What Can Professional Women Learn from Suffragettes?

“We work a third longer hours for a third less pay” Maud Watts — played by Carey Mulligan — explained to a baffled parliamentarian in Suffragette.

As the film’s end credits rolled, I would have liked to breathe a sigh of relief that this sort of thing has been relegated to the dustbin of history. Instead, leaving the cinema I recalled a recent Guardian article that showed just how, in 2015, the gender pay gap is still alive and well, thank you very much.

The film’s success proves there is an appetite for recognizing both the historical context and the on-going issues around gender inequality. The (eventual) triumph of the suffrage movement in the face of overwhelming odds is certainly inspiring. We would do well, though, to not only remember and celebrate their struggles, but also to look at how those principles and tactics can still apply in the modern world, and to professional women as they pursue their careers.

Deeds, not words

Long before Mad Men, suffragettes used catchy slogans and impactful imagery to get their message across to a broader audience. That message only worked once it was backed…