External Factors Flashcards
Impact of Feminism 1
Improved the position of women in society
Changes in the law which have established legal equality between men and women in employment [EX. the Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act].
Encourage girls to gain qualifications as they see their future in terms of work and careers.
Impact of Feminism 2
McRobbie
Studied girls’ magazines from the 1970s and 1990s.
Found that in the 1970s, magazines emphasised the importance of getting married
In the 1990s they contained images of strong, independent women.
Example of the social changes brought about by Feminism.
Criticism - Impact of Feminism
Reay
Hasn’t affected all girls, [e.g. w/c have limited aspirations for careers as they face limited job opportunities. Marriage and motherhood are more achievable and a source of status]
Changes in the family
Increase in divorce and in lone parent families, created a new type of positive role model for girls [a financially independent woman]
To achieve this independence, women need well paid jobs which need high qualifications.
Encourages girls to remain in education.
Criticism - Changes in the family
New Right
Lone mothers are negative role models, they’re dependent on benefits
Girls’ Changing Ambitions 1
Ambitions and expectations have changed from being a wife and mother.
Change in women’s ambitions has been caused by the Feminist movement, changes in the family and the employment market.
Girls’ Changing Ambitions 2
Sue Sharpe
Carried out two interviews
1st set carried out in the 1970s. Girls’ priorities included marriage, love, husbands and children. Saw educational success as unfeminine.
2nd set carried out in the 1990s. Findings were exactly the opposite.
Girls’ ambitions from marriage and motherhood to education and career and leads to their educational success.
Girls’ Changing Ambitions 3
Beck and Beck-Gernsheim
Change in girls’ ambitions has been caused by increasing individualisation [independence is valued more strongly than in the past].
A career has become a part of a woman’s life project as it provides them with economic self-sufficiency.
Criticism - Girls’ changing ambitions
Biggart
w/c girls face instability in the labour market. See motherhood as the only viable option for their future.
Increase in women’s employment opportunity
New employment laws have been introduced to establish equality between men and women at work:
- Equal Pay Act 1970
- Sex Discrimination Act 1975
Increase in the number of working women due to the growth of the service sector (tertiary sector) which tends to employ women
Gives girls an incentive to get qualification as there are employment opportunities for them in the job market
Criticism - Increase in women’s employment opportunities
Quaternary sector is now replacing the service sector. It prefers to employ men [google’s employees are 70% male] so there are jobs for boys yet it doesn’t seem to be having an impact on their ambitions and motivation.
