Change in Gender Roles

During one of my media lessons we had to answer a question which was 'How have perceptions of sex and gender changed over the past century?'. To answer this question we went through historical context for feminism and other changes. I made a timeline of what we learnt:



Also in the lesson we watched a clip from Dynasty centered on a woman who comes across as very dominant and very empowered over men.

 

 

 We then answered questions on this, these were:

 

Why would men feel threatened by this woman?

• Traditionally a man not a woman would be giving orders.
• Her words get straight to the point.
• She speaks with a lot of confidence.
• Straight faced - no funny business.
• She is smart and wearing professional clothing - this makes her look as if she has authority and power so therefore people will listen to her.
• She is elegant with a beautiful face.

Why would radical feminists dislike her behaviour?

• They do not believe in equality.
• Men should be like men and women like women.
• The men should be giving out the orders and women complying.

What does this tell us about men's status in Britain after Thatcherism?

• Women had more equal rights.
• Mens status was lowered.
• Factories were closed, which meant that men were out of jobs.
• Women began to work more which made them see more in control.