T5 Social Cultural

Question 1

Social Conservatism to Social Liberalism (1987 – 1997)

Answer 1

• In general, society in 1987 was socially conservative, but by 1997 there had been substantial
  changes which some found unsettling, and Britain had become a more socially liberal society.
• This process is highlighted by changing attitudes by homosexuality.
• AIDS was first recorded in 1981, and because gay men appeared particularly at risk, it was referred
  to as a ‘gay plague’.
• The government started a public awareness campaign in 1985 – particularly highlighting the
  dangers of sharing needles.
• The AIDS crisis did stir up more prejudice about homosexual people, with Labour councils painted
  as ‘loony-left’ were accused of promoting homosexual lifestyles by funding support groups.
• In response to a controversial book in 1986 ‘Jenny lives with Eric and Martin’ which was stocked
  in some school libraries, Section 28 was passed, a law which banned the promotion of homosexual
  relations in 1988.
• This was seen as homophobic – with many believing it made discussion of homosexuality illegal
  in schools.
• There was a fightback from the LGBT community – with the group ‘Outrage!’ using direct action,
  and the pressure group Stonewall backing legal cases in the European Court of Human Rights
  challenging the unequal age of consent and the ban on homosexuals in the Armed Forces.
• This resulted in the age of consent for homosexual relations was dropped from 21 to 18, although
  full equality wasn’t achieved when the age of consent was dropped to 16 in 2000, as well as
  abolishing the ban on homosexuals in the Armed Forces in the same year.
• The late 1980s and early 1990’s also saw social conservative moral panics regarding divorce and
  single mothers – with Peter Lilley the Secretary of State for Social Security being a vocal critic of
  this trend in the 1992 party conference.
• The public response to Tory sleaze stories also indicated that the public expectations on the
  behaviour of authority figures remained high.

Question 2

Anti-Establishment Culture (1987 – 1997)

Answer 2

• The Major years saw an increase in people being willing to challenge traditional sources of
  authority.
• This was especially evident in attitudes towards the royal family.
• Between 1987-1997 three out of four of the marriages of the Queen’s children broke down
• The tabloids were full of stories of extra-marital affairs.
• The public were also angered by details of the funding of the restoration of Windsor following a
  fire in 1992 – the outcry led to the Queen agreeing to pay tax on her private income and a
  reduction in the civil list (those members of the royal family who received money by public funds).
• Charles and Diana’s marriage breakdown was the most damaging, with Princess Diana giving
  interviews detailing her alleged cruel treatment at the hands of the royals.*
  Diana was hugely popular with the public, and her allegations further damaged the royal’s repute
• Anti-establishment culture can also be seen in Art and youth culture, with a rise in use of ectasy
  and attending raves with acid dance music which again causes a moral panic.
• The Young British Artists (YBA), such as Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin challenged ideas about was
  art was (eg. The Bed’).
• There was also a growing direct action environmental movement – with protests against road
  developments such as the M3 and M11 link road bringing together from a range of social classes
  to delay or block work.

Question 3

The Position of Women (1987 – 1997)

Answer 3

• The beginning of Major’s term of office saw the start of ‘third wave feminism’, which attempted
  to move the movement forward from the ‘second wave feminism’ of the 1960s.
• It was broader than just legal and financial equalities including more emphasis on breaking down
  stereotypes about women related to race, gender and sexuality.
• This led to the development of the Riot Grrl movement and by the mid 1990s the message of ‘girl
  power’ was key to the rise of the Spice Girls.
• Powerful female characters on TV were increasing – eg in the popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
• Although Thatcher had demonstrated that it was possible for women to achieve the highest
  position of power, she arguably did little to strengthen feminism – and only appointed one woman
  into her cabinet.
• However, the first female Speaker in the Commons, Betty Boothroyd was appointed in 1992 while
  the first ordination of female priests followed in the Church of England in 1994, and rape became
  illegal within marriage in the same year.
• Women’s pay relative to men also improved, although it was still only 80% of men’s earnings
• Therefore, there was some progress experienced in the position of women during the period.

Question 4

Race Relations (1987 – 1997)

Answer 4

• Between 1987-1997 there weren’t race riots that had marred previous decades – there was unrest
  in 1991 and 1992 in cities such as Oxford and Newcastle, but this mainly involved young white
  working class males.
• In 1987 four non-white MPs were elected, and held their seats in 1992 – the first time this had
  happened since the 1920s.
• However, there were clearly still racial issues highlighted by the murder of Stephen Lawrence in
  1993, a young black man killed by a mob of white youths in South East London.
• The identity of the youths was believed to be known locally, but the initial investigation by the
  Met Police was later widely criticised by the MacPherson Report published in 1998.
• The Met had initially believed Stephen had been involved in trouble.
• The failure to properly investigate became a national issue and the police was criticised, and
  declared to be ‘institutionally racist’ in the aforementioned MacPherson Report.
• Immigration continued during the 1990’s, mainly those fleeing conflicts in places like Somalia,
  Afganistan and Iraq, as well as from other New Commonwealth countries such as India, Pakistan
  and Bangladesh.
• There were concerns around the integration of immigrants – especially Muslims.
• The response of Muslims at home and abroad to Salman Rushdie’s ‘The Satanic Verses’, which
  was considered blasphemous, and led to a fatwa being issued by Iran, and protests from British
  Muslims too.
• This concerned some in the UK as there appeared to be a fundamental clash between British social
  values regarding freedom of speech and Islamic beliefs which some Muslims found difficult to
  reconcile.