Family

Activities

Before Viewing

1. Glossary

Find out the meaning of the following words and phrases.
Use them to add to your own glossary of vocabulary on:
HISTORY OF WOMEN IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.
You will be able to add to your glossary when you watch Programme 3 (WORK).

Try to write the meanings in your own words rather than copying them out of a dictionary. Imagine you are trying to explain the word to a younger person. What would you say? How could you use examples to help explain the meaning to them?

Family
Housewife
Roles
Division of labour
Domestic
Stereotypes
Propaganda
Advertising
Technology
Technological
Attitudes
Values
Economic
Teenage
Teenager
Generation
Women's Liberation
Consumer
Consumerism
Marriage
Divorce
Fashion
Suburban
Suburbia
Functional
Dysfunctional
Socialisation

NOTE TO TEACHERS

2.Helping Understanding

The following phrases will help you understand both Programmes 2 and 3. Find out what they mean and add them to your glossary.

• 'Double standard'
• 'Glass ceiling'
• 'Flash in the pan'
• 'Chip on your shoulder'

3. Propaganda and the media

If you watched Programme 1 (WAR) you will have found out about 'propaganda' and its use towards women during war time. In Programme 2 (FAMILY) you will learn about propaganda during peace time.

The following quote is from an historian called David Welch. Welch defines propaganda as:

"the deliberate attempt to influence the opinions of an audience through the transmission of ideas and values for a specific persuasive purpose".

(History Today, 49 (8) August 1999, p26)

• Do you agree with his definition? Does it fit with your own definition of propaganda from Programme 1?
• Think about your daily life. How many examples of propaganda do you come across in your daily life?

Make a list using the table below. An example has been done for you.

After Viewing

4. What was the 'ideal' housewife of the 1950s and 1960s?

The following extracts can all be used to find out about society's 'ideal' housewife during the 1950s and 1960s:

• Bewitched (1964)
• A Touch of Magic (1961)
• Persil (1959)
• Why Study Home Economics? (1955)

Watch each of the extracts and fill in the table below:

Now watch this extract:

• A Day of One's Own (1955)

The housewife in this extract is portrayed differently to the ones in the extracts above.

• Describe the main differences.
• Explain the main differences.

In order to do this you will need to think carefully about why the film was made and then look at the second column of your table.

What are the main similarities between all the extracts?

5. Women and Men in the 1990s

The following extracts can be used to find out about attitudes to the roles of women and men in the 1990s:

• Oxo Advertisement 'Flash in the Pan' (1995)
• EastEnders (1994)
• House Husbands (1996)

Repeat the exercise above on the 1990s.

The background notes refer to soap operas as a more realistic portrayal of life than film. Do you agree?

6. What Historians need to know about sources

The above exercises show you why it is important to know the following information about a source:

• WHO made it?
• WHY was it made?
• WHEN was it made?
• WHAT is it?

Explain why it is important for historians to know the answers to the questions above when they are interpreting a source.

7. Who does the housework?

The programme gives the following statistics about housework in UK in 1961:

Average time spent on housework per day:

Men - 19 mins

Women - 440 mins

The extract from Butterflies (1978) shows a family at dinner. Does the programme suggest that there has been an increase in the amount of time men spend on housework or not?

Use the Internet (see LINKS) and Library to find similar statistics for the 1990s.

8. Using Oxo Advertisements

The three Oxo advertisements shown in the Programme are a useful indicator of:

• attitudes towards roles of women and men in family life, 1955-95
• changes in attitudes between 1955 and 1995
• continuity in attitudes between 1955 and 1995.

Watch the Oxo advertisements and explain what you have found out about attitudes towards roles of women and men between 1955 and 1995.

Answering the following questions will help you think critically about the adverts:

• Who is doing the cooking in each advertisement? Is there change over time?
• What is the Oxo slogan in 1955?
• What is the man's role in 1985?
• How has this changed by 1995?
• Why did the advertising company call the 1995 advert 'Flash in the Pan'? What do you learn from this title about their attitude towards the role of men in the family?

Imagine that you work for an advertising company. Design a slogan to sell trainers to either 14 year old girls or 14 year old boys. Discuss your slogans as a class, what are the differences between them?

9. Relationships and Feelings

Watch the following extract:

• My Teenage Daughter (1956)

Describe the relationship between the mother and daughter and the feelings that both of them might have.

Use the BACKGROUND to find out about child care theory in the 1950s. How does it help you interpret the content of My Teenage Daughter (1956)?

10. Using Domestic Interiors and their Artefacts

Historians use a range of sources of information, including artefacts, to find out about the past. The objects made and used by people in the past can be used to find out about their lives. Explain how you could use artefacts from the 1950s and 1960s to find out about society at this time.

The Geffrye Museum is a collection of domestic interiors from 1600 to 2000. You can use their web site (see Hyperlinks) to help you answer this question.

11. Thinking Critically about Research

The background section refers to a study of evacuee children. This study focused on the negative effects of children being separated from their families. The findings of the study were used to put pressure on mothers to stay at home and look after their children all the time. Sociologists have been critical of the use of this research.

What problems might there be in using research about evacuees to reach conclusions about working mothers?

12. Women, Families and the Environment

The background section refers to Hannah Gavron. Gavron argued that the environment should support family life. Discuss or do a survey of your local environment. The discussion or survey should answer the question:

How does the local environment support family life?

Think about public transport, local conveniences, leisure facilities, child care, health etc.

13. Three Generations of Women: Doing Your Own Enquiry

Carry out your own enquiry into change and continuity in women's lives by interviewing 2/3 generations of women in a family that you know.

Think carefully about:

• What you want to find out before the interview. Prepare your questions in advance.
• How will you record the interviews?
• How will you present your findings?
• What conclusions can you reach from the interviews?