Women of Great Britain 1918-1939

            At the end of the First World War the roles of women had greatly changed as demonstrated by Robert Graves and Alan Hodge’s book “The Long Week-End.” No longer confined to being a homemaker women entered the workforce in Great Britain to help out during the war and once the war was over many hoped to continue working. The current state of affairs for women in the Britain was that of returning to what the country was once like where women would no longer work in industry positions and go on to marry and have children. The war changed this frame of thought for women they now had freedom and independence to pursue other attributes of life that they were once told weren’t allowed for young women. The role of women in the twentieth century would change quickly but not without objections from those around them.

            After the end of the war Britain saw an influx of travelers from the United States though the British had many distasteful opinions of Americans due to their last minute involvement in the war the women of the country did take an interest in the fashions that were now being imported by tourist. “They brought unfamiliar fashion along, among them lipstick, rouge, eyebrow and eyelash colouring.”(p.29) Make-up, clothing, dancing, and music were all imported into the country after the war from the American Jazz Age giving the women of Britain a chance to leave behind their tight constricting clothing in favor of more airy fashions that would allow them to dance in the clubs that were now appearing throughout the big cities. “The new dances certainly demanded a freedom of movement which was not possible in old-fashion corsets.” (p.29) Women noticed some of the freedoms that other women from outside countries had in terms of fashion and they wanted the same freedoms. One of these freedoms was the ability to cut their hair to lengths only seen in Paris just before the war, some women had cropped their locks when they worked in the factories and now regular women who didn’t get the same chance followed suit. Cutting off your hair became a sign of freedom for many girls who were long forced to have it long. Though for men fashion didn’t change much many of the fashions being introduced to women would become interchangeable for the men as well. Fashion would change greatly in the years after with fashion magazines and circulars making their ways throughout Britain in the years between the wars but with these innovations they also had a chance to compete in the global market.

The mix of the new fashions and dancing would also cause changes in how young women were viewed during this time period. Many complained that because of this “shameless abandon” and “allowing her partner a near-sexual closeness of embrace” (p.32) isn’t what a woman should be doing especially because they were drinking with the men. Many were outspoken about what young women were up to and because of this another American custom of putting “soda-fountains” (p.32) in the clubs would slow down a woman’s consumption of alcohol. Making non-alcoholic drinks available gave young women the ability to not become intoxicated. Women also developed other habits that were once only done by men such as smoking which had become so fashionable for women that others wouldn’t blink an eye at the sight of a woman smoking in a club or at a restaurant.

A woman’s new habits weren’t seen as normal and there were many critics of the new norms of the young women in the early twentieth century. Yet even with critics the new ‘modern girl’ was born out of the women who had sacrificed themselves to work during the war this girl would become the flapper which was “the popular press catchword for an adult woman worker aged 21 to 30” (p.33) Some of these women worked in factories during the war others were just coming into the work force. Stories were written about such girls and they were immortalized by young women wishing to break free from their old lives and live new ones. This movement would also help shape the changing views on women, those who were old fashioned were against the rising tide of these young women but they embraced the change. Like these women many women over time would reinvent themselves over and over again.

Another aspect of the new woman would be the working girl that had once worked in the factories during the war but were now being forced out because the men had returned. Many were told to go to work as house workers but they knew about the freedoms of working in factories and did not want to go work as someone’s servant. Many young “daughters were expected to take up business careers, or at least do something.” (p.35) Something meant taking up a hobby or going to school many of which still didn’t allow women into them. New laws were written just so women would be able to hold the same positions as men in the work force such as doctor and lawyer. Many women were expected to get married but all like before the war women outnumbered the men this time moreover because many young men had died during the war.

            The young women in the time between the wars would become an asset to Britain during the Second World War because they would be trained in fields long before the war started. Their power had as citizens had only begun to grow during this time though they faced many hardships and criticisms from the older generation. Graves and Hodge’s view on women during the period between the wars is surprising because they showed the views of the people in Great Britain as well as inserting their own views carefully. The authors gave them credit for their social movements and the changes they help create but also critiqued certain aspects such as the closeness of the dancing between men and women. Many of these new customs weren’t normal during the time but were quickly adapted thanks to women. This small period in time would help shape the future of women not only in Great Britain but globally.

Work Cited

Graves, Robert, and Alan Hodge. The Long Week End: A Social History of Great Britain, 1918-1939. New York: Norton, 1994.