women's rights, 1918-79

• 1928 equal franchise act gives all women over 21 the right to vote, the same terms as men. women make up 52.7% of the electorate. some men were afraid of the 'flapper' vote
• women's reforms - 1922 criminal law, 1923 bastardy act
• 1918 - national union of women's suffrage society is renamed NUSEC. they had meetings in hyde park to campaign for womens rights - 3.5k supporters in attendance in july 1926 meeting

lack of improvement/ missed period for women's rights?

• womens issues lost traction after 1928 as the NUSEC splits over whether they should have gender equality on men's terms or for equal evaluation of gender roles
  • eleanor rathbone forms the national council for equal citizenship while opponents form the national union of townswomen's guilds
    • these both fall in popularity in the 1930s
• the right to vote did not equal a significant increase in the number of female MPs as they were still vastly outnumbered by men and parties tended to focus on mens issues
  • no. of female MPs rose then fell - 5 MPs in 1922, 15 MPs in 1931, 9 MPs in 1935

• by 1939 there were more women with a good deal of parliamentary experience
• female politicians abandoned strict party loyalty in favour of cross-party cooperation in recognition of the impact the war had on women 
• 1940 - women power committee is set up by astor to promote female specific issues
• 1941 - women's consultative committee is set up by ernst bevin to manage female participation in the war economy more effectively -- this contributed to the conscription of women for work in march and december 1941
• 1943 - introduction of equal compensation (as previously women got 35p a week less than men)
• female MPs were unable to secure legislation to reward equal pay for equal work
• by 1945 male MPs were starting to take female issues more seriously

• after ww2 the number of female MPs remains low (24 out of 630 in 1955, 23 out of 635 in 1974)
• women were often 'not risked' in safe seats so had to overcome huge barriers to election
• women's rights loses traction due to a lack of cross party support until the early 1970s
• barbara castle was one of few female MPs to gain prominence - puts equal pay act into place in 1970
• 1970s - thatcher is a prominent MP
• it's not until the 1970s women's liberation movement that womens issues start to be addressed

 PROMINENT FEMALE MPs - nancy astor = first female MP, edith summerskill = labour MP who was one founder of the socialist health association which put forward arguments for an NHS, ellen wilkinson = MP for jarrow who organised the jarrow march in 1936, introduced the 1938 hire purchase act, was minister for education and helped raise school leaving age (under attlee)

•  betty friedan's "the feminine mystique" is published in 1963 -- said that many middle class housewives were discontent with their lives. became a bestseller in britain
• germaine greer's "the female ******" is published in 1970 -- contained radical feminist messages such as telling women to leave their marriages and realise that men 'hate them'. controversial (therefore debated impact) but became a bestseller
• 1968 dagenham ford strike -- nearly 200 female sewing machinists went on strike to campaign against women being labelled 'unskilled' workers and therefore being paid less.
  • brokered a deal which ended strike and help lead to the 1970 equal pay act and gained 90% of mens pay at the factory, however were still considered unskilled workers
• 1970 national womens liberation conference -- feminist discourse, 4 key demands: equal pay, equal educational and job opportunities, free contraception and abortion on demand, free 24hour nurseries. helped lead to some legislation changes

• WW2 meant the number of women in industry increased from 3.3m (1914) to 4.8m (1918)
  • fuelled female desire to work, however after the war men were quickly reappointed
• the marriage bar meant most women stopped work to look after children + home
• labour saving devices eg vacuum cleaners meant women could devote less time to domestic chores
• the increase in the number of white collar jobs benefited women
• 1951 - 1/4 of married women worked, 1971 - 1/2, 1990 - 2/3
• equal pay act 1970 -- equal pay for equal work
• sex discrimination act 1975 -- made it illegal to treat workers of one gender less favourably
• employment protection act 1975 -- made it illegal to sack women because they were pregnant, gave the right to maternity pay and the choice to return to their jobs after if they wished
• most jobs were in male blue collar fields until the 1980s
• 50% of housewives often bored according to surveys
• many improvements HOWEVER there remains a lack of women in senior management positions ('glass ceiling') and women were often stuck doing part time or unskilled jobs

• marriage was seen as the main life goal for women until feminists began to challenge this in the 1960s and 70s
• it was often dull and isolating, very different to magazines in which it was glamorised
  • higher expectations to be ideal mothers, dependency on husband, lack of nurseries which meant women were often restricted to part time work
• 1969 divorce reform act -- made it easier to get a divorce
• 1970 matrimonial proceedings and property act gave a higher share of the couples wealth to the women in divorce settlements
  • divorce rates rose from less than 3 in 1000 (1965) to around 10 in 1000 (1976)
• more sexual equality/ freedom -- the contraceptive pill introduced in 1961 and offered to all in 1967, the 1967 abortion act

• demand for female industrial labour during ww1 meant many women joined unions 1914-18
• however many unions rejected women/ only accepted them on a temporary basis
• need for female help enabled political progress at a national level - eg. union and suffrage activist margaret bradfield served as part of wartime central committee for womens employment, then became general council of TUC in 1918, then a labout MP i 1923
• 1970-79 - female union membership rose from 2.6m to 3.8m (24% to 30% of total membership)
• most unions remained highly masculine until the 1980s, when leading unions made steos to increase female representation at high decision making levels 

• 1950s - radio and TV was almost exclusively male, with women portrayed as fragile damsels or objects of masculine desire
• barbara mandell and nan winton were early TV newsreaders
• 1975 - angela rippon bcomes the first permanent female news anchor
• 1970s - joyce grenfell and jill day were early comedy writers and performers on radio and TV]
• a few female-dominated sitcoms in the 1960s eg butterflies (written by a woman also)
• growth of soap operas offered more assertive female role models