Celebrating the centenary of the Six Point Group

 

Tuesday 16 February 2021

 

Speakers

Felicia Willow, Interim CEO of the Fawcett Society; Denise Fowler, CEO of Women’s Pioneer Housing; Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East.

chair

Gail Mellors, freelance reporter and presenter, and Senior Lecturer in Broadcast and Convergence Journalism, Nottingham Trent University

 

WATCH THE PANEL

 

on the day

The panel took place live, between 3pm and 4pm GMT. Viewers tuned in from the UK and Canada.

 

What the audience said

“It has expanded my horizons”

“thanks to the amazing women who spoke on today’s panel. I am truly inspired”

“it was right to mark the anniversary with the present day issues”

 

REVIEWs

Read brilliant reviews of the panel by Simone Fraser and Grace Pells, MA Journalism students.

 

about the event

Founded in February 1921, the Six Point Group was Britain’s leading equal rights feminist organisation during the interwar years. Established by feminist luminaries including Time and Tide’s founder, Lady Margaret Rhondda, and its editor, Helen Archdale, the Group counted among its members several other key Time and Tide figures including Professor Winifred Cullis, Cicely Hamilton, Winifred Holtby, Vera Brittain, and Rebecca West. The Group campaigned for a Six Point ‘Women’s Programme’ aimed at improving women’s welfare and employment rights at a moment when the political, occupational, and social horizons of many were expanding. First unveiled in Time and Tide’s 19 November 1920 issue, this Programme demanded “satisfactory legislation” for:

  1. Child assault
  2. The unmarried mother and her child
  3. The widowed mother
  4. The guardianship of infants
  5. Equality in the civil service
  6. Equality of teachers’ pay

A key campaign tactic of the Six Point Group was to hold MPs to account for their voting records on issues relation to women. Drawing on this, our speakers reflected on their own experiences of campaigning for women’s causes, inside and outside UK Parliament.

How far has feminism come since 1921? What has feminism still to achieve?

A key area of focus was on how women’s welfare and employment are being affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

An advertisement for the Six Point Group listing the group's six campaign points and telling readers where to find out more
Six Point Group advertisement in Time and Tide. Reproduced courtesy of McMaster University Library

 

We would like to extend our thanks to The Women’s Library at the London School of Economics for hosting this event.