Theme 3 b 2 - Changes in family life and the quest for personal freedoms Flashcards
What three factors gave women more control over their family life?
- Changes to the divorce law
- Access to birth control
- Freer self-expression
What was the first major act that enabled women to obtain a divorce?
1987 - Matrimonial Causes Act
Year - Matrimonial Causes Act
1987
What did the Matrimonial causes act allow?
enabled women to obtain a divorce
What did the Lawyer AP Herbert point out?
In a satirical novel - ‘holy deadlock’
- the absurdities in divorce law.
- Couldn’t obtain based on mutual consent there had to be instances of adultery or violence.
- So couples often had to perjure in court to obtain a divorce.
If one spouse was unfaithful a divorce was granted but if both were then the court would refuse.
Year - renewed Matrimonial Causes Act
1937
What did the renewed version of the Matrimonial Causes act allow?
Allowed for divorces if either partner was unfaithful as well as for desertion after three years.
Who opposed the renewed matrimonial causes act?
Church of England and the Catholic Church.
How did the number of divorce petitions change due to the renewed Matrimonial Causes Act?
Before - 4,800 per year.
1951 - 38,000 per year
Why did the issue of remarriage become of national significance in 1936?
King Edward VIII sought to marry the American divorcee Wallace Simpson.
How was the relationship between King Edward VIII and Wallace Simpson portrayed by the country?
Subsequent abdication crisis as Wallace Simpson was portrayed in the popular press and in the discussion as a scheming, manipulative gold digger.
Year - first birth control clinic in London
1921
Who opened the first birth control clinic in London?
Dr Maris Stopes
What did people think about birth control clinics?
Health workers who directed women there were sacked though the demand for birth control advice spread throughout the 1920s.
Cities like Salford and Cardiff clergymen condemned clinics as ‘filthy’ and ‘unnatural’
What large development occurred in 1930 for birth control?
Labour govt.
- It was acceptable for clinics to advice mothers who already had one child for whom a second pregnancy would seriously damage their health.
What did Dr Marie Stopes believe about sex and birth control?
- 1918 book ‘married love’ published for couples about sex and contraception.
- Believed women should be freed from the ‘cycle of births’ and sex should be enjoyable.
- Believed in eugenics and argued wastrels should not be allowed to breed.
- Advocated contraception for the poor saying only those who could contribute to society should have children.
What did the Church of England allow in 1930?
Married member of their congregations to use birth control methods, but the catholic church remained staunchly opposed.
What did the General Medical Council allow in 1930?
Allowed doctors to give contraception advice, only to married couples, for the first time.
Working-class women not covered by the NHS did not receive advice.
What helped young single women enjoy the consumerism of the interwar year?
Growth in new clerical jobs
What characterised a ‘flapper’ look?
Short skirts and shorter haircuts and exotic fashions
Since what year have there been articles explaining ‘flapper’ girls?
1907
What activities did flapper girls enjoy?
Dancing, jazz music and social freedoms.
Including smoking and drinking that were seen as un-ladylike.
Which two women actresses were seen as role models for women in the 1920s?
Clara Bowe and Coleen Moore
What was the dynamic for many poorer families when it came to food consumption?
Men as the primary money earner would get to eat first followed by children.
Women were often expected to go hungry if there wasn’t enough money to provide for the whole family.
What did the 1933 Hungry England enquiry report?
Set up by economist A.L. Bowley.
Some instances women were starving to feed their families.
Year - Hungry England enquiry
1933
In the East End of London what was the average amount of children?
having 8 children wasn’t uncommon.
Year - unemployment relief becoming means-tested
1934
Why did many women not mind returning to the role of the ‘homemaker’ after the war?
Due to the fragmentation caused by wartime experiences.
During the 1950s what percentage of women were satisfied with their lives at home?
40%
The other 60% admitted to feelings of boredom, frustration and loneliness.
What two new ideals helped to shape the perceptions and expectations of women at home in the 1950s?
- Advertising - the ‘housewife’ portrayed everywhere. (Decision maker in all the day to day purchasing decisions)
- Consumerism.
What did Betty Jerman write in the guardian in 1960?
Highlighted the frustrations of many women who lived at home
‘Squeezed like sardines in suburbia’
Presented domestic life as dull and suffocating.
What was created as a result of Betty Jerman’s article in 1960?
The housebound housewives register (Later called the national housewives register)
It was the first organisation to cater for isolated women at home
What was the cause of the creation of the Housebound Housewives Register?
An article by Betty Jerman in 1960.
Commentators often describe two waves of feminism between 1968-79. What were these two waves?
- The Suffragette movement campaigning for political equality
- The women’s liberation concerned with equal conditions at work and many other issues.
There were many issues faced by the Women’s liberation movement. Name at least two of them.
- Equal conditions at work
- Birth control and other reproductive rights
- domestic violence
- sexism in the workplace
- pronography and the objectification of women
- the stifling effect on women’s confidence and mentak health of a male-dominated or ‘patriarchal’ society
Year - contraceptive pill introduced for married women
1961
Doctors only allowed to prescribe to married women.
What were the parameters of the 1961 introduction of the contraceptive pill?
Doctors only allowed to prescribe to married women.
By 1970 how many women were on the contraceptive pill?
A million
As they offer women sexual freedoms they had not known as women were now allowed to enjoy sex without the fear of an unwanted pregnancy.
By 1971 what percentage of women weren’t having their first child until the age of 25?
47%
By 2000 this was 25%
This meant they could focus on careers and education which resulted in more skilled women emtering the workforce.
Year - Abortion decriminalised
1967
By Liberal MP David Steel
By 1979 how many illegal abortions were there (Even though it was decriminalised)?
149,746 per year
Year - Women’s liberation movement
1969
By 1968 who was the most prominent female politician in Britain?
Barbara Castle
She refused to discuss the legacy of female suffrage at the Labour Party conference.
When was the first National Women’s conference?
Who helped to organise this?
February 1970
Sheila Rowbotham authur of Black Dawrd.
By 1971 (12 months after establishing) how many women’s groups were there in London?
Went from 4 to over 50
What big event happened for women’s demonstrations in 1970? Please explain what happened
Protest groups staged demonstrations at Miss world beauty contest. in the Royal Albert Hall.
Stormed staged throwing flower bombs at the all-male judging panel.
Year - The Female Eunuch was published
1970
What was argued in the book The Female Eunuch?
Written by Germaine Greer who argued that men’s control of women had led women to become trapped into suffocating gender roles, to become self-loathing about their bodies and to compete with other women.
Give an example of a feminist magazine published by Rosie Boycott and Shiela Rowbotham
Spare rib
Arguing the link between capitalism and women’s subjugation.
During the 1970s many women activists set up refuges and centres for victims of domestic violence and their children.
Give an example of one such institute
In Chiswick set up by Erin Pizzey (Women’s aid)
Pizzey wasn’t a femist and argued that women could also be very violent.
Year - Establishment of the National Women’s Aid Federation
1974
What did the national women’s aid federation do?
1974
Uniting over 40 independent women’s refuges into one national body. And fight for legislation against domestic violence.
Year - Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act
1976
What did the Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act do?
Provided courts with the power to impose injunctions individuals who had assaulted their spouses, resulting in jail terms if they were breached.
Year - First rape crisis centre was opened
1973
Within a decade of the first Rape Crisis Centre being opened how many opened across the UK?
60
How did James White effect abortions?
In 1975 he sponsored the Abortion Act and meant that the legal limit on abortions was reduced to 20 weeks
In protest, the National Abortion Campaign was launched.
In 1978 what proportion of abortions were determined to be for medical grounds?
96,000 / 112,000
Suggesting that most abortions were not frivolous.
What was the result of the 1979 amendment to the abortions act?
Over 80,000 women marched through central London to protest the act.
