Gender and Working Class Identity in Britain during the 1950s

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between gender and class identity in 1950s Britain, using sociological sources. Through changes in work and sexuality, the period witnessed a growing complexity of femininity, whether seen in the increased number of working women or the spread of family limitation. Contemporary literature on working women promoted the idea that this was helping reshape the public and private spheres of working class life. At the same time, sociologists observed changes in masculinity and in expectations of domesticity and marriage. Such discourses suggested that gender ideology had become more complex within the working classes. This occurred at a moment when it was also assumed that affluence and prosperity were transforming working class identity, breaking down traditional outlooks and loyalties. This article argues that gender was both perceived as a crucial aspect of that transformation and became a principal means of articulating changes in class identity in postwar Britain.