Women in Fifties Britain

<p>Contented housewives glamorous women jive-mad teenagers – all are common figures in popular perceptions of 1950s Britain. But what more did it mean to be a girl or woman in the fifties? And what are the implications of this history for understanding post-war Britain? </p><p>Women in Fifties Britain explores the lived experience of girls and women and the way in which their story has been told. Crossing boundaries – disciplinary conceptual and thematic – and drawing creatively on new and established sources it extends and enriches the terrain of women’s history. Diverse groups of women come into view including farmer’s wives university-educated women activist housewives working mothers Jewish refugees girls ‘at risk’ and private secretaries. Revealing that their private public and professional lives were central to reshaping society the collection engages with the legacy of World War II and with questions about the distinctiveness of the 1950s. Embracing emotion labour gender class race sociability sexuality and much more the authors offer penetrating exploration of established and new categories of historical analysis. Placing the politics of gender at the heart of Britain’s reconstruction this engaging and important collection re-visions 1950s Britain and the women that made it.</p><p>This book was originally published as a special issue of <i>Women’s History Review. </i></p>