Theme 3 - Class And Social Values Flashcards
What factors caused a brake down of the class system during WW1?
- High death toll reduced trust lower classes had in upper class generals
- Trench work resulted in lower and middle class men working equally
What caused a decrease in the upper class after the war?
High death toll of upper class meant that lots of death duties had to be paid. Many aristocrats had to sell land to afford these taxes and many couldn’t afford to keep houses
Why was the impact on the upper class not as bad as many had thought?
They owned many properties and therefore selling some did not have much effect
Why did the government fear revolts throughout the 1920’s?
Working class wanted greater freedom and felt they had a chance to gain greater equality
What showed that the class system was not going to be changing in the interwar period?
Depression hurt lower classes, caused decrease in strikes and areas such as Wales were plunged into poverty
What factors caused a brake down of the class system during WW2?
Evacuation, bombing and rationing caused classes to interact in ways they never had before
What did many believe would happen to the class system after WW2?
It would be ended
What did studies show actually happened after WW2?
Classes still remained intact and in fact were reinforced by wartime events such as the evacuation
Was the Labour Landslide victory an indication of a class revolt in 1945?
No - it just highlighted that people did not want to re-experience the conservative government’s of the 1930’s
What caused an increase in working class prosperity after the war?
End of rationing in 1954 and increase in consumer credit
What was the satire boom? Give an example
TV, radio and film shows that ridiculed the class system. "Beyond the Fringe" made fun of the establishment, government, army and the upper class "That was the week that was" was the first time politicians were rigorously questioned on TV
What was the British New Wave? Give an example
Novels that depicted working class men and women coming to terms with the end of old working-class world and birth of new prosperity. "Saturday night Sunday morning"
What were the sex scandals of the 1960’s?
Sex parties at Cliveden house that important establishment figures attended were rumoured in the news
What was the Profumo scandal? And what was the significance of it?
Profumo was the minister of war at the time and it was believed that he was sharing a 19 year old girl with a soviet man.
It was the first sex scandal to be properly covered by the news and profumo’s denial then admittance of it shocked the nation
What impact did the satire boom, British new wave and the sex scandals of the 1960’s have on society?
Public attitudes towards authorities were dramatically transformed. Many started to disagree with them and voice there own opinions
What was the popular view on sexual relations in the 1950’s?
Everyone accepted state role in regulating sexual behaviour and sex before marriage was seen as the right thing
Why was this view on sexual relations in the 1950’s not entirely accurate?
What people said and what people did was different.
A 1950’s survey showed that half of women born between 1924 and 1934 had sex before marriage
What showed that attitudes to sex before marriage, gay relations and contraception did not change much from the 1950’s to the 1960’s?
A 1965 survey showed that 1/3 of boys and 1/6 of girls had sex between the ages of 16-19 but most of these people were in long term relationships. A survey in 1970 also showed similar results
Attitudes towards sex did not dramatically change between the 50’s and 60’s but what did?
Sexual openness = people talked about sex more freely, news wrote stories on it and sexual themes appeared in TV and films
What was founded in 1958 to try to get the law to change in favour of homosexuality?
Homosexual Law and Reform Society
How successful was the HLRS?
Slow progress to start but there pressure got the 1967 sexual offences act passed which allowed homosexual relations between 2 males over the age of 21 to be legal
What was the general view on homosexuality in the 1960’s? And what did this show?
85% of people believed homosexuality was bad and 50% of these people believed it should be punished. This shows that attitudes towards private life had not changed
Who was Mary Whitehouse and what did she believe?
Devout Christian who believed that TV was corrupting the younger generation and introducing in-Christian ideas
What group did Mary Whitehouse create in 1964 and how successful was it?
Clean up TV - they campaigned against, sex, alcohol, royal family criticism and references and crime and lawlessness
Not very - Gained mass support with over 70 coaches of people turning up on the first meet but it had little impact on the content of TV and radio
What group did Mary Whitehouse create in 1965?
National Viewers and Licensing association (NVALA). Attracted the general public, Church of England Bishops, police officers and MP’s. They believed socialism was creeping through society via TV and it was threatening Christianity
How successful was the NVALA?
Many believed her nuts and dismissed her however the NVALA had over 100k members showing that some did agree with her.
They made lots of noise and gained publicity but there influence on the content of TV and Radio (Much like that of the Clean up TV group) was minimal
However the group is credited with banning the 1976 film ‘deep throat’ and passing the 1978 protection of children act that banned child porn
What did Malcolm muggeridge found? And what was the aim of this organisation?
Festival of light - with help of cliff Richard, Mary Whitehouse, Lord Longford and Peter and Janet Hill
Aimed to prevent sexualisation of TV and protect Christian teachings
How successful were Malcolm Muggeridge’s group?
Successful - organised lighting of beacons on top of hills in which 100k took part
Failure - Like NVALA and Clean up TV it did little to change the content of TV and radio or alter publics opinions to sex
Who was Lord Longford and what did he produce a report on?
Devout Catholic who funded his own report on porn
What did Longford’s report conclude?
1959 Obscene Publications act had made it easier to publish porn. He called for new censorship against this material
