroines’, Fife author Annie Harrower-Gray discovered that for the biggest part of the three hundred years since the acts of Union, not only have Scottish women been excluded from the the decision making that has shaped their history but left out of the history books altogether. Women who did take the initiative, such as Colonel Anne, a determined lady who persuaded her husband’s tenants to join the Jacobite Army by either charming or shooting them, hardly receives a mention. Flora MacDonald, feminine and subservient is the heroine of the 45 Rebellion.
Much of the legislation enacted over the last three centuries has worked against women rather than for them. An Act Annent the Murdering of Children, also known as ‘The Concealment of Pregnancy Act’ introduced in 1690, saw single mothers hanged for murder if they did not seek the services a midwife and the child died or was stillborn.
By 1828 the church’s grip on Scottish Society was loosening, and in July of that year, a woman was auctioned by her husband in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket. Mary Mackintosh stood in front of a crowd of several thousand spectators wearing a placard around her neck declaring her a drunkard to be sold by public auction. She received a handful of bids from a Highlander, a tinker and a drunken brogue maker before several hundred of the town’s womenfolk, each armed with a boulder in a stocking, cut their way through the crowd. On reaching the auctioneer, they scratched his face for so insulting a woman. The Police broke up the riot but did not offer the abused wife any protection. Frightened to continue, the auctioneer was given two bodyguards by the crowd. The unwanted wife was eventually sold to a farmer for two pounds and five shillings.
The introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1961 and the abortion Act of 1967 gave women more control over both their bodies and minds but have women today reached the stage of full autonomy or are there still battles to be fought?
Since the nineteen sixties, women have been able to decide the size of their families but is having a family at all, still holding some back when it comes to realizing their full potential? Has an inadequate national child care system meant that women have up until now been unable to take up the training or work that would see them in the jobs they feel best suited for?
One of the important choices facing many women on 18th September is whether or not Scotland should invest in a high quality childcare system to support parents in work. The present number of hours of childcare may be adequate for some mothers but the thirty hours of quality care for one year olds and over proposed for an independent Scotland, could mean all the difference to women seeking a more suitable job, or even those who just want to take on more hours to improve the family income.
The last time women possessed such influence was after the First World War when the Representation of the People Act was introduced to thank them for their war effort. The franchise was initially extended to a proportion of women over 30 with the vote only being given to all women over 21 in 1928. Such a concession was not as generous as it was made to appear. After the carnage of the First World War, women greatly outnumbered men. Had every woman been given the vote, women would have had a majority say in the running of the country and that would not have been spiffing at all.
In researching her book ‘Scotland’s Hidden Harlots and Heroines’, Fife author Annie Harrower-Gray discovered that for the biggest part of the three hundred years since the acts of Union, not only have Scottish women been excluded from the the decision making that has shaped their history but left out of the history books altogether. Women who did take the initiative, such as Colonel Anne, a determined lady who persuaded her husband’s tenants to join the Jacobite Army by either charming or shooting them, hardly receives a mention. Flora MacDonald, feminine and subservient is the heroine of the 45 Rebellion.
Much of the legislation enacted over the last three centuries has worked against women rather than for them. An Act Annent the Murdering of Children, also known as ‘The Concealment of Pregnancy Act’ introduced in 1690, saw single mothers hanged for murder if they did not seek the services a midwife and the child died or was stillborn.
By 1828 the church’s grip on Scottish Society was loosening, and in July of that year, a woman was auctioned by her husband in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket. Mary Mackintosh stood in front of a crowd of several thousand spectators wearing a placard around her neck declaring her a drunkard to be sold by public auction. She received a handful of bids from a Highlander, a tinker and a drunken brogue maker before several hundred of the town’s womenfolk, each armed with a boulder in a stocking, cut their way through the crowd. On reaching the auctioneer, they scratched his face for so insulting a woman. The Police broke up the riot but did not offer the abused wife any protection. Frightened to continue, the auctioneer was given two bodyguards by the crowd. The unwanted wife was eventually sold to a farmer for two pounds and five shillings.
The introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1961 and the abortion Act of 1967 gave women more control over both their bodies and minds but have women today reached the stage of full autonomy or are there still battles to be fought?
Since the nineteen sixties, women have been able to decide the size of their families but is having a family at all, still holding some back when it comes to realizing their full potential? Has an inadequate national child care system meant that women have up until now been unable to take up the training or work that would see them in the jobs they feel best suited for?
One of the important choices facing many women on 18th September is whether or not Scotland should invest in a high quality childcare system to support parents in work. The present number of hours of childcare may be adequate for some mothers but the thirty hours of quality care for one year olds and over proposed for an independent Scotland, could mean all the difference to women seeking a more suitable job, or even those who just want to take on more hours to improve the family income.
For women seeking employment in today’s job market, the realistic choice is often between several low paid jobs with few hours. It is still expected in some areas that women will take the lower paid job in order that men may have the full time employment.
In nearly a decade the minimum wage has failed to rise in line with inflation. Had it done so, some of Scotland’s lowest paid workers would be around six hundred and seventy five pounds better off. Of the 400,000 Scots working for less than a living wage the majority are women. As Westminster only adds a few pence to the minimum wage each year, this state of affairs is unlikely to change in the forseeable future. In an independent Scotland, public workers will continue to be paid a living wage and private companies encouraged to follow suit. The minimum wage will rise in line with inflation.
At present the financial benefits of successful employment initiatives by the Scottish Government, such as further education funding and other training programmes go to Westminster. An Independent Scotland would be able to retain those benefits and re-invest them in the Scottish people. This would lead to more diverse job opportunities for women with a fairer level of pay.
Those are just a few of the many choices women will have to make before casting their vote on 18th September 2014, the hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. A great number of Scottish women who contributed so much to running of the country then, were denied their say after the 1914 war. Could 2014 be the year when women enter the history books as having shaped a fairer and more prosperous Scotland not only for women, but for everyone.
‘Scotland’s Hidden Harlots and Heroines’ an alternative view of Scotland’s turbulent history, seen through the eyes of the nations women, was published by Pen and Sword on 1st March, and is available to purchase via amazon.
In nearly a decade the minimum wage has failed to rise in line with inflation. Had it done so, some of Scotland’s lowest paid workers would be around six hundred and seventy five pounds better off. Of the 400,000 Scots working for less than a living wage the majority are women. As Westminster only adds a few pence to the minimum wage each year, this state of affairs is unlikely to change in the forseeable future. In an independent Scotland, public workers will continue to be paid a living wage and private companies encouraged to follow suit. The minimum wage will rise in line with inflation.
At present the financial benefits of successful employment initiatives by the Scottish Government, such as further education funding and other training programmes go to Westminster. An Independent Scotland would be able to retain those benefits and re-invest them in the Scottish people. This would lead to more diverse job opportunities for women with a fairer level of pay.
Those are just a few of the many choices women will have to make before casting their vote on 18th September 2014, the hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. A great number of Scottish women who contributed so much to running of the country then, were denied their say after the 1914 war. Could 2014 be the year when women enter the history books as having shaped a fairer and more prosperous Scotland not only for women, but for everyone.
‘Scotland’s Hidden Harlots and Heroines’ an alternative view of Scotland’s turbulent history, seen through the eyes of the nations women, was published by Pen and Sword on 1st March, and is available to purchase via amazon.