Feminism and the Servant Problem was the second of two books I picked for a comparative book review project for a history class this semester. In this book, Laura Schwartz takes an in-depth look at the 'Servant Problem' of late Victorian/Edwardian England. This being the conflict between middle to upper-class housewives and their domestic servants. Schwartz examines the contradictions of upper-class feminist activists of the time's relationships with their own female domestic labourers and dives into the activism of the labourers themselves and the role of domestic work within feminist movements.

I gained so much historical context for feminist thought during this period. Schwartz's refreshingly modern take on the radical activism of the time was illuminating. As a feminist who's family has employed domestic labour for my whole life this book's thorough exploration of this historical struggle forced me to consider the intersections of class and feminism more deeply and more personally than I ever did before.

This book also introduced to me the truly radical perceptions of women's labour that were being fought for by many feminists of the time. We often have an incredibly myopic view of what Suffragists were. We see them were white upper-class ladies fighting exclusively for the vote, but so many of the feminist activists of the time wanted a radical change in the view of domestic labour and were working to revolutionize the view of domestic work.

One thing I really appreciated about this book was its dedication to addressing intersectionality. Obviously, this book exists at the intersection of feminism and class, but even further Schwartz goes out of her way to address race and queerness throughout the text. While there isn't much to say on the interactions English suffragists had with racial issues I appreciated Schwartz noting that people of colour did in fact exist as domestic labourers in this time even if there wasn't a historical president for parallel activism on that front.

Even more impactful than that was Schwartz's highlighting of Kathlyn Oliver. She was a domestic servant and activist who also happened to be a lesbian. The fact that she was a lesbian didn't have much to do with her activism and another historian may very well have left those bits out of their recountings, but it was nice to see that Schwartz didn't erase this part of Kathlyn's identity even if it wasn't strictly relevant.

Feminist and the Servant Problem was an illuminating read on the intersections between domestic labour and feminist of the era. Between reading this and Gillian Scott's Feminism Femininity and the Politis of Working women I feel I have a much more depth understanding of the intersections between class and the British suffrage movement in the Edwardian era.