Leonora Cohen - Second Wave of Feminism

Second Wave of Feminism

Since Cohen lived to the age of 105, she witnessed the second wave of feminism in the 1970s and for the second time in her life, Cohen was brought back into the public eye. Cohen was labelled as a feminist and her actions taken as a suffragist in Britain helped modern feminists look at their development over time. Brian Harrison interviewed over 200 people, including Cohen, as a part of his project: Oral History of the Suffragette and Suffragist. In the interview, Cohen discusses her role in the 1911 rally and her experience of her first arrest: “ it was so packed. And the mounted police were out. And when we got up to the palace gate, I can also remember so clearly the police there on horseback and that is where I was knocked down.” Cohen describes the violence and huge crowds at the rallies. Her recollections of these moments in history were brought back into focus during the 70s. These moments were seen as encouragements to modern day feminists.

Scholars later analyzed Cohen’s life as a suffragist. Jemal Nath argued that vegetarianism was linked to feminism. The suffrage movement in the late nineteenth century was used as an example. Cohen’s vegetarianism, along with other suffragists, was seen as a way for women to spend less time in the kitchen because they did not have to prepare meat. Therefore, they could spend more time pursuing interests outside of the home. It is unclear if the suffragist’s husbands were vegetarian as well. In the early twentieth century, it was assumed that the wife prepared dinner for the family so if the husband still ate meat, then it would not matter if the wife was vegetarian, she would still need to spend time making dinner. Cohen’s life is continually used as an example of early-day feminism and is often analyzed.