Britain 11- social and cultural change Flashcards
How did differences between the rich and poor change during the 1920s?
the disparity between the living standards in the poorest an the wealthiest parts of the country widened
what 4 examples of legislation was passed between 1922-29 to give women greater legal equality?
1923- matrimonial causes act
1924- the guardianship of infants act
1926- the new English law of property
1928- the representation of the people act
what did the matrimonial causes act mean?
women no longer had to prove cruelty, desertion or another cause in addition to adultery as ground for divorce
what did the 1924 guardianship of infants act mean?
gave guardianship of infant children to both parents jointly
what did the new English law of property 1926 mean?
allowed both married and single women to hold and dispose of their property on the same terms as men
what did the representation of the people act 1928 mean?
gave women over 21 the vote
what were women encouraged to do after the war?
to return home or to their traditional occupations so did not compete with men in what were considered male only occupations
how many women (reluctantly) returned to domestic work after war?
reached 1.6 million by 1931
what traditional area of work for women was biggest area of growth in 1920s for female employment? how many employed?
clerical work
over 1 mill employed as typists or clerks by 1921, by 1929 this had grown to 300,000
what were the problems with women’s jobs during 1920s?
remained in jobs that required long hours and low skills even if educated and continued to work for lower wages than men
what is the ‘marriage bar’?
meant female employees, in particular teachers, nurses, doctors and cleaners were sacked as soon as they were married
how much did the number of female teachers drop to due to the ‘marriage bar’?
1921- 187,000
1931-181,000
what percentage of women were expelled from their jobs each year due to the ‘marriage bar’?
4
how did govts encourage women to stay home and have babies?
emphasised in many magazines for women which painted a picture of married bliss and motherhood in an ideal home
even though women were adopted as parliamentary candidates for main parties, how were they still prejudiced?
they were mainly candidates in constituencies where the party was unlikely to win
what percentage of HOC were women in 1924 election?
1
who was the first female cabinet minister and when?
Margaret Bondfield- 1929
women never made up more than ?% of MPs
5
which organisations did women play a key role in outside the formal structures of govt?
(NUSEC) -National Union for the Societies of Equal Citizenship
co-operative guilds and local labour groups
women’s institutes
what did NUSEC do and who led it?
lobbied parliament to gain further legislative equality, such as welfare benefits for married women
what did co-operative guilds and labour women’s groups do?
women’s groups helped educate working class women by holding lectures and discussion groups on a wide range of topics
what did the women’s institutes do?
became a place where women could meet other women, organise charitable events and other activities and also hear speakers on various topics
how did women’s fashion change after the war?
dress of the Edwardian era disappeared. hems rose, waistlines dropped, corsets disappeared. young fashionable women wore their hems at knee level
how did hairstyles change after the war?
now cut short in bobs often worn with a close-fitting bell-shaped hat
other cultural changes for women after war?
seen in public more often, began to smoke, wear make-up, go to cinema or dance hall, some women had access to birth control
what was the BBC’s aim?
the education of the public interns of culture
what was the negative surrounding development of ‘popular culture’?
remained a big divide between ‘high’ culture pursued by the upper and middle classes and ‘low’ culture enjoyed by the working classes
what was the most important form of mass communication in the 1920s?
newspapers
what did the amount of newspapers increase from in 1920 to in 1930?
1920- 2 papers
1930- 5 papers
give 3 examples of women’s magazines
high quality- vogue and Harper’s Bazaar
cheaper- Women’s weekly
give some examples of new titles in boys magazines in the 1920s
Adventure, The Rover and The Wizard
who were the most famous box-office stars and why was this a problem?
American actors and by 1925 only 5% of all films shown in Britain were made by British film companies
who was the great British star of the silent movies?
Charlie Chaplin
what act associated with cinema was passed in 1927? and what did it mean?
the cinematograph act- ensured that 7.5% of films shown had to be British
why was the cinematograph act a success and a failure?
s- larger audiences for British films
f- created a market of poor quality, low cost films made in order to satisfy quota
when did the British Broadcasting Company become the BBC?
1926
how did the sole broadcaster General manager Lord Reith describe radios aim?
‘inform, educate and entertain’ people
give 2 writers who were war veterans during the 1920s and what they challenged?
Charles Montague and Ford Maddox Ford who challenged pre-war assumptions in their literature
