Theme 3b) Women Flashcards
Political Changes, 1918-1939:
1918 ROPA
- 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.
Political Changes, 1918-1939:
1928 ROPA
- 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.
Political Changes, 1918-1939:
Women in politics faced prejudice
- 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”
Political Changes, 1918-1939:
Women in politics were drawn to labour
- Labour were the party of social reform.
- 9 female Labour MPs over this period.
- 150,000 female members.
Women were more influential at _____ level. However, there were still ____ than ___ of councillors were women.
Women were more influential at local level. However, there were still less than 15% of councillors were women.
Employment Opportunities, 1918-1939
- 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.
Employment - ‘Women’s Work’ (1918-1939)
- 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.)
Employment - Middle Class Women (1918-1939)
- 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.
What did WW2 offer?
Increase in opportunities:
- Worked in factories.
- Some were spies overseas.
- Non-combat roles: cooks, drivers etc.
Practical benefits of WW2
- Better pay
- Acquired skills
- Reached levels of importance and seniority not available in ordinary civilian life.
Economic Advancements, 1945-1951
- 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.
Economic Advancements, 1945-1951:
Inherited the values of previous generations
- 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.
Economic Advancements, 1951-1979
- 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.
Dagenham Sewing Machinists’ Strike, 1968
- 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.
Equal Pay Act, 1970
- Labour manifesto commitment since 1959.
- 1965: TUC agreed to support it.
- Came into effect in 1970.
- Prerequisite for joining EEC.
Sex Discrimination Act, 1975
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.
Political Advancement, 1951-1979
- 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.
Amount of MPs in 1951 and 1964
1951 was the lowest:
- 17 MPs - 2.7%
1964 was the highest:
- 29 MPs - 4.6%
Family life and personal freedoms, 1918-1939
- 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.
Context behind divorce changes, 1918-1939
- 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.
1937 Matrimonial Causes Act
- 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
Divorce petitions before and after the 1937 act
Before 1937:
- 4,800 per year.
1951:
- 38,000 per year.
Marie Stopes and birth control
- 1921: Eugenicist Marie Stopes opens first birth control clinic.
- Doctors and clergyman critical of “filthy” and “unnatural” clinics.
Changes in birth control, 1918-1939
- 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.
1930: General Medical Council
- Allowed doctors to give birth control advice to married couples.
- However, WC women didn’t benefit.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
When was the first Rape Crisis Centre opened?
1973
60 within the decade.
What was opened in 1974?
National Women’s Aid Federation:
For victims of domestic abuse.
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.
