Question

Women's suffrage would take many years to become a reality. Why did legislation giving women the right to vote take so long to pass, even though the plight of women became a major concern during the Industrial Revolution?

The only people who could write the legislation were men who did not want women to have any power.

This type of legislation would change the structure of government too much to be considered.

Most British women did not want the right to vote because they were afraid of the responsibility it held.

The unspoken rules of British society still expected women not to participate in public life in a visible way.

Answer 1

The unspoken rules of British society still expected women not to participate in public life in a visible way.

Explanation: Victorian gender ideology (“separate spheres”) and entrenched social norms held that women belonged in the home and were unsuited to politics. Lawmakers, institutions, and public opinion reflected those beliefs, so enfranchising women faced cultural resistance and slow, incremental change despite growing awareness of women’s industrial hardships. (War service and long suffrage campaigns eventually shifted attitudes enough for reform.)