1. In what ways, and for what reasons, was the position of women challenged in the 60s?

2. Learning objectives: To explain why changes in society actually reinforced gender roles To assess the role and status of women in the 60s To explain why a feminist movement emerged in Britain during the 60s, and what they wanted

3. To start… Women in the 1960s were bombarded with media images of themselves! You each have a sheet with sources on, and we are going to watch a clip. YouTube - Fairy Liquid vintage tv ads YouTube - Fairy Liquid vintage tv ads What do these sources tell us about how women were perceived in the 60s? According to the sources, what type of things would make women feel fulfilled?

4. Media portrayal of women in the 1960s Women were portrayed as beneficiaries of the consumer age: time saving gadgets in the home, new fashions for young girls, supermarkets, new foodstuffs and cleaning products to help women be ‘better mums and housewives’ AND/OR: objectified as sex objects, and viewed through a male, sexualised perspective. (remember the work on sexualisation of advertising?)

5. Women in the media ctd… Despite gains made by women in employment during WWII, women's role was still perceived to be in the ‘domestic sphere’: as wives and mothers, wartime gains in status temporary (retreat into domesticity) Media perpetuated this view: developed a ‘cult of domesticity’ around women In what ways do your sources reflect this?

6. Task 1: 60s societal change: reinforcing gender roles? In pairs: You each have a set of cards. Identify cards that state positive consequences of social change in the 60s for the status of women, line them up into the appropriate column Now match up the negative consequences to each positive. In what ways have societal changes reinforced gender roles?

7. Stretch and challenge: In what way do the consequences of social change in the 60s for women suggest that society was highly patriarchal? What would you suggest were the main barriers to women being on a equal footing to men in the 1960s?

8. Task 2: Women’s status in the 1960s Using evidence in Waller pp.85-86, find specific evidence to suggest that: Women had lower employment chances/pay than men They had fewer educational opportunities Their role within society was virtually unchanged since before the war and that some women were unhappy about this Some women had good reason to feel insecure Remember: precision is required for evidence gathering tasks: stats, dates, organisations, people! Level 3 requirements!

9. Feminism: the challenge to the traditional position of women In the spirit of student radicalism of the time, all traditional authority was challenged Third wave feminism (or even feminisms) emerged in the late 60s, to challenge the patriarchal system that kept women subservient and subordinate to men Wanted radical shift in male/female relationships

10. Key feminist works Juliet Mitchell Women:the Longest Revolution (1966) Juliet Mitchell Women:the Longest Revolution (1966) Germaine Greer: The Female Eunuch (1970) Kate Millet: Sexual Politics (1971) Also a number of key feminist works published in various journals of the New Radical Left, some of whom we saw demonstrating in Grosvenor Square, and marching to Aldermaston

11. Key feminist organisations In the USA: National Organisation of Women (1966): campaigned for ‘true partnership between the sexes’ In Britain: Women’s National Co-ordination Committee (1969): drew together different strands of the feminist movement. Also over 70 ‘consciousness raising’ groups by 1969, including the influential Peckham Rye Group Had support of celebrities: eg actress Vanessa Redgrave

12. Why did feminists criticise society? On a wider scale, they analysed relationships between sexes and femininity. They concluded that despite cultural changes in GB, society was male dominated: At work: lower pay, lower prospects Within the family: this was really important to some feminists, who saw family life as the main vehicle of women’s oppression In public life, politics, media and advertising In popular culture (only 3 of the top 20 best selling singles in the 60s were by female artists) Films: always dealt with male-centred narratives (Alfie anyone? James Bond?) Even the counter-culture was sexist: girls expected to be free with their ‘love’

13. What did feminists want? At the first National Women’s Liberation conference held in Ruskin College, Oxford in February 1970, the following demands were put forward: Equal pay Free contraception and abortion on request Equal educational and job opportunities Free 24 hour childcare Which of these (theoretically) have been enshrined in law today?

14. Homework task: Why did a feminist movement emerge in Britain in the 1960s? Use the text from Donnely, Sixties Britain and the relevant information in Waller to construct a detailed, expansive diagram which would help you to answer the following question. Ensure that you include: Underlying (long term) causes: eg 1 st and 2 nd wave feminism had put forward the case for greater women’s equality Mid term causes in the late 50s and 60s which acted to repress women/mitigate against their gaining greater freedom eg: media ‘cult of domesticity’, lack of educational/occupational opportunities Short term causes which helped bring women’s issues to the attention of society: eg: US feminists influencing UK academics, spirit of protest in 68, rise of the New Radical Left… Ensure,where possible, that you make some EXPLICIT LINKS between causes (upper level 3 and 4) Identify which you think are the 3 most important causes,and explain why (level 4)