OSCAR WILDE ON SEXUAL POLITICS

If we wish to gauge our men of the past, should we not determine on which side of history they stand? Or is that presentism?

To help you decide, take the political rights of women, for instance. At the time of the suffragist movement in Britain, women were second-class citizens under the law. One honorable gentleman in the House of Commons asked, “is the House prepared to hand over the government of this country to women, the majority of whom…do not understand the responsibilities of life?”

This was a view that resounded to the crown of the establishment. In 1907, King Edward VII wrote to the Liberal Prime Minister, Henry Campbell-Bannerman: “I rejoice to see that you put your foot down regarding the Channel Tunnel…I only wish you could have done the same regarding Female Suffrage. The conduct of the so-called Suffragettes has really been so outrageous and does their cause (for which I have no sympathy) much harm.”