The Freewoman

The Freewoman was a feminist weekly published between 23 November 1911 and 10 October 1912 and edited by Dora Marsden and Mary Gawthorpe.

Although The Freewoman published articles on women's waged work, housework, motherhood, the suffrage movement, and literature, its notoriety and influence rested on its frank discussions of sexuality, morality, and marriage. The Freewoman urged tolerance for male homosexuality, advocated for free love, and encouraged women to remain unmarried.

The Freewoman's editorial stance distinguished it sharply from the attitude of suffragists like Millicent Fawcett, who was so disturbed at the journal's approach to sexuality that she tore the first issue into little pieces.

In March 1912 Gawthorpe resigned due to poor health and disagreements with Marsden. In September 1912, W H Smith refused to carry The Freewoman and in October 1912, the journal folded.

Although its circulation probably never exceeded 200, it had a significant influence in Modernist circles. Among its contributors were Rebecca West, H. G. Wells, Edward Carpenter, and Guy Aldred.

In June 1913 Marsden started The New Freewoman which was more concerned with literary modernism than feminism and was funded by Harriet Shaw Weaver. In 1914, The New Freewoman became The Egoist.

The Freewoman was a feminist journal/newspaper in publication during the early twentieth century in Britain. Dora Marsden founded The Freewoman in November 1911, but the paper was also co-edited by Mary Gawthorpe. Despite being edited by both women, Marsden initially used Gawthorpe for her name and influence in the feminist society to give the paper creditability and popularity. The paper was rooted in more radical feminist ideals that stretched beyond strictly suffrage. Marsden focused the paper around the discussion of sex and the idea of being sexual, causing many issues to arise amongst readers. After the first issue of The Freewoman, the female readers, many of whom grew up during the Victorian era of feminism, thought the views presented did not reflect the ideals of the feminism they had grown to understand. One of their main objectives was the papers very obvious discussions and references to sex. In the paper’s first issue it stated that it sought to represent the feminist movement through intellectual thought by actual feminists of the time. It touched on the idea of marriage, motherhood, sexuality, women’s rights, and the domestic man. Its radical approach on these ideas seemed misplaced for the twentieth century, however its influence amongst the feminist and sexual radicals was greater than its small circulation implied.

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