Chapter 7: Social And Cultural Change Flashcards
How did the increase in the availability of television in the 1960s impact Britain?
created uniformity of culture and ended the isolation of distant communities
How did the percentage of the population with a TV in their household change between 1961 and 1971?
In 1961 75% of households had a TV by 1971 it was 91%
Who became Director-General of the BBC in 1960?
Hugh Greene
How did the BBC change after Hugh Greene became Director-General?
-money was diverted from radio to television
-guidelines on nudity and swearing were revised
-a new style of news presentation and more popular programmes were commissioned
When was ITV launched?
1955
How did the launch of ITV help advertising to expand?
advertisers could get straight into family sitting rooms and tempt customers with attractive models that reinforced the brand name of goods
When was BBC2 launched?
April 1964
When was the the first broadcast of regular colour programmes?
July 1967 (on BBC2)
What assisted radio in surviving the expansion of mass media?
development of cheap and portable transistors and spread of car radios
What was the impact of the development of cheap and portable transistors?
-radios could be taken out or listened to in privacy
-teenagers no longer had to listen to what their parents wanted to listen to
-development of programmes that were targeted at different audiences
When were “pirate stations” invented?
1964
What happened after pirate stations were banned in 1967?
BBC Radio One was started which made use of former pirate DJs in order to convert former listeners
When was the Sun launched?
1964
How did the Sun grow in popularity?
-replaced the serious working class newspaper the Daily Herald
-bought by Rupert Murdoch in 1969 who associated the newspaper with the more permissive attitudes of the age, expanding its popularity
Why did leisure time expand in the 1960s?
fewer people were expected to work on weekends
How much of leisure time did TV account for by 1969?
23%
How did growth of TV affect other hobbies?
live theatre and attendance of live events such as football shrank rapidly
What percent of journeys did car account for by 1974?
77%
Why did cars become more affordable in the 1960s?
technological developments
How did cars affect leisure activities?
-permitted travel to alternative shopping centres- became a leisure activity in its own right due to mass production
-opened up accessibility to leisure facilities and activities such as caravanning and golf- leisure became a profitable business
When was Brittanica Airways founded?
1964
Who was able to go on holiday at this time?
costs of air travel meant holidays abroad were still largely reserved for the middle classes
How did travel abroad impact Britain?
began to add some continental flavour into British taste leading to creation of restaurants and wine bars to cater for these new tastes
When did the Post Office tower opened?
1965
What was the purpose of the Post Office Tower?
improve telecommunications
What did new plays have to do before they could be performed?
had to gain a license from the Lord Chamberlains Office
What did the Lord Chamberlain’s office have the power to do it?
could demand that material that it considered inappropriate or immoral was removed, theatre owners could be prosecuted if a play did not have approval
What did backbencher George Strauss introduce in 1967?
a bill to abolish theatrical censorship
When did George Strauss’ bill pass?
1968 (with Roy Jenkins support and testimony of famous actor Laurence Olivier)
How did the cast of Hair celebrate the abolishment of theatre censorship?
13 members of the cast stood up and faced the audience naked on stage for 30 seconds at the Shaftesbury Theatre
How did film censorship change in the 1960s?
saw the gradual broadening of what was seen as acceptable, by the end of the decade screen violence and sex had become more acceptable and explicit but did not create an immediate wave of decadence and largely legitimised changes which were already taking place
as the 1960s progressed issues such as sex violence politics and religion which had previously been banned or considered unsuitable for public broadcasting were tackled e.g. Darling (1965)
What is first wave feminism?
feminism which focuses on suffrage and legal equality
What were the attitudes towards women in the 1950s and 60s?
duty of a woman was to be a good wife and mother keeping a clean home and feeding husband and children- especially amongst the working classes
What is second wave feminism?
women’s rights movement which broadened debate to include sexuality, women’s rights over their bodies, the workplace, domestic violence etc.
When did second wave feminism origninate?
occurred after the publishing of The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan in 1963
What did Friedan argue in the “Feminine Mystique”?
women were unfulfilled by their restrictive lives
What percentage of women were students in higher education in 1970?
28%
What percentage of women reached managerial posts by 1970?
5%
How were working mothers portrayed by the media in the 1950s and 60s?
selfish and unnatural
When was the Family Planning Act passed?
1967
What did the Family Planning Act allow?
allowed local authorities to provide contraception and contraceptive advice
What were the consequences of the Family Planning Act?
no. of illegitimate births and marriages ending in divorce rose
How did the no. of illegitimate births rise after the Family Planning Act?
5.8% in 1960 to 8.2% in 1970
How was the feminist movement encouraged?
publication of articles and books exploring the position of women e.g. Women: the Longest Revolution by Julie Mitchell (1966)
What was the purpose of Women’s Liberation groups?
to campaign for social and economic equality for women
When was the first National Women’s Liberation Conference held?
Ruskin College, Oxford in February 1970
What were the 4 demands put forward at the National Women’s Liberation Conference?
-equal pay
-free abortion and contraception on demand
-equal job and education opportunities
-free 24 hour childcare
When was the Matrimonial Property Act passed?
1970
What did the Matrimonial Property Act do?
recognised work of wife should be taken into account in divorce settlements
When was the Equal Pay Act passed?
1970 by enforced in 1975
What did the Equal Pay Act do?
established the principle of equal pay for equal work
Overall how successful was the 1960s feminist movement?
despite some breakthroughs inequalities and discrimination still existed and traditional stereotyping of roles remained strong
What is the “permissive society”?
refers to a time of sexual liberation, with changes in public and private morals and a new openness, used by critics negatively who believed it was a decline in conventional moral standards
Why was the Catholic Church hostile to the contraceptive pill?
argued it was contrary to God’s law and therefore sinful
How were permissive ideas spread by the media?
through “teen magazines” and decline in censorship
Who was Mary Whitehouse?
moral campaigner who heavily criticised the “permissive society”
When was the National Viewers and Listeners Association set up?
1965
What impact did Mary Whitehouse have?
Despite the NVLA having over 100,000 members and her intense lobbying Whitehouse failed to have any impact on the programmes shown
Give an example of how the “permissive society” was seen
spread of drug culture
How did drug use change in the 1960s?
cocaine and heroin addiction became over 10x more prevalent at the start of the decade and the use of soft drugs was more commonplace by the end of the decade
promoted by the “hippy lifestyle” and musicians such as the Beatles
When was the Dangerous Drugs Act passed?
1967
What did the Dangerous Drugs Act do?
made it unlawful to possess drugs such as cannabis and cocaine
What did the Wootton Report of 1968 suggest?
legalising soft drugs (rejected by Home Secretary James Callaghan)
What did the maximum sentence for supplying drugs increase to in 1970?
14 years
What did surveys by Micheal Schofield on the sexual behaviour of young people in 1965 show?
most young people were either virgins on marriage or married their first and only sexual partner
What were the factors that helped to create a youth generation which was more inclined to question norms and assert its right to choose?
rising living standards, growth of leisure time and the spread of education
What did young people clash with their parents over?
fashion, musical taste, moral standards and changing attitudes surrounding sex and drugs
How did fashion change in the 1960s?
-became acceptable to wear the same outfit to work and in the evening
-women wore trousers
-men started to wear velvets, satins and brightly coloured fabrics
How did changing fashions impact Britain socially?
helped override/mask some of the old social divisions in Britain both between sexes and classes
How did TV adapt to the changing music tastes of young people?
created shows such as Top of the Pops in 1964
How did new music programmes impact young people?
spread the latest trends in music, dress, attitude etc.
How did new technology impact music culture in Britain?
technology such as cheap plastic record players made music accessible to all
Give an example of a youth subculture which emerged in the 1960s
Hippies- who rejected social conventions and establishment attitudes while embracing “flower power” and favouring alternative lifestyles emphasising peace, environmentalism etc.
What was the social impact of the Vietnam War in Britain?
-youth culture and political activism merged in opposition to the Vietnam War
-in the summer of 1965, there were teaching on Vietnam at Oxford and LSE- considerable Vietnam support from uni students
When was the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign set up?
1966
When was the Battle of Grosvenor Square?
1968
Summarise the events of the Battle of Grosvenor Square
violent anti-Vietnam war demonstration in London near the American Embassy which ended in around 2000 people being arrested
How many people attended the Battle of Grosvenor Square?
25,000
Give an example of another anti-war protest which occurred in 1968
At Sussex, a speaker on the Vietnam war from the American embassy was covered in red paint
What did a survey in North London in 1965 show about social tensions in the 1960s?
-1 in 5 objected to working with black or Asian people
-half said they would refuse to live next door to a black person
-9 out of 10 disapproved of mixed marriages
When was the first Race Relations Act passed?
1965
What did the first Race Relations Act do?
-forbade discrimination in public places “on the grounds of colour, race or ethnic or national origins” but discrimination in housing and employment were excluded
-set up the Race Relations Board which complaints were referred to and whos job was to conciliate between the two sides
When was the Commonwealth Immigration Act passed?
1968
Why was the Commonwealth Immigration Act passed?
alarm over the sudden influx of Kenyan Asians
What did the Commonwealth Immigration Act do?
limited the right of return to Britain for non-white Commonwealth citizens
When did Enoch Powell make his “rivers of blood” speech?
April 1968
What happened to Powell after his “rivers of blood” speech?
strongly condemned by the liberal Establishment and sacked from Heath’s shadow cabinet
What happened after Powell was sacked?
strikes by dockers and meat porters in London and protest marches to Downing Street
What did a Gallup poll show in regards to public support for Powell?
75% of the population agreed with what he had said
When was the second Race Relations Act passsed?
1968
What did the second Race Relations Act do?
-banned racial discrimination in housing, employment, insurance and other services
-Race Relations Board given stronger powers
What were the problems with the second Race Relations Act?
employers could discriminate against non-white people in the interests of “racial balance” and complaints against the police were excluded from the law
How many of the complaints about discriminatory employment did the Race Relations Board uphold between its establishment and January 1972?
10% of the 1241 complaints it received
When did the Notting Hill Carnival become an annual event?
1964
How were new foodstuffs introduced in Britain?
through the introduction of Asian corner shops and Chinese takeaways
How were hippies influenced by ethnic communities?
-music e.g. Caribbean
-fashion e.g. Indian scarves and ethnic beads
-customs e.g. meditation, yoga and soft drugs
