Out of the Doll's House (BBC)

School based video from programme (order in minutes: seconds)

00:33 Domestic work - very little independence for women; going from school to service
01:10 Women in mills, including after marriage (unlike professions); slums
02:08 Taking in washing
02:32 Being paid less; 1906 - National Federation of Women Workers; Tailor and Garment Workers Union
03:22 World War 1 reduced working restrictions, nurseries; bosses saw women accepting production line monotony
04:35 Country amazed as what women could do: did even the hardest jobs
05:15 After this war work women 30 + get the vote; Nancy Astor was the first woman MP
05:50 Factory work popular in 1920s; women did not earn the same as men
06:45 Women in proffessions, had to leave when married; marriage was suppressed (example), and deception strategies for the married
08:12 Married women lost right to unemployment benefit
08:37 Men on dole relied on women's low level employment
09:00 Women relied on in World War II; marriage bar dropped, union rules against women dropped
11:25 After the war redundancies for women but export drive needed women workers
13:40 Women for cheap labour
13:50 Professionals wanted equal pay
14:20 UN Charter on equality, disappointment with women MPs
14:50 While equal pay in 1955 brought in for professionals there is stigma over latch key kids
16:10 Some doors firmly closed to women (Stock Exchange)
17:10 Equal Pay Act 1970s (criticised as cart before horse)
18:10 Sex Discrimination Act - huge pay rises
19:40 Barriers lifted (Sfock Exchange), patronising attitudes; second income
21:25 Homeworkers remain cheap labour
22:20 More opportunities compared with older generations

Questions:

  1. How would you describe this text?
    1. Prose
    2. Poetry
    3. Notes
    4. Hypertext

  2. The chief purpose of the writing above is to:
    1. Persuade a case about women
    2. Inform about the progress of women
    3. Guide in the viewing of a video tape
    4. Argue against a conflicting point of view

  3. The text shows that the programme is about:
    1. Making dolls' houses
    2. The progress of women during the nineteenth century
    3. The progress of women until contemporary times
    4. The impact of war on women

  4. There is a spelling mistake at:
    1. 04:35
    2. 06:45
    3. 14:20
    4. 17:10

  5. There is an OCR (scanning) error at:
    1. 11:35
    2. 16:10
    3. 18:10
    4. 19:40

  6. Married women lost the right to unemployment benefit:
    1. After the stigma over latch key kids
    2. After men on the dole relied on women's low level employment
    3. Before professionals wanted equal pay
    4. After equal pay brought in for professionals

  7. According to the text, the Sex Discrimination Act is associated with:
    1. Equal pay
    2. Huge pay rises
    3. Men losing income
    4. Unemployment for women

  8. In 17:10 the phrase "cart before horse" refers to:
    1. Women horse riders
    2. The Equal Pay Act coming before the Sex Discrimination Act
    3. Criticism regarding the Equal Pay Act
    4. The Equal Pay Act coming after some doors were firmly closed to women

  9. Looking at 03:22, 04:35 and 09:00:
    1. The variety of women's work and/ or reliance upon them increased each time
    2. The variety of women's work and/ or reliance upon them declined each time
    3. The variety of women's work and/ or reliance upon them was not affected
    4. The variety of women's work and/ or reliance upon them increased but the amount of work did not

  10. Write an historical account of women's experiences in sentences based on the notes from 03:22 to 13:40.

 

Adrian Worsfold