Thank you to all the subscribers who have joined, read my newsletters and supported me over the last 16 months. I’m moving to an occasional paywall model for some of what I publish here as a means of supporting the work involved in more in-depth writing. Most of my posts will remain free, but if you’re able to, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support my work.
Woman, Know Your Place
I was born just after the Second World War, which puts me in the generation known as ‘boomers’, referring to the boom in the number of babies born when the war ended. During the war, women not only had permission but were actively encouraged to take on the roles in factories and other workplaces, usually filled by the men enlisted to fight.
My childhood in the fifties saw women reluctant to return to their kitchens and in working-class homes, like mine, they continued to work, but then working-class women have always worked. Middle-class women felt pressured to resume their domestic roles and let the man be the sole breadwinner. In the 1960s, things were changing and women’s rights activists were fighting for equality in education and the workplace.
It wasn't until 1870 that married women in the UK were allowed to be the legal owners of any money they earned and any inherited property. Before that, husbands owned everything, including the children of the marriage, and it took another twenty years before unmarried women had the same rights over their money and property.
It was another century - 1975 before married women in the UK could open a bank account in their own name. When I was first married in 1972 it was mortifying to see that on official documents I was known as Mrs, and then my husband’s name, because Mrs is an abbreviation of Mistress of… man’s name - for example, mistress of Fred Smith became Mrs Fred Smith. So I was not a person in my own right. I wrote to the bank and asked them to address me as Mrs, then my own initials.
I’ve been married twice. Neither wedding ceremony was held in a church, nor was I ‘given away’, which traditionally meant the bride’s father handing ownership over to her new husband. Hence, the woman’s title of Mrs denoting ownership. Of course, it no longer means that but it’s a tradition I was happy not to romanticise. For as long as I can remember, women have fought for equal rights and I’ve been a feminist.
In the 1960s and 70s, popular beauty competitions objectified women, and people eagerly awaited the annual Miss World event. Feminists actively campaigned against them, saying they were like a cattle market. My mother entered my photo in a beauty competition, unbeknown to me. ATV, a Midlands television company organised it. They were looking for ‘Miss ATV’ of that year.
The first I knew about it was when I received a letter thanking me for my application to take part and informing me that, out of the thousands of applicants, I had been selected to appear in the first heat of one hundred; would I attend the studios with my stilettos, swimsuit and evening dress at a specified date and time. I was horrified!
How could my mother think that this would appeal to me? Parading around in high heels and swimsuit, to be judged? I promptly contacted them and turned down my place. Of course, I found it bemusing that they chose me out of the “thousands of applicants” along with ninety-nine others, but even so, my strong feminist instincts prevailed. The popularity of beauty competitions in the UK did eventually die out thanks to the activism of feminists.
In 1972, the BBC first showed a series by art critic and author, John Berger, which was adapted into a book entitled Ways of Seeing. In one episode, he examined how the media shapes gender and woman as object. This excerpt is from the book on the subject:
Subscribe to Patricia’s Substack to read the rest
Become a paying subscriber to get access to this post and other paid subscriber-only content
—————————————————————