British Women And The Change Of Social Status In The 20th Century

The 20th century witnessed the British women gradually got rid of the dependent status and obtained independent personality. The war had brought for women the improvement of social and economic status and status of family. The outbreak of war provided a very good opportunity of widespread employment for women. The female started to enter the masculine domain of profession and was engaged in the jobs undertook by man in the past. Female gradually got rid of their passive entirely dependence on her husband in the economy. British women have made tremendous contributions to the final victory of British against Fascism. Thus, the social concept about women has been changed. After the First World War, British women gradually had the equal rights with men on politics voting right, the property right and the independence right of divorce. After World War II, the married women who worked out of their home were gradually accepted by the society. The divorce phenomenon was no longer regarded as a scandal. The gradually economic independence of women, the change of people's marriage conception, the gradually legal relaxation of the reason for being divorced as well as the sexual liberation movements in the 1960s and 1970s, and so on, all have much to do with the remarkable rise of divorce rate in Britain. After the 1970s, both cohabitation and remarriage were much seen in Britain, and the single-parent family increased. British family structure had been changed. This thesis, from the interdisciplinary angle of sociology and history, analyzes the two world wars' influences on British society and family, and the women's important roles in the wars. It discusses the changes of British women's political and economic rights and the changes of their social rights in the 20th century. It also makes a brief analysis of the reasons and social impact of the change.