Christmas Homework- Society

Society
In the years before The Bloody Chamber was published women’s rights were very prominent in the media. In 1975 Margaret Thatcher was named leader of the Conservative Party and then in 1979 went on to become Britain’s first woman Prime Minister. In 1976 The Equal Opportunities Commission comes into effect to oversee The Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act.

In the late 60’s and early 70’s in America the Women’s Liberation Movement was forming. It was sparked by women trying to get their views heard in at the National Conference of New Politics (NCNP) in Chicago in 1967. They were told that their demands were not important enough for them to be brought to the floor so 5 women went up to the podium to speak and try and get their views heard. One of them was patted on the head by the Director of the NCNP and he said something along the lines of, “move on little girl; we have more important issues to talk about here than women’s liberation.”

In September 1981 the Greenham Women’s Peace Camp was established to protest against nuclear weapons being held at the Greenham Common RAF site. In December 1982 they held the ‘Embrace the Base’ event which involved 30,000 women who created a human chain in protest. After this the camp became well known and in 1982 70,000 protesters formed a human chain that was 14 miles long. The camp was gaining a lot of media attention and prompted other women around Britain and Europe to start similar camps.

The highest grossing film of 1979 was Kramer vs Kramer, in which it shows a couples divorce proceedings and the effect that it has on everyone around them. The father is left to look after his son without knowing what to do and after a while they become close. A custody battle ensues and custody is awarded to the mother because the court believes that the child will need his mother more. The film ends with the father being able to keep his son because the mother agrees that they need each other.

The second highest grossing film in 1980 was 9 to 5, this is a film where 3 women are able to ‘get even’ with their "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" boss. Starring Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda.