British Girls and Women of the 90s – the Spice Girls, Girl Bands and Their Influence on British Culture
British Girls and Women of the 90s – The Spice Girls, Girl Bands and their Influence on British Culture
The twentieth century will, without doubt, be viewed by historians as the Woman’s Hour. The status of women in Britain changed. More and more women started to leave their homes and join the labour market. They started to fight for their independence and political, economic and social rights. Women got more recognition from the society and they started to pursue equality with men. They progressed from being (almost) possessions of men, with no legal status of their own, to being considered legal citizens in their own right. As far as the political background is concerned, it is worth saying a few words about Margaret Thatcher. Following the defeat of the Conservatives in 1974 election, Margaret Hilda Thatcher was elected as the new leader. She wentaon to lead the Conservatives toathe victory in the election of 1979 andathe party remained in power until 1997. Christopher states that, “She was developing economicaideas which were guided by the fashionable theories of monetarism”(Christopher, 12). These involved reducing inflation with high interest rates and submitting all aspects of the economy to free-market theories and the laws of supply and demand. Her economic and political ideas, which came to be known as ‘Thatcherism’ began to be fully expressed and implemented. But in Britain, there were high rates of unemployment during the periods of the 1980s and early 90s. The jobs people lost were mostly skilled jobs in manufacturing industry, which were regarded as 'men's jobs'. Massive cuts in state spending led to job losses in the public sector, which affected women equally. According to Christopher’s study: Because these jobs were usually semi-skilled or unskilled and low paid, the women were more interchangeable as employees and could find part-time office work or cleaning work, similarly low paid, elsewhere. (Christopher, 13)
The twentieth century will, without doubt, be viewed by historians as the Woman’s Hour. The status of women in Britain changed. More and more women started to leave their homes and join the labour market. They started to fight for their independence and political, economic and social rights. Women got more recognition from the society and they started to pursue equality with men. They progressed from being (almost) possessions of men, with no legal status of their own, to being considered legal citizens in their own right. As far as the political background is concerned, it is worth saying a few words about Margaret Thatcher. Following the defeat of the Conservatives in 1974 election, Margaret Hilda Thatcher was elected as the new leader. She wentaon to lead the Conservatives toathe victory in the election of 1979 andathe party remained in power until 1997. Christopher states that, “She was developing economicaideas which were guided by the fashionable theories of monetarism”(Christopher, 12). These involved reducing inflation with high interest rates and submitting all aspects of the economy to free-market theories and the laws of supply and demand. Her economic and political ideas, which came to be known as ‘Thatcherism’ began to be fully expressed and implemented. But in Britain, there were high rates of unemployment during the periods of the 1980s and early 90s. The jobs people lost were mostly skilled jobs in manufacturing industry, which were regarded as 'men's jobs'. Massive cuts in state spending led to job losses in the public sector, which affected women equally. According to Christopher’s study: Because these jobs were usually semi-skilled or unskilled and low paid, the women were more interchangeable as employees and could find part-time office work or cleaning work, similarly low paid, elsewhere. (Christopher, 13)