Unseen prose context

1940s/50s - social

Post-war, rationing continuing until 1952, publication of The Second Sex in 1949, Windrush generation (lasted until 1971) and lots of immigration to Britain, start of the civil rights movement

1940s/50s - economic

reconstruction and prosperity until 1952, rise in consumerism

1940s/50s - political

post-war, start of the civil rights movement, Cold War

1960s - social

• abortion legalised in 1967 in the UK and developments in contraception

• expansion to divorce with 1969 Divorce Act (similar progression in USA)

• continuation and the civil rights movement and the end of segregation

• publication of the Feminine Mystique

• developments in culture with the Swinging Sixties, youth culture and anti-nuclear activism

• second wave feminism taking off in the late 1960s (lasted about 2 decades)

• Stonewall riots

1960s - economic

• economic prosperity and the rise of an upper-working class

1960s - political

• rise in countries breaking free of the British Empire

• Cold War

1970s - all

• Cold War

• Election of first female PM

• general strikes in Britain - caused hardships (restriction on electricity, food queues, three day working week)

• Decline in manufacturing

• Start of IRA bombings

1980s - social

• Miners’ strikes

• Emergence of “yuppies” - class flexibility

• technological developments

• race riots in the early 1980s

• increased role of women in the workplace (esp married women) and careers paths shifting into more higher-paid roles but increased discourse over glass ceiling - women demanding equal pay and rights

1980s - economic

• rise in unemployment

• later 80s = boom years

1980s - political

• Thatcherism

• Miner’s strikes

1990s - social

• hope

• development of technology

• approaching millennium

• emergence of 3rd wave feminism

• continual increased role of women in work but glass ceiling still existing

• girl power and increased female independence

• rise of the Internet

• increased American influence on global culture

1990s - economic

• beginnings of 1990s = worldwide recession

1990s - political

• poll tax riots (March 1990)

• Good Friday peace agreement (1998)

second wave feminism

• 1960s-1980s

• broadened debate to cultural inequalities and defying gender norms

• examined more closely the role of women in society - Friedan, de Beauvoir (although the second sex was published in 1949)

third wave feminism

• 1990s-2000s

• focussed on things like intersectionality, body autonomy and the deconstruction of gender

• aimed to build on the deemed failure of 2nd wave

• had less of a definite focus than the previous waves

fourth wave feminism

• 2010s - present

• expands on the third wave’s focus on intersectionality

• Emphasises body positivity, trans-inclusivity and open discourse about rape culture

• largely characterised by social media era