영국 의회와 ‘왈가닥 유권자’의 형성과 해체 - 잊혀진 차별 속의 차별화된 범주, 1918-28 - (The British Parliament and the Making and Unmaking of the ‘Flapper Vote’ - A Forgotten Double-Discriminated Category, 1918-28 -)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 영국사학회
· 수록지 정보 : 영국연구 / 21호 / 175 ~ 210페이지
· 저자명 : 홍석민

초록

1918년 이전까지 여성들은 참정권과 관련하여 가장의 ‘남성적 독립성’을 대표하는 여러 기준과 ‘공/사 분리 영역’ 논리에 의해 성차별을 받았다. 그러나 1차 대전이 야기한 국가적 필요성과 사회적 변화로 인해 이런 성차별적인 기준과 논리는 정당성을 상실했다. 그럼에도 불구하고 의회는 ‘인구 위기’ 즉 여초 현상에 대한 공포 때문에 다수 여성 유권자에 의한 정치 지배를 막기 위해서, 1918년에 30세 이상의 여성에게만 ‘기혼 여성 선거권’을 부여한 반면, 21-29세의 젊은 여성에게는 선거권을 부정하면서 이들에게 ‘미혼 여성 유권자’를 의미하는 ‘왈가닥 유권자’라는 인위적인 범주를 부과했다. 정치 능력을 갖추지 못했다고 규정된 ‘왈가닥 유권자’는 ‘공/사 분리 영역’ 논리에 의해 여전히 성 차별을 당하고, 또 자의적으로 고안된 연령 규제에 의해 같은 여성들 가운데서도 세대 차별을 당하는 존재가 되었다. 그러나 1928년에 보수당은 지난 10년 동안의 경험을 통해서 (젊은) 여성들도 정치적ㆍ지적 능력 갖고 있으며, 이들이 하나의 단일한 성ㆍ세대 집단도 아니고 집단 투표를 하지도 않으며, 당의 선전ㆍ정치교육에 의해 보수당 지지자가 될 수도 있다는 점을 깨닫고서, 21-29세의 여성에게도 선거권을 부여했다. 이로써 ‘왈가닥 유권자’라는 범주는 사라졌다.

영어초록

British women had been denied the franchise until 1918 on the
grounds of the theory of separate spheres as well as the notion of
male householders’ manly independence which was represented by
economic independence based on property owning and class,
domestic virtues and respectability, and physical forces. The
franchise thus was a gendered notion. However, the national
necessities and social changes caused by the First World War
destroyed the notion of manly independence. In particular, women’s
various wartime services and sacrifices seriously undermined the
validity of the theory of separate spheres.
Nevertheless, terrified at the ‘demographic crisis’ in which women,
particularly young women, were expected to outnumber men in
politics and other fields, male politicians in 1918 granted the vote
only to women of 30 and above who were defined as essentially
wives of householders possessing political and intellectual capacities
requested in the political public sphere. The female franchise was a
‘matrons’ vote’ and a kind of household suffrage. Meanwhile, the
young women between 21 and 29 were denied the vote because
they were defined as those who were young unmarried and, thus,
lacked necessary political and intellectual capacities. They were
doubly discriminated not only by the gendered theory of separate
spheres but also by the arbitrarily devised age/generation regulation.
They were called the ‘flapper vote,’ a category which wasartificially forged in order to prevent women from dominating British politics.
In 1928, the Conservative Party learned from the 10-year
experience that women including the ‘flapper vote’ had such high
intellectual capacities as to make sound political decisions and that
they were never one solid sex or generation group, nor voted as
one female group. The Party also realized that its hard efforts for
propaganda and political education could make women support the
Party itself. It was this political calculation that made the Party
enfranchise the young women. Finally, the category of the ‘flapper
vote’ dissolved.

참고자료

· 없음