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Gender and Citizenship in Britain since 1866

Module description

When John Stuart Mill raised the question of women’s suffrage in parliament in 1866 he was met with amused smiles from the opposition benches, yet by 1979 Britain had a female Prime Minister. This module explores how gender roles have been reshaped in modern Britain, analysing the trials and tribulations of feminism, the changing roles of men in society, and shifting understandings of homosexuality. Inter-disciplinary approaches are promoted, we will explore the modern history of gender through a variety of means including political pamphlets, literature, film and magazines.

This module is suitable for interdisciplinary pathways.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to:

• Develop effective and analytical skills, oral and written
• Develop your skills in researching, interpreting, and analysing both primary and secondary material, and in reporting on your work
• Explore an area of history in more depth, and help you to develop the depth of understanding you will require to study more specialised areas of history
• Give you an opportunity to work in a team on a group presentation

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Be aware of the various developments in the history of gender in Britain since 1886
• 2. Make a close evaluation of the key developments in gender relations in modern Britain, understanding how meanings of terms like 'feminism', 'masculinity', and 'queer' identities have changed over time
• 3. Evaluate the main themes in the subject and to collate information upon, and evaluate in greater detail, those aspects of the module discussed in seminar and especially those topics selected by students for their coursework

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Analyse the key developments within a specific historical period and theme
• 5. Collate data from a range of sources, both primary and secondary
• 6. Interpret primary sources
• 7. Trace long-term as well as short-term historical developments
• 8. Recognise and deploy historical terminology correctly
• 9. Assess different approaches to historical writing in areas of controversy

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 10. Work both independently and in a group, including participating in oral seminar discussions
• 11. Identify a topic, select, comprehend, and organise primary and secondary materials on that topic with little guidance
• 12. Produce to a deadline and in examination conditions a coherent argument

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Introduction
• Victorian feminism
• Masculinity and the Victorian family
• Victorian and Edwardian masculinities
• Masculinities in politics c.1880-1914
• Female suffrage, 1866-1914
• Women and politics before 1914
• Women in party politics
• Fighting on different fronts: Gender in WW1
• Gender roles, 1914-39
• Women’s roles in inter-war society
• Gender and politics between the wars
• Special Collections session
• Special Collections session
• Which people’s war: Gender in WW2
• Gender in WW2 and its aftermath
• Marriage, home and 50s gender politics
• Male homosexuality before Wolfenden
• Queer Sexualities before Wolfenden
• Lesbian cultures before permissiveness
• Homosexuality in the permissive era
• Sex and moral panics in the 60s
• Mods, Rockers and Hippies?: sex in the 60s
• The politics of ‘Second Wave’ feminism
• Second wave feminism and its effects
• Gender politics since the ‘Second Wave’
• Film session: Gender and British cinema
• Angry young men?: Gender and UK film
• Tainted love: Queer politics since the 80s
• Margaret Thatcher
• Female political leadership
• Exam briefing

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

 Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

• Barbara Caine,  English  feminism,  1780-1980  (1997)
• Harry Cocks and Matt Houlbrook eds., The modern history of sexuality (2006)
• Laura Lee Downs, Writing gender history (2010)
• Sue Morgan ed., The feminist history reader (2006)
• Martin Pugh, Women and the women’s movement in Britain (various editions)
• Sheila Rowbotham, A century of women (1997)
• Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska ed., Women in twentieth century Britain (2001)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

Web based and electronic resources:

•  ELE: https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/search.php?search=HIH2212

 Available via library electronic resources-

• Defining  Gender  1450-1910
• Mass  Observation  (social  survey  organization  started  in  1930s)

 Sources  available  via  Exeter  University  Special  Collections   

• Bill  Douglas  Centre  for  film  studies  http://www.exeter.ac.uk/bdc/
• Hypatia  Trust  collection  (books  and  pamphlets  on  women’s  history,  particularly strong  for  women’s  suffrage,  second  wave  feminism) 
• http://hypatia.exeter.ac.uk/
• http://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/about/special/archives/rare/title_43757_en.html

to  search  on  the  library  catalogue-  take  the  first  three  letters  from  the  subject  heading  (see ‘system  of  arrangement’  on  the  above  webpage) -  and  search  under  local  classmark - so  books  under  Politics  are  listed  under ‘POL’

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

• BBC  archive  (collections  on  women’s  suffrage,  Second  Wave  feminism,  gay  rights,  Thatcher) http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/collections.shtml 
• BBC  woman’s  hour  archive  http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/history_archive 
• British Library Sisterhood and After project https://www.bl.uk/sisterhood
• Feminist  archive,  Bristol  University http://feministarchivesouth.org.uk/
• Thatcher  Foundation https://www.margaretthatcher.org/
• Women’s  Library,  London at the LSE https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/collections/thewomenslibrary