Changing Roles of Men & Women in the UK By the end of this lesson you should be able to: State 3 ways in which attitudes to the role of men & women have changed. Give 3 reasons for these changes.

Sexism- Discrimination against people because of their gender (being male or female) Discrimination- Treating people less favourably because of their ethnicity/gender/colour/sexuality/age/class Prejudice Believing people are inferior or superior without even knowing them Key Terms

What do you think? You have a baby and cannot afford nursery fees, should the mother or father stay at home to look after it?

What do you think? The husband gets home from work earlier than the wife, should he cook the meal?

What do you think? The wife has to work overtime, should the husband do the washing and ironing?

Give the name of a person for each of these jobs e.g. Alex the plumber 1.A plumber2. A nurse 3. A police officer4. A judge 5. A nursery school teacher 6. A footballer 7. A supermarket checkout operator 8. A soldier9. A car mechanic

Traditional home roles At home, if you have a sibling of the opposite sex, do your parents treat you differently according to your gender? Does Dad ask his son to ‘help’ him with the car? Does Mum ask her daughter to ‘help’ her in the kitchen? Why?

Traditional clothing Parents tend to dress new-born boys in blue and new-born girls in pink. Is this right? Why? Is it stereotyping? How?

Different generations When you have your own children will you copy what your parents did? Why? Will you dress a boy in blue and a girl in pink? Why? Would you dare dress a boy in pink? Why or why not?

SensitiveOrganisedEmotional StrongPriestsPlumbers Child MindersDecorateIntelligent AssertiveRomanticBread Winners £££ CryReliableAmbitious Financially OrganisedElectriciansGet Degrees HairdressersNurseBrick Layers AthletesCar MechanicsPrime Ministers UndertakersDo the IroningCook Colour in your sheet Both genders are/ do this Females mostly are/ do this Males mostly are/ do this

What Has Changed? Attitudes to the roles of men & women have changed a lot. In 1989, 32% of men agreed that, “a man’s job is to earn money, a woman’s job is to look after the home and family” In 2008 only 17 % of men agreed with the statement. There has been less progress in who actually does the work around the home. 68% of women say they do all the housework, though only 54% of men agree!

b. Do you think men should share the housework with women? Give two reasons for your point of view. 4 marks I think men should (not) share the housework with women. This is because ________________________________________. For example/Therefore/This means ____________________________. A further reason why I think this because ________________. For example/Therefore/This means ___________________________.

Sexism Women were not always treated equally in this country. Many people saw their role as staying at home looking after the house and children. The ‘Suffragettes’, as they were called, won the votes for women over 31 in In 1928 the age was lowered to 21, the same as men. Today all people over the age of 18 can vote. Women weren’t even allowed to vote in elections. Many women, and men, thought this was unfair and started to campaign to get women the vote.

1. During the World Wars, women had to take on many of the jobs previously done by men and proved they could do them just as well.

2. The development of equal rights for women in other countries (e.g. New Zealand was the first country to give women equal political rights) provided an important precedent for women in the UK.

3. Women played a major role in the development of counselling services and in health and social care. This showed that women were the equals of men in these areas.

4. The work of the suffragette movement to gain equal voting and political rights for women showed the men in authority that women were no longer prepared to be treated as second class citizens.

5. Social and industrial developments in the 1950s and 1960s meant that more women workers were needed. It became more common for married women to provide a second income.

6. The UN Declaration of Human Rights and the development of the Feminist Movement put forward a case for equal rights that could not be contradicted.

7. The Labour governments of and were dedicated to the equal rights campaign and passed the Equal Pay Act and the Sex Discrimination Act.

1882 The married women's property act allowed married women to keep their property separate from their husbands 1892 The local government act allowed women the vote in local elections and the right to stand as councillors 1918 The representation of the people act allowed women over 31 to vote in parliamentary elections (men could vote at 21) 1928 Electoral reform act gave the vote to women over 21 and allowed women to stand as MP’s 1970 The equal pay act required employers to give women the same pay as men – equal pay for the same work regardless of sex 1975 Sex discrimination act made it illegal to discriminate in jobs on the grounds of sex or whether a person is married Women’s rights

Sexism in practice Parents sometimes treat boys and girls differently or have different rules for one In education girls are more likely to do better in school some teachers/schools might treat boys and girls differently Women are more likely to be victims of domestic violence Women are more likely to be victims of ‘date rape’ and drink spiking Even if they both work full-time women often do most of the housework

women are much more likely to give up work to take care of children women’s salary levels are on average 25% lower than men’s women are less likely to be promoted and only 10% of managers are women Women are more likely to be poor- single mothers are one of the poorest groups in society nearly all of Britain's 6 million ‘carers’ are women – most are unpaid and their work is invisible Sexism in practice cont…

The natural argument Men and women are different biologically and so act differently. Women are naturally the people to stay home and care for the children because they are genetically programmed to do this…

Men and women carry out different roles in society because this is what they are taught to do. Young girls help their mothers with housework, while boys spend time with their fathers. In this way, boys and girls learn to ‘conform’ to the stereotypes… The nurture argument

d. “A woman’s place is in the home.” i) Do you agree? (3 marks) ii) Why might others disagree with you? (3 marks) i)I agree/disagree that ‘a woman’s place is in the home’. This is because __________________________________________. Another reason why I think this is because _________________ ____________________________________________________. ii) Someone may disagree with me because ____________________. Another reason why they may disagree with me is because _______ ____________________________________________________.