Theme 3b) Women Flashcards
1
Q
Political Changes, 1918-1939:
1918 ROPA
A
- Property owning women over 30 could vote.
- Specifics meant only respectable and educated women could vote.
- 43% of the electorate - Dec 1918: 8.4 million.
- Mainly voted Tory.
2
Q
Political Changes, 1918-1939:
1928 ROPA
A
- Voting rights on the same terms as men (21+)
Overall:
- Didn’t gain much of a voice due to very few female MPs.
- Plus, they mainly voted in line with their husband.
3
Q
Political Changes, 1918-1939:
Women in politics faced prejudice
A
- Male dominated - never more than 5% female MPs (peak was 15MPs in 1931).
- Petty restrictions - couldn’t use HofC dining room.
“Boys school that allowed girls to visit”
4
Q
Political Changes, 1918-1939:
Women in politics were drawn to labour
A
- Labour were the party of social reform.
- 9 female Labour MPs over this period.
- 150,000 female members.
5
Q
Women were more influential at _____ level. However, there were still ____ than ___ of councillors were women.
A
Women were more influential at local level. However, there were still less than 15% of councillors were women.
6
Q
Employment Opportunities, 1918-1939
A
- The employment gains of WW1 overturned - number of employed women returned to 1914 levels = 5.7 million.
- Union deals meant that female employment lasted as long as the war did. They were alo paid less than the men they were replacing.
7
Q
Employment - ‘Women’s Work’ (1918-1939)
A
- Largest source of work for WC women = cook, cleaner, maid. - 1.25 million in service (1918).
- Class split - WC in service roles whereas MC in clerical roles.
- Clerical work was the biggest growth area for female employment - 1920s: 1 million typists.
- Some employment in light industries but it was poorly paid - no incentive to pay higher because unemployment benefit was lower than men’s.
- 2/3 of all WC women work done from home (baking etc.)
8
Q
Employment - Middle Class Women (1918-1939)
A
- Suffrage campaign resulted in the 1918 ROPA.
- MC women didn’t want WC to be able to vote.
- Some gradual improvements: Sex Disqualification (removal) Act, 1919 - Unis accepted women; civil service and law bans lifted.
- Married women expected to stay at home - had to leave teaching profession once married.
9
Q
What did WW2 offer?
A
Increase in opportunities:
- Worked in factories.
- Some were spies overseas.
- Non-combat roles: cooks, drivers etc.
10
Q
Practical benefits of WW2
A
- Better pay
- Acquired skills
- Reached levels of importance and seniority not available in ordinary civilian life.
11
Q
Economic Advancements, 1945-1951
A
- Govt hoped women would go back to domesticity after the war.
- Marriage bar began to be lifted:
Teaching in 1944, Civil Service in 1946, and Bank of England in 1949. - However, many inherited the values of previous generations.
12
Q
Economic Advancements, 1945-1951:
Inherited the values of previous generations
A
- Didn’t see their work as part of their identity.
- Need extra income to work.
- Widespread desire to end work when married.
- Careerists women seen as unusual - were thought to have failed as their primary role of mother and home-maker.
13
Q
Economic Advancements, 1951-1979
A
- Increased opportunities
- End of the marriage bar meant women worked for longer - 50% of married women retaining their jobs by 1972.
- Until the late 1950s, the norm was that women were paid on average 40% less than men.
14
Q
Dagenham Sewing Machinists’ Strike, 1968
A
- At Ford motor company
- Decided to pay women making seat covers 15% less than men in equivalent jobs.
- Went on strike for 3 weeks.
- Barbara Castle negotiated a 7% increase.
- However, equal pay not established until strike in 1984.
- IMPACT: Raised issue of unequal pay and cause of Equal Pay Act.
15
Q
Equal Pay Act, 1970
A
- Labour manifesto commitment since 1959.
- 1965: TUC agreed to support it.
- Came into effect in 1970.
- Prerequisite for joining EEC.
16
Q
Sex Discrimination Act, 1975
A
Equal Opportunities Commission established:
- Ensure women had legal protection against harassment and discrimination at work.,
- Also that fair employment practices were observed.
- Established tribunals to deal with this.
17
Q
Political Advancement, 1951-1979
A
- Didn’t progress significantly.
- Amount of female MPs stayed between 20 and 30 (dipped in 1951 and 1979).
- Prejudiced belief that women would be too preoccupied with domestic duties to fulfil MP role.
- Rarely selected for cabinet - 1 or 2 was norm.
18
Q
Amount of MPs in 1951 and 1964
A
1951 was the lowest:
- 17 MPs - 2.7%
1964 was the highest:
- 29 MPs - 4.6%
19
Q
Family life and personal freedoms, 1918-1939
A
- Role and status in society remained largely unchanged - seen as homemakers.
- Few gains: divorce, birth control, self expression.
- However, mainly experienced was by MC women - little positive change for WC women.
20
Q
Context behind divorce changes, 1918-1939
A
- First act allowing women to divorce = 1857 Matrimonial Causes act.
- Still major issues by the 1930s:
= Couldn’t divorce via mutual consent.
= Attempt to prove adultery was farcical.
= Had to lie in court. If both were unfaithful, then no divorce.
21
Q
1937 Matrimonial Causes Act
A
- Proposed by independent MP, AP Herbert.
- Could divorce if either was unfaithful as well as desertion after 3 years (opposed by Catholic church).
- Abdication crisis in 1936
22
Q
Divorce petitions before and after the 1937 act
A
Before 1937:
- 4,800 per year.
1951:
- 38,000 per year.
23
Q
Marie Stopes and birth control
A
- 1921: Eugenicist Marie Stopes opens first birth control clinic.
- Doctors and clergyman critical of “filthy” and “unnatural” clinics.
24
Q
Changes in birth control, 1918-1939
A
- 1930: Govt decided it was essential local authorities could fund birth control clinics for health purposes.
- Labour had voted against this in 1927.
- CofE allowed married members to use birth control - Catholic church didn’t.
- Condoms could be bought from chemists.
25
1930: General Medical Council
- Allowed doctors to give birth control advice to married couples.
- However, WC women didn't benefit.
26
Self expression, 1918-1939
- Women lived single lives in the 1920s and found new freedoms.
- New clerical jobs allowed women to enjoy the interwar consumerism.
- 'Flapper girl' trend grew.
27
Interwar 'flapper' girls
- They were exotic - portrayed as glamorous yet promiscuous.
- Un-ladylike habits such as smoking and drinking - lived independent lives not dictated by men.
- Underpinned by supply of disposable income - seldom experience by WC women.
28
Depression impact on family life
- In WC families, had a disproportionate impact on women.
- They went without food to provide for their family.
- Many lived below the poverty line
29
Family life in the 1940s
- WW2 involved majority of female population in war work or active service.
- Many saw their families split up and experience rationing.
- Fragmentation of the war meant they were glad to return to normality in their domestic role after war.
30
Isolation of the 1950s housewife
- 60% of those interviewed said they were experiencing boredom and loneliness.
- National Housewives Register set up to cater for them.
31
Explanations for the isolation in the 1950s
- Changing attitudes to the role of women - not satisfied at home.
- Growth of consumer society and educational opportunities - presented women with far greater choices than they had ever known.
32
What was second wave feminism in the 1960s concerned with?
- Domestic violence.
- Birth control and reproductive rights.
- Sexism in the workplace
- Effect of patriarchal society on women and their mental health.
- Porn and the objectification of women.
33
New birth control legislation (1960s)
- Contraceptive pill available on the NHS for married women (1961) - within a decade, millions using it.
- The Abortion Act of 1967.
34
Impact of the 1961 Contraceptive pill
Offered them new sexual freedoms - cause of the 'permissive society'.
- Could focus on career and education.
- Women had ability to control their fertility.
- Having fewer children and having them later:
1971: 47% had a kid by 25
Fell to 25% by end of the decade
35
Abortion Act, 1967
- Proposed by Liberal MP, David Steel.
- Decriminalised abortion.
- Many supported it as there were lots of dangerous and illegal backstreet abortions (Up the Junction).
- Abortion numbers increased - 149,746 per year by 1979.
36
Marital changes - 1960s/70s
- Change in roles of men and women at home - less patriarchal and shared housework more equally than before.
- 1969 Divorce Reform Act - given royal assent in 1971:
The irretrievable breakdown clause.
37
Growing activism - 1960s/70s
- Feminists associated the struggle for economic equality with wider issues of social inequality.
- Number of feminist groups, literature and media began to appear more prominently.
- 1970: Stormed Royal Albert Hall at Miss World contest and threw flower bombs at all male judging panel.
38
When was the first Rape Crisis Centre opened?
1973
| 60 within the decade.
39
What was opened in 1974?
National Women's Aid Federation:
| For victims of domestic abuse.
40
Germaine Greer - 'Female Eunuch' (1970)
- Men's control of women led to them becoming trapped in suffocating gender roles, self loathing of their body + to compare themselves with other women.
- Marriage had cut off women from embracing their sexuality.
- Had a lasting influence.
