Why was the vote considered to be so important in first wave feminism?

... Why was the vote considered to be so important in first wave feminism? Throughout this essay I intend to look at the period in history which defined first wave feminism and I seek to analyse why the vote was considered so important. To begin this essay I want to start with a discussion of the term 'first wave feminism' in order to get a better understanding of the subject. 1.First wave feminism refers to the first concerted movement working for the reform of women's social and legal inequalities in the nineteenth century. First wave feminists were those that fought for a woman's right to vote and achieved it, these women are often referred to as suffragists or suffragettes. Meanwhile the term suffrage refers to the mobilisation of the whole suffrage movement in America, England, Australia and New Zealand between the 1880s and 1920s. in comparison second wave feminism often refers to

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