How did the role of women and the quest for personal freedoms change in 20th century Britain?

Question 1

When did women get the right to vote?

Answer 1

• ROPA 1918- women married or part of a local govt register had right to vote at 30
• All women incl. working class got right to vote on par with men in 1928 (age 21)

But women made little advancement in politics in interwar period.

Question 2

Were male and female MPs treated the same?

Answer 2

Women MPs were still treated as different or even less to men (eg not allowed in Commons dining room).

Question 3

How does the consumer society affect women?

Answer 3

Consumer society makes them begin to want more from their lives

Question 4

Who was the first female MP?

Answer 4

Margaret Bondfield during Labour govt of 1924

Question 5

What was the peak in female MPs?

Answer 5

• Never comprised more than 5% of MPs
• Peaked at 15 in 1931
• Less than 15% of elected councillors were female- Thelma Cazalet-Keir-Tory councillor 1924-31, MP in 1931

Question 6

How far did women’s roles change during the interwar period?

Answer 6

1918-1960- remained largely unchanged except for wartime periods where improved opportunities were perceived largely as temporary responses to emergency situations

Question 7

What was the politics of choice for women and why?

Answer 7

• 150,000 women joined the Labour Party 1918-1924
  Women
• More naturally drawn to Labour, as the promoter of social reform.
• 9 female Labour MPs across interwar years.

Question 8

Matrimonial Causes Act 1937

Answer 8

Allowed divorce in cases of adultery or desertion after three years on either side.

Question 9

How many divorces were there before and after the Matrimonial Causes Act 1937?

Answer 9

• <4,800 divorce petitions per year

- By 1951 it had risen to 38,000

Question 10

Divorce Reform Act 1969

Answer 10

‘No guilt’ divorces introduced- couples who simply fell out of love could divorce. Divorce rate grew significantly as result- from 45,794 in 1968 to 74,437 by 1971

Question 11

Were birth control clinics accepted in Britain?

Answer 11

1921: Dr Marie Stopes founded 1st one in London; despite medical profession and conservative opposition, demand saw clinics spread across nation throughout twenties. Pill made women finally feel in control of reproductive process

Question 12

What were abortions like before the Abortion Act 1967?

Answer 12

• 100k to 250k illegal abortions per year before this
• 35k more wealthy could have safe abortions w/pro drs
• Vast majority had ‘backstreet abortions’- unsanitary environments w/extreme risk

Question 13

Abortion Act 1967

Answer 13

Liberal MP David Steel introduced bill which allowed legal termination up to 28 weeks if 2 drs certified that continued pregnancy could lead to health risks for mum

Question 14

After the Second World War, how did the role of women change?

Answer 14

WW2 involved most adult women in active service or war work. Fragmentation due to war meant in immediate post-war period, many were happy to return to homemaker role as men returned.

Question 15

Economic

Answer 15

• In 60s economic problems led to need for both husband and wife to work
• Struggle for economic equality made visible due to Women’s Liberation

Question 16

Who was Sheila Rowbothan?

Answer 16

Feminist who organised National Women’s Conference in Oxford 1970 encouraging feminist groups to protest

Question 17

What acts improved working conditions for women?

Answer 17

• Equal Pay Act 1970

- Sex Discrimination Act 1975

Question 18

Where did most women work?

Answer 18

• New factories specialising in light industries
• No of women working in offices grew buy 300k in 1920s
• But lots of professions for women stayed limited

Question 19

Evidence that ROPA didn’t improve political opportunities for women

Answer 19

1918 election: 17 women stood as candidates; only 1, Constance Markievicz, won (she was unable to take her seat as she was in prison due to her Irish revolutionary antics)

Question 20

After educated or ‘respectable’ women were given the right to vote, how much of the electorate did they make up?

Answer 20

43% of the electorate in the Dec 1918 election (8.4 million voters).

Question 21

In the 1920s, were women at all successful in politics?

Answer 21

Women were more influential at local level. But still less than 15% of local councillors were women.

Question 22

How did employment opportunities for women decline after WW1?

Answer 22

• No. of women employed returned to 1914 levels when war ended (c. 5.7 million) - A return to traditional ideas about gender that existed before the war.

Question 23

How many women were employed during WW1?

Answer 23

1914: 200k women employed in metals and chemicals inds; by 1918, 1M in these fields
- 11k women worked at Britain’s main cordite factory at Gretna creating explosives
- 1000s worked in the railways and trams

Question 24

What forced women out of the workplace after WW1?

Answer 24

• Men returning from war
• Govt ‘dilution’ agreement w/TUs in 1914: skilled workers who went to fight could be replaced by semi-skilled workers, incl. women w/caveat that their employment only lasted as long as WW1 did

Question 25

What was considered a ‘woman’s work’?

Answer 25

Domestic work was the largest source of employment for working class women (cooks, maids, cleaners). 
- In 1918, 1.25M women 'in service'

Question 26

Were employment opportunities the same for working class and middle class women?

Answer 26

Strong class split: working class vs middle class split (clerical roles) 1M women employed in clerical roles as typists or clerks by 1921. 1.3 mil by 1931.

Question 27

Other than ‘woman’s work’, how else did working class women earn money?

Answer 27

• Light manufacturing- poorly paid, jobless benefit lower for women than men (Unemployment Insurance Act 1920) so no incentive for employers to give higher wages
• 2/3 of all work by working class women is done at home- baking, brewing, sewing ‘piece work’ alongside household responsibilities

Question 28

Did middle class women face better treatment in the 1920s?

Answer 28

Though middle class women faced less hardship and discrimination, they still faced difference in treatment to men.

Question 29

Examples of how opportunties for women improved in the 1920s

Answer 29

• Some gradual improvement with the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 - universities accepting more women and lifted civil service and law bans.
• 1st woman called to the English Bar in 1922, 20 yrs after qualifying- Ivy Williams

Question 30

Examples of how opportunties for women DID NOT improve in the 1920s

Answer 30

• 21/6,000 architects were women
• ## Civil service was open to women but none posted overseas.

Question 31

Evidence that married women faced barriers to employment in the 1920s

Answer 31

• Teaching- until 1944 women had to leave job if they married.
• 1931: 84% of female workforce is single, widowed, or divorced
• Middle class wives in particular expected to stay home

Question 32

What acts in particular did women contribute to?

Answer 32

• 1922 Criminal Law Act- allowed women greater protection in the context of male sexual advances
• 1923 Bastardy Act- early form of legally binding child support requirements

Question 33

During WW2, women flocked into factories and offices to complete various valuable roles such as?

Answer 33

• Women’s Land Army (farming - by 44’ 80,000 women)
• Munitions factories, aircraft, clothing manufacture
• Translators, analysts, some spies
• Women’s voluntary service supported civil defence forces, offered shelter+comfort to bombing victims

Question 34

Evidence that there were more jobs for women during WW2

Answer 34

• Princess Elizabeth worked as a car mechanic

- % of women who worked as engineers, in transport, or the chem industry rose from 14% in 1939 to 33% in ‘45

Question 35

Evidence that in WW2 led to more employment opportunities in the long term

Answer 35

• 1951: 1/4 of wives worked, by 1971 1/2 did (consumerism)
• More semi-skilled, unskilled jobs due to shift in labour market- 60% of working women do unskilled work in ‘65
• Manchester Guardian: 1950- 50% of housewives report boredom

Question 36

What practical beneftis did WW2 bring to many women?

Answer 36

• Many were better paid
• New skills and confidence
• New levels of seniority not available in civilian life
• Overseas posting- new opportunities and experiences
• Opportunity to work w/men fighting the Axis- a sense of participation, contribution missing in civilian life

Question 37

After WW2, what fields did women tend to work in?

Answer 37

Fields that were almost exclusively reserved for women:

86% of working women in 1951 in nursing, teaching, factory work, waitessing, and clerical work.

Question 38

The marriage bar to many professions was removed in the 1950s and 60s. Did this make having a career more appealing to married women?

Answer 38

Mass Observation 1948 study of 100 women in 3 diff areas found:

• Widespread desire to end work after marriage
• Need for extra income as main motive for working
• Most women interviewed didn’t define themselves by their work or see it as important for their identity

Question 39

When was equal pay for women achieved?

Answer 39

1970 Equal Pay Act- pre-requisitie for joining the European Economic Community (EEC). Didn’t come into effect until 1975

Question 40

On average, how much less did women make compared to men?

Answer 40

• 40% less than men

- 1958: civil service, NHS, and education introduced equal pay for all of their workers, but not universal until 1975

Question 41

Evidence that women didn’t progress significantly in politics between 1951 and 1979

Answer 41

No. of female MPs stayed constant at between 20 and 30 with dips in 1951 and 1979 despite an upward trend of candidates- due to prejudice + widespread belief that women would be too busy w/domesticd to fulfil MP role

Question 42

Evidence there was increased economic opportunities for women between 1959 and 1979

Answer 42

• End of marriage bar- in the 3 decades post-war, more and more women worked for longer. (50% of wives retaining their jobs by 1972)
• Dagenham sewing machinists’ strike, 1968

Question 43

What happened in the 1968 Dagenham strike?

Answer 43

Ford Motor Company’s car factory at Dagenham was paying female sewing machinists who made car seat covers 15 percent less in wages than men doing equivalent jobs - They went on strike for three weeks.

Question 44

What was the impact of the 1968 Dagenham Strike?

Answer 44

Long-term impact: significantly raised the issue of unequal pay + one of the main causes of the Equal Pay Act, 1970.

Question 45

Was the Attlee government keen on promoting women’s rights?

Answer 45

Didn’t want social upheaval of war to result in significant social change. His government didn’t encourage women to stay in wartime roles. Those who remained were usually exclusively industries for women.

Question 46

What were two pieces of legislation that helped further women’s rights?

Answer 46

• The Equal Pay Act, 1970

- The Sex Discrimination Act, 1975

Question 47

What did the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 do?

Answer 47

• Established The Equal Opportunities Commission
• Ensured women had legal protection against discrimination and harrassment in education + employment. Established tribunals to deal with this.

Question 48

What was the combined impact of the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 and the Equal Pay Act of 1970?

Answer 48

Made discrimination much more difficult but women still faced prejudice in political life and the workforce, which they had to fight hard to overcome. This is one of the key proponents behind second wave feminism.

Question 49

Were the CofE and the Catholic Church accepting of reforms to birth control, marriage, and divorce?

Answer 49

• Both opposed the 1937 Matrimonial Causes Act

- CofE allowed married members to use birth control methods, Catholic Church v. opposed

Question 50

What contraceptives were available between in the interwar period?

Answer 50

Contraceptive caps, condoms, etc available at barbers, chemists, and hygiene stores

Question 51

Consumerism grew in the interwar years. Were women able to take part in it?

Answer 51

Growth of new clerical jobs for women enabled young single women to enjoy the consumerism of the interwar years eg the flapper look.

Question 52

What was the so-called ‘Flapper’ lifestyle?

Answer 52

• Shorter haircuts, more exotic clothing.
• Sometimes portrayed in media as glamorous yet promiscuous.
• Smoking and drinking
• Possible due to decent supply of disposable income- seldom experienced by working-class women.

Question 53

‘Particularly in working class families, the Depression had a disproportionate impact on women.’ Provide evidence to support this statement

Answer 53

• Many women would often starve to help provide for the family (1933 Hungry England enquiry).
• Poor families tended to be bigger (9 kids was common in East End of London)- dependant on jobless relief + lived below poverty line.

Question 54

Evidence of the Isolation of the 1950s Housewife

Answer 54

One study in the late 1950s showed that 60% of housewives admitted to feelings of boredom, frustration and loneliness.

Question 55

What are some possible reasons for the shift in women’s attitudes from the late 1940s to the late 50s?

Answer 55

• Rapid growth of consumer society
• Expansion of leisure time
• Improvement in educational opportunities presenting women w/far greater choices than they had previously known.

Question 56

Media representations of women in the 1950s

Answer 56

• ‘Golden age of family’
• Homemaker stereotype even though more did work + working class still had largely menial and badly paid work as well as domestic duties.
• Labour-saving devices marketed as leaving more time to focus on family/husband

Question 57

What was the National Houswives Register?

Answer 57

Est. 1960, it was the first org to cater to women at home- allowed housewives to keep in contact even if they moved

Question 58

What was Second-Wave Feminism or the ‘Women’s Liberation’ movement?

Answer 58

Mid-1960s onwards, it was concerned w/following issues:

• Birth control and reproductive rights
• Domestic violence
• Sexism in the workplace
• Pornography and the objectification of women
• Patriarchal society+its effect on women’s mental health

Question 59

What did the Women’s Liberation Movement acheive in general?

Answer 59

Raised awareness of inequalities

Question 60

When was the contraceptive pill introduced?

Answer 60

1961, But doctors were only allowed to prescribe it to married women due to fears it’d encourage promiscuity
- Within a decade 1M women were using the pill, demonstrating its popularity.

Question 61

What was the impact of the Pill?

Answer 61

• By late 1970s more women were having fewer children and having their first children later- 1971, 47% had their 1st child by 25, down to 25% by end of 20thC
• Offered women sexual freedoms unavailable b4

Question 62

What was the impact of the 1967 Abortion Act?

Answer 62

Increasing no.s of abortion- around 150k per year by 1979

Question 63

Was the 1967 Abortion Act popular?

Answer 63

• Supported by ppl who worried illegal abortions could harm/kill unknown no.s of women
• Others worried about increasing no.s of abortion after the act

Question 64

What was the impact of the 1967 Divorce Reform Act?

Answer 64

• Traditional gender roles were starting to be challenged.

- Sociologists showed that many families had become less patriarchal and married couples shared housework more equally.

Question 65

From the mid-1960s to the 70s, feminist groups, literature, and wider media became more prominent in society. Why?

Answer 65

Many feminists began to associate the struggle for economic equality with the far wider issue of social inequality.

Question 66

In 1970, Germaine Greer’s book ‘The Female Eunch’ was published and it had a lasting influence on the feminist movement. What was its message?

Answer 66

• Men’s control of women had led women to become trapped in suffocating gender roles, to become self-loathing about their bodies + compete w/other women
• Marriage had cut off women from embracing their sexuality

Question 67

Who was Sheila Rowbotham?

Answer 67

Writer for radical magazine Black Dwarf who helped organise 1st National Women’s Conference at Ruskin College in February 1970, where they discussed feminist politics and history

Question 68

What happened during the 1970 Miss World Beauty Contest?

Answer 68

Protest groups staged demonstrations at the Miss World Beauty Contest, storming onto the stage at the Royal Albert Hall and throwing flower bombs at the all-male judging panel.

Question 69

Increasing protection against domestic abuse in the 70s

Answer 69

• 1973: first Rape Crisis Centre was opened
• 1974: the National Women’s Aid Federation est for victims of domestic abuse
• 1976 Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act- allowed courts to impose injuctions against abusive spouses, w/jail terms if breached

Question 70

Summarise the developments in women’s rights in the 60s and 70s

Answer 70

1960s and 1970s saw significant changes in family life, with women gaining more control over birth control and abortion.

Question 71

Summarise the developments in feminism in the 60s and 70s

Answer 71

2nd-wave feminism and the work of feminists- women becoming more assertive, demanding more respect as equals to men but also in terms of their own gender and sexuality.

Question 72

Summarise the developments in activism in the 60s and 70s

Answer 72

Work and influence of many activists led to women demanding more control over the issues of domestic violence and rape. However, the fact that these things still occurred meant that there was still some way to go on the route to true sexual equality.