‘Guilty Women:’ Conspiracy and Collusion

Women’s Organisations, Active Citizenship, and the Peace Movement: New Perspectives on Female Activism in Britain, 1918-1939

“…24 Gottlieb has coined the phrase 'natural pacifists' to describe the enduring essentialist view that women as mothers had a particular interest in preventing war. 25 These labels are apt, but require caution in use. Linking female engagement in peace activism with either feminist or maternalist motives risks overlooking additional factors that prompted women to campaign for peace.…”

“…119 This steadfast commitment to peace, even as it became clear that Fascism threatened to destroy the democratic ideals championed by the NCW, led to the Council being identified amongst the 'guilty women' who failed to stand up to Fascism. 120 In line with the policy of the WYWCA, the YWCA continued to promote the cause of peace in the two years before the Second World War broke out. In January 1938, the YWCA reaffirmed its support of the League and hoped that its 40,000 members 'do know these expressions of public opinion they have recently supported'.…”