Election Study

In the past women were in many ways thought of as being inferior to men.

In the past women were in many ways thought of as being inferior to men. The typical lifestyle among families was for women to stay at home while men worked, and this was the accepted way of life for both parties. Although certain generalisations still exist much of this has changed, especially over the last hundred years.

A decade ago women there thought so inferior that they were not even allowed to vote. Early in the twentieth century things began to change though. Many protests took place amongst women seeking to gain voting rights, and this led to them being given the vote in 1918. But even then it was only women over the age of 21 who could vote, while the voting age for men stood at 18. It took until 1928 for women to be given equal voting rights. The rights of women across the board have continued to grow ever since.

The old way of life was very rigid in terms of the gender roles and the majority of people lived according to this. The role of a woman was to get married, have children and spend her days at home looking after the children and doing the housework. The workplace was almost exclusively male dominated.

The start of women in the workplace can be attributed to the Second World War. A large number of men were involved in fighting meaning less were available to work in their regular jobs. This meant women had to step in and many worked in factories during this period. Many enjoyed this sense of freedom and wanted to continue once the war was over.

After this women started to want more from their lives and didn't want to just accept their standing in society. This has led to more working women as time has gone on, something which particularly grew in the 1960's. Their role in society in general has become more significant across many areas. Much of this came from the rise of feminism with women wanting to be treated equally to men.

Women these days tend to me more independent. They want more from their lives and want to choose how they live. This could be once reason for the increasing statistics over the last fifty years. Women no longer just accept things the way they are; if they are unhappy in their marriage they won't take it. Could this be one positive of increasing divorce for women? This independence has also meant many more single women.

These days women are generally treated equally to men although some would argue this isn't always the case. They tend to run their own lives and live how they want, without being pigeon holed by society. They have bigger expectation about what they want to gain from life. Some want to be stay-at-home Mums in the traditional sense but they have more of a choice.

Andrew Marshall ©