Women in Britain

Voices and Perspectives from Twentieth Century History

Janet H. Howarth

• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781850434566
• eBook ISBN: 9781786724243
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

The millennium has sharpened perspectives on the history of women in twentieth-century Britain. Many features of the contemporary gender order date only from the last decades of the century – the expectation of equal opportunities in education and the work-place, sexual autonomy for the individual and tolerance of a variety of family forms. The years dominated by the two World Wars saw real advances towards equal citizenship and legal rights, and a growing sense of the impact on women of 'modernity' in its various forms, including consumerism and the mass media. But values inherited from the Victorians were still reflected in the class hierarchy, the policing of sexuality and the male-breadwinner family. This anthology of original sources, accompanied by a state-of-the-art bibliography, illustrates patterns of continuity and change in women's experience and their place in national life. An introductory survey provides an accessible overview and analysis of controversial issues, such as the relationship between 'first', 'second' and 'third' wave feminism.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations and Maps
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. Class, Region and Ethnicity
• 2. Family and Work
• 3. Education
• 4. Sex and Sexualities
• 5. Feminisms and Femininity
• 6. The Great War, 1914–18
• 7. Franchise and After, 1918–39: The Modern Woman?
• 8. War and Reconstruction, 1939–51
• 9. The Fifties and Sixties
• 10. Women’s Lib to Post-Feminism? 1970–2000
• A History of Women in Britain. Sources and Readings from the Twentieth Century
• Select Bibliography
• Permission Notes and Acknowledgements