젠더, 몸, 정치적 권리 - 영국여성 참정권 운동가의 이미지분석 - (Gender, Body and Political rights: Thoughts on the Images of British Suffragists)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 영국사학회
· 수록지 정보 : 영국연구 / 24호 / 179 ~ 210페이지
· 저자명 : 이남희

초록

영국 여성참정권운동의 주요 구성원은 대체로 중간계급의 딸이었다. 그들에게 참정권운동에의 참여는 제한된 성별 역할을 벗어나서 사회적 가치를 실현하는 출구 중의 하나였다. 그러나 보수적인 통념을 가진 당대인들이 보기에 참정권을 요구하는 여성들은 여성으로서 매력을 잃고 사랑받을 자격을 잃어버린 부적격자였다. 당시 여성참정권운동가들은 평등한 정치적 권리를 획득하는 동시에 자신들에 대한 부정적 시선을 극복해야 하는 이중의 과제를 갖고 있었다. 그래서 그들이 스스로를 표현하는 방식은 당대에 칭송받는 ‘여성다움’의 이미지를 거부하기보다 적극적으로 수용하는 쪽이었다. 하지만 여성참정권운동가들은 ‘여성다운’ 몸에 대해 단순히 순응, 저항의 이분적인 도식을 넘어서 보다 다면적인 전술을 구사했다고 볼 수 있다. 특히 시위에 참여했다가 수감된 여성참정권운동가들은 단식투쟁을 선택해서 투표권의 주장과 더불어 자신의 몸에 대한 스스로의 통제 권한을 회복하려 했으며 잔 다르크라는 성별 구분이 모호한 인물을 운동의 상징적인 지도자로 등장시켜 빅토리아 시대의 여성다움의 전형성을 전복시키려 했다. 여성은 몸을 규율하는 미시권력의 영향 안에 있었던 것은 분명하지만, 일방적으로 훈육만 받는 대상이 아니라 협상하고 투쟁하는 주체였다.

영어초록

In Britain, the leading figures of the women’s suffrage movement in the late 19th century to the early 20th century were mostly daughters of the middle class. Participation in the movement was a way for them to break away from limited gender role and to realize social participation. However, contemporaries had negative views about the phenomenon. Conservative opinion leaders at the period thought of women, who were active in the movement, as unattractive, love-deprived characters. Therefore, the women’s suffrage societies had double tasks to carry out: to acquire gender equality in political rights, and to overcome hostile critics from the main stream society toward their gender identity.
In confronting the opponents, suffragists needed to persuade the public that possessing equal political rights as men did not necessarily mean the loss of their femininity. Sometimes, they tried to accept the feminine virtue the society praised at the time. Their aim was to wipe out the mistrust that they were unpleasant looking and bad mothers or wives. Postcards, posters and satires of the period illustrated confrontations between pros and cons regarding the images of women activists.
However, suffragists also commanded a multifaceted tactic rather than a simple dichotomy of adjusting or resisting to “feminine image.” For instance, they brought up Joan of Arc, who is vague in the distinction of gender, as a symbolic leader of the political movement. By performing Joan of Arc during mass meetings, they showed an alternative image other than the typical feminine image of the Victorian age. Furthermore, suffragists in jail chose hunger strikes to recover control over their own bodies. It seems certain that a suffragist who went through fast fight and force feeding was not just a victim but an agent to struggle against the power controlling over women’s body, Though women in suffrage movements were under the gaze of the patriarchy society, they were not simple objects of unilateral discipline at all.

참고자료

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