Some suffragettes, including Sylvia Pankhurst, of the militant Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), showed scant regard for the sensitivities of the occasion, asserting that – as “women and children first” was the “universal” rule – the men’s actions were not “chivalrous”, and insisting their sacrifices did nothing to offset the shoddy way women were treated in everyday life.

This is really the problem, if a man says he's going to do something, there's plenty of room for skepticism. Put "women" in there and they're suddenly shocked when women with power behave the same way the worst men with power do.