Ju-Jitsu Suffragettes
October 2, 2018 8:30 PM Subscribe
In 1914 suffragettes learned to fight back. It’s Edwardian Era Glasgow, circa 1914, and the stress mounting in St. Andrews’s Hall is unbearable. Flocks of Suffragettes and policemen are waiting for the woman of the hour, Emmeline Pankhurst, to magically surface and fight against her own arrest — the tension is so palpable, you could cut it with a knife. Or karate-chop it, which is exactly what “the Bodyguard”, a top-secret secret society of feminists, decided to do. They were corseted, they were clever, and they could flip a man over like a pancake.
And here's a link about the woman who taught them to fight: Edith Garrud
And here's a link about the woman who taught them to fight: Edith Garrud
I'm not unfamiliar with the history of the Suffragettes, but this is news to me. I'm glad to finally know it, and I hope the message is spread far and wide. I think it may have modern-day applications.
posted by bryon at 10:42 PM on October 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by bryon at 10:42 PM on October 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
I haven't seen it yet but there is a documentary, No Man Shall Protect Us: The Hidden History of the Suffragette Bodyguards
suffrajitsu: The suffragette Amazons in history
and a trio of graphic novels: Suffrajitsu: Mrs. Pankhurst's Amazons
Emmeline Pankhurst was also depicted in the Civil Rights episode of Drunk History.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:45 PM on October 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
suffrajitsu: The suffragette Amazons in history
and a trio of graphic novels: Suffrajitsu: Mrs. Pankhurst's Amazons
Emmeline Pankhurst was also depicted in the Civil Rights episode of Drunk History.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:45 PM on October 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
Well, this made me feel better after a shitty day.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:09 PM on October 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:09 PM on October 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
Our great-Grandmas were total badasses.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:19 PM on October 2, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:19 PM on October 2, 2018 [3 favorites]
Flocks of Suffragettes
And I ran, I ran so far away...
posted by rory at 1:53 AM on October 3, 2018 [5 favorites]
And I ran, I ran so far away...
posted by rory at 1:53 AM on October 3, 2018 [5 favorites]
Same shitty day, also made me feel better. We need these women in Congress.
posted by mermayd at 5:28 AM on October 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by mermayd at 5:28 AM on October 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
Previously on Metafilter (different link, same subject).
posted by verstegan at 5:33 AM on October 3, 2018
posted by verstegan at 5:33 AM on October 3, 2018
HOW IS THIS NOT A MOTION PICTURE?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:43 AM on October 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:43 AM on October 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
HOW IS THIS NOT A MOTION PICTURE?
I guess because gagging & force-feeding prisoners isn't very cinematic if you're not fully prepared for it, and the context of why they had to physically fight against cops and other men is a bit of a bring-down. even so, there was 2015's "Suffragette," which I guess does not satisfy.
I mean: you can make a movie about suffragettes; people have. it is a good idea. you can make movies about Kent State or the Black Panthers or internment camps or the priest abuse coverup; again, people have. it is a good idea. but active resistance to state violence does not need to be treated as some kind of cute and empowerful retro kitsch dancing-bear situation whenever it's women doing it. I would even say it shouldn't be treated that way.
posted by queenofbithynia at 8:27 AM on October 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
I guess because gagging & force-feeding prisoners isn't very cinematic if you're not fully prepared for it, and the context of why they had to physically fight against cops and other men is a bit of a bring-down. even so, there was 2015's "Suffragette," which I guess does not satisfy.
I mean: you can make a movie about suffragettes; people have. it is a good idea. you can make movies about Kent State or the Black Panthers or internment camps or the priest abuse coverup; again, people have. it is a good idea. but active resistance to state violence does not need to be treated as some kind of cute and empowerful retro kitsch dancing-bear situation whenever it's women doing it. I would even say it shouldn't be treated that way.
posted by queenofbithynia at 8:27 AM on October 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
> I guess because gagging & force-feeding prisoners isn't very cinematic if you're not fully prepared for it, and the context of why they had to physically fight against cops and other men is a bit of a bring-down. even so, there was 2015's "Suffragette," which I guess does not satisfy.
In 2004 there was "Iron Jawed Angels," which focused on the early US women's suffrage movement and does indeed depict force-feeding.
posted by desuetude at 8:41 AM on October 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
In 2004 there was "Iron Jawed Angels," which focused on the early US women's suffrage movement and does indeed depict force-feeding.
posted by desuetude at 8:41 AM on October 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
I mean the martial arts aspect specifically. If Suffragette depicts that, I may have missed out after all, middling reviews aside.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:32 AM on October 3, 2018
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:32 AM on October 3, 2018
I think there would be a large, enthusiastic audience for a historical film focused on Edith Garrud and the Bodyguards. It's overdue.
posted by homunculus at 10:55 AM on October 3, 2018
posted by homunculus at 10:55 AM on October 3, 2018
If Suffragette depicts that, I may have missed out after all, middling reviews aside.
"Edith Garrud does not feature in the new film but one of its stars, Helena Bonham Carter, has paid her own tribute by changing her character’s name from Caroline to Edith in her honour."
posted by homunculus at 11:02 AM on October 3, 2018
"Edith Garrud does not feature in the new film but one of its stars, Helena Bonham Carter, has paid her own tribute by changing her character’s name from Caroline to Edith in her honour."
posted by homunculus at 11:02 AM on October 3, 2018
Self promo link here-- I actually depict some suffragette style jiu-jitsu in my Edwardian romance novelette, A Great Wide Blue Stillness, set in 1914 Pasadena, available in the Cocky Cockers charity anthology. (Amazon)
It's great to see this being posted about on the Blue (again), but I enjoy seeing it every time.
posted by suburbanbeatnik at 1:28 PM on October 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
It's great to see this being posted about on the Blue (again), but I enjoy seeing it every time.
posted by suburbanbeatnik at 1:28 PM on October 3, 2018 [3 favorites]
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