Is There a Difference Between a Suffragist and a Suffragette?

The titles suffragist and suffragette sound similar—and we wouldn’t blame you for thinking they were synonyms. Both describe various activists in the women’s suffrage movement in the United States and Great Britain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But a suffragist and a suffragette weren’t exactly the same…and, a hundred years ago, calling a person the wrong one could even be offensive. Let’s get into the history. The word suffragist first appeared in the early 19th century, mostly referring to voting rights for free Black Americans. By the end of the century, though, the term had been almost entirely co-opted by the women’s suffrage movement (in which, in turn, white women received an outsize amount of the publicity and credit). Suffragists were largely characterized by their dedication to nonviolence: they believed women would achieve the right to vote through peaceful methods like marches, handing out pamphlets, and public speeches. The word suffragette emerged much later, first appearing in print in 1906 when a British reporter used it as a derogatory term regarding women’s suffrage activists. The suffix -ette served as a diminutive in an attempt to minimize the women’s cause. Instead of being offended, some British groups—particularly the more radical ones—reclaimed the term as a positive one. Suffragettes didn’t limit themselves to handing out pamphlets. They damaged public property, spit at police, set things on fire, and often ended up in jail. They weren’t just asking for the right to vote—they were demanding it. While a few American women adopted the suffragette name and methods, most considered the term to be offensive. While you could likely call a suffragette a suffragist with little problem, you wouldn’t want to make the mistake the other way around.