"In this intelligent and thoughtful work, Susan Kingsley Kent contends that the campaign for women's suffrage was not narrowly political but was, rather, the culmination of a unified feminist movement whose chief objective was the abolition of 'the double standard of morality, prostitution, and the sexual objectification and abuse of women.' ... a lively, well-written and clearly argued book."
Deborah Gorham, Modern Europe "This is a valuable addition to existing work on two counts: it expands our understanding of the nature of the radicalism of first wave feminism, and the interconnectedness of many issues; it reinforces the growing realisation that suffragism was much more than a 'single-issue' campaign resting solely on restricted liberal notions of equality... [The book] offers a stimulating and provocative introduction to the area, and one certain to spark fresh interest and debate."
Sandra Stanley Holton, Gender and History "[Kent's] starting point is that Christabel Pankhurst's cry, 'Votes for Women; Chastity for Men,' is less the manic aberration that historians have assumed than a statement of one motivating theme of the women's movement. Many women detected as a source and prop of their subordination, the sexual double standard... [Kent argues] originally and convincingly [that] 'private' and 'public' experiences were not distinct but closely interrelated; and many feminists perceived that the public world could not be reshaped without the private changing also."
Pat Thane, Parliamentary History