The Scylla and Charybdis of the Working Woman

Pro-female suffrage propaganda postcard representing the dilemma of the working woman through the imagery of the Scylla and Charybdis. Here the working woman depicted as 'heroine' steers a cause between devil and the deep blue sea with sweated labour on the one hand and prostitution and sexual exploitation on the other.

Pro-suffragists highlighted the issue of enforced prostitution by arguing it was the poor pay of sweated labour and homework that drove women to prostitution as much as well as the greed and lust of men. They argued, therefore, giving women the right to vote and representation in parliament would undermine economic and sexual exploitation by men.