The two wars of nineteen fifteen and nineteen thirty nine mobilised women in a way they were not normally accustomed. They were encouraged to work for the war effort in industries that were normally reserved for men. This created tension, and calls for women to be at home were stepped up. After the vote had been attained women did not fade into the background, there were still protests and campaigns throughout and after the war years.
Post forty five saw an image of conventional motherhood. Although the government wanted women to work part time after the war, mothers were still encouraged to stay at home until their children were a bit older. The women's movement though quieter was still very much alive throughout this period. Indeed pressure from feminist groups resulted in the Royal Commission on Equal pay in 1944. (O'Day p185) This did not result in equal status for women in the workplace but it did highlight the growing dissatisfaction of many women. The emergence of new technologies in fertility control such as the successful trial of the birth control pill, were to give women throughout the sixties and seventies choices in their life they never had before. This may not have been directly influenced by feminism but it gave an impetus to get involved in women's issues. This could be cited as one of the reasons for the rise in numbers of women involved in feminist activities, but there are many more that could be given equal importance. The fight against inequalities at work could be another cause, as access to work and other social institutions were being determined by the persons gender. It was this question of gender that separated both movements. The early movement believed in natural differences and roles the latter believed it to be a part of the system that subordinated women. It is this period of challenge this essay will now explore.
The emergence of second wave feminism was recognised as a movement fighting for equal rights and opportunities to such things as education, work, political involvement, economic individuality, better child-care and the opportunity to be seen as more than potential wives and mothers. Indeed Anne Sintow points out that "women need an identity not determined by gender....... that is the core of feminism".(Hall p8) This was the challenge to what was seen as the male dominance of British society. To enable women to meet this and other challenges, it was recognised that affiliation with other social and political groups such as CND, student groups and the Labour party would be necessary. This would help in the promotion and raising of women's issues and be advantageous to consciousness raising-helping women gain knowledge and changing their perceptions. It was also recognised that making rational arguments for women's causes would require an intelligencia, attracting a large educated white middle class membership. Although this was very much akin to first wave feminism there were ethnic minorities and working class members involved in its diverse campaigns.
These diverse campaigns were accentuated by the make up of the movement itself. It was dispersed and decentralised with a diverse membership. Three major divisions had emerged, Radical, Liberal and Socialist feminism. Each had a view on who or what were the main perpetrators of women's oppression. Liberals saw gender differences (expected roles) as the cause. Socialists cite the capitalist system for using women as a reserve army of labour to be engaged or disengaged as the situation demanded. Radicals saw patriarchy/ male domination as the main instigators. Whatever the differences they all recognised women's inferior position to men in many areas of life and fought the cause from their own ideological base. These divisions highlight the fact that There was no formal membership or structure to the movement. Leadership was dismissed as a male culture and one that should be avoided. The drawback for such collective decision making was that it took a long time to reach decisions on strategies or campaigns. However this did not affect the small informal groups at local level whose main issues of contention included equal pay, equal access to education, better political representation and an end to inequalities at work. It is this inequality this essay will explore in relation to what impact the women's movement had on it.
Although women were entering the workplace in greater numbers their position in relation to wages and promotion was still lower than men. To counter this women were being encouraged to join trade unions which led to an unprecedented strike in Dagenham 1968. The strike was aimed at the ford motor companies payments based on skills. The women claimed that skill should not be based on gender and because machinists were women they were no less skilful than the men working on the plant. The fact that a group of women could stop the manufacturing of cars was of significance to the whole women's movement. They did not succeed in gaining equal pay but secured a significant wage rise. This gave the women's movement a platform and a confidence on which to build. Audrey Wise stated that "women are not used to feeling powerful, it had a great effect on them". (Rowbothom p349) This streak of militancy encouraged the incoming Labour government to seek the support of these now eligible female voters. It would in return set up a committee to investigate discrimination against women. (Gourvish p204) Other legislation followed that may not have grown directly out of the feminist movement but did develop alongside it, which further encouraged women to become involved in wider issues.
Two such examples are the Abortion reform act 1967 which gave women the opportunity to have abortions on physical and mental health grounds and contraception. Some commentators have seen this an advantage to women in that an unwanted pregnancy can be catastrophic. Others view this as women being more susceptible to sexual exploitation from men.(Warde et al p229) Any Advancement in medical science that gives women control over their own sexual activity has to be a good thing, although not all women had equal access to these advancements in the sixties and seventies, it is widely taken for granted that these are an option for women in the year 2001.
Having found this new confidence in influencing politics and paid work and with some control over their sexuality, the movement highlighted the problems of unpaid work and family life. They argued that housework and domestic life was a powerful tool of oppression to the 'housewife and for the first time highlighted the need for research on a subject that had never been considered. It is this area I now want to consider.
The role of 'housewife' and mother has been an accepted part of women's lives for decades. One of the reasons for this is that governments promote the traditional family, with father as breadwinner and provider and the mother as carer and nurturer. It can be argued that any other family form is seen as deviant. (Lewis p5) For single women there is an assumption that they are future wives and mothers and thus any employment or social advancement would take this into consideration. Sixties and seventies feminism challenged this stereotyping, they argued that, not only was there a division of labour in paid work, it also existed in the home. Jane lewis recorded that working class mothers who needed to go out to work to supplement the family income were still doing over seventy five percent of the household work.(Rowbothom p420) For non working women the figure was much higher. Feminists would argue that because housework carries no remuneration package it is undervalued. Marxist feminists would view this arrangement as benefiting the economy and as Joseph states, "the housewife services the wage earner at no extra cost to the employer. The feminist movement it could be argued attempted to politicise these and other issues. It was hoped that making it public knowledge would raise support and awareness. This in turn would provoke legislation and change the situation many women find themselves in within the home. A key breakthrough of the seventies was an understanding of the sexual politics in relation to who did what around the home and out of the home. It was established that this was about power and control. Hall states that "the family is central to power relations between the sexes.....subordination and controlled economic, political and social life. (p14) This was a beginning of breaking down the myth of the happy family unit and gave an opportunity of making the private public. Feminism throughout the seventies brought to light the problems of domestic violence and targeted the family as one of the main agents in socialising children to their gender roles. This is highlighted by Catherine Hall when she claims. "The family is a place where boys learn to be boys....girls to be girls. (p16) Needless to say this would create a stir not only amongst men but also other women. Feminists cannot claim to represent all women because many women as well as men feel threatened rather than inspired. As a result there has been a backlash to stigmatise and reduce the movement to a position of only speaking for an elite few. This case could be argued but it cant be denied there was an impact on women's lives due to feminism.
In summary the women's movement gave a platform to criticise and resolve grievances. It also gave women the chance to propose solutions and initiate debate over many issues. So to that end it did impact on women's lives. It is recognised that many inequalities remained throughout the sixties and seventies and continue still, but it must also be recognised that many of the things taken for granted-contraception, entering work- are legacies of the feminist movement.
Bibliography
C. Hall, White Male and Middle Class, (1992) Polity Press
E. Wilson, Only Halfway To Paradise, (1980) Tavistock
H. L. Smith, British Feminism, in the twentieth century, (1990) Elgar
M.Joseph, Sociology for everyone, (1986) Polity Press
N. Abercrombie & A Warde, Contemporary British Society, (1994) Polity Press
S. Rowbothom, A Century of Women, (1997) Penguin
T. Gourvish & A. O'Day, Britain since 1945, (1991) Macmillan
Derek McGill
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What impact did the feminist movement have on the everyday lives of British women in the 1960's and 70's
