Henrietta Dugdale – Freethinker and Suffragist

This synopsis tracks the story of Henrietta Dugdale, a leading light of the women’s liberation movement in pre-Federation Australia. Throughout the nineteenth century, women were treated as emotional and fragile, unable to govern themselves. In this social setting, Dugdale challenged the suffocating patriarchal structures of the day with her provocative prose and political willpower. She campaigned tirelessly for equality and for the victory of reason over cruel religious dogma. With her fellow suffragists, she changed irrevocably how women were treated within the family and the broader society.