Male Voices on Women's Rights

In the nineteenth-century feminist pantheon, John Stuart Mill and William Thompson have always loomed large, eclipsing the many other men of thought, letters and action who worked to promote women's rights. This anthology aims to shed light on these under-appreciated figures by bringing together a unique collection of seminal, little-known and forgotten writings ranging from 1809 to 1913.

The texts - drawn from diaries, essays, parliamentary speeches, pamphlets, newspaper articles and sermons - testify to the part played by the radical tradition, liberal political culture, religious dissent and economic criticism in the development of women's politics in nineteenth-century Britain. They also provide insight into the tensions, contradictions and ambiguities of position provoked by shifting patterns of masculinity and re-definitions of femininity, and will help revise common assumptions and misconceptions regarding male attitudes to sex equality.

With a substantial historical introduction that adds value to the interpretative framework preceding all selected extracts, Male voices on women's rights is a timely complement to the rare scholarly studies undertaken in recent years on men's roles in the history of feminism, and will be of interest to students and scholars alike.