'… an impressive contribution to the history of the struggle for women's rights. Griffin's close attention to the ways in which politicians' gender shaped their responses to women's rights issues sheds new light both on the winning of those rights and on constructions of Victorian masculinity.' Maureen Martin, Victorian Studies

This groundbreaking history of Victorian politics, feminism and parliamentary reform challenges traditional assumptions about the development of British democracy and the struggle for women's rights and demonstrates how political activity has been shaped by changes in the history of masculinity. From the second half of the nineteenth century, Britain's all-male parliament began to transform the legal position of women as it reformed laws that had upheld male authority for centuries. To explain these revolutionary changes, Ben Griffin looks beyond the actions of the women's movement alone and shows how the behaviour and ideologies of male politicians were fundamentally shaped by their gender. He argues that changes to women's rights were the result not simply of changing ideas about women but also of changing beliefs about masculinity, religion and the nature of the constitution, and, in doing so, demonstrates how gender inequality can be created and reproduced by the state.

Part I. Introduction: 1. 'Feminism' and the history of women's rights
Part II. Masculinity and the Struggle for Women's Rights: 2. The domestic ideology of Victorian patriarchy
3. Class, liberalism and the erosion of Victorian domestic ideology
4. Religious change and the transformation of domestic ideology
5. The politics of paternity
6. Performing masculinities in the House of Commons
Part III. Political Culture and the Struggle for Women's Rights: 7. Classes, interests and parliamentary reform
8. The instability of the 1867 settlement, the secret ballot, and women's suffrage
9. Redefining 'fitness': from the educated voter to household suffrage
10. The road to democracy, 1885–1906
11. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Gender studies, gender groups [JFSJ], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], British & Irish history [HBJD1]