Women in the History of Britain
Информация - Иностранные языки
Другие материалы по предмету Иностранные языки
nted.October 1897, Nancy Astor married society Bostonian Robert Gould Shaw. They had one son before they separated in 1902, divorcing in 1903.Astor then went to England. On a ship, she met Waldorf Astor, whose American millionaire father had become a British lord. They married in London on April 19, 1906, and Nancy Astor moved with Waldorf t the family home in Cliveden, where she proved an adept and popular society hostess. In the course of their marriage, they had four sons and one daughter. In 1914 the couple, who also shared a birthdate, converted to Christian Science.and Nancy Astor became involved in reform politics, part of a circle of reformers around Lloyd George. In 1909 Waldorf stood for election to the House of Commons as a Conservative from a Plymouth constituency; he lost the election but won on his second try, in 1910. The family moved to Plymouth when he won. Waldorf served in the House of Commons until 1919, when, at his father's death, he became a Lord and thereby became a member of the House of Lords.Astor decided to run for the seat that Waldorf vacated, and she was elected in 1919. Constance Markiewicz had been elected to the House of Commons in 1918, but chose not to take her seat. Nancy Astor was the first woman to take a seat in Parliament -- the only woman MP until 1921.campaign slogan was "Vote for Lady Astor and your children will weigh more." She worked for temperance, women's rights, and children's rights. Another slogan she used was "If you want a party hack, don't elect me."
Nancy Astor was an opponent of socialism and, later during the Cold War, an outspoken critic of communism. She was also an anti-fascist. She refused to meet Hitler though she had an opportunity. Waldorf met with him about the treatment of Christian Scientists and came away convinced that Hitler was mad.their opposition to fascism and the Nazis, the Astors supported economic appeasement of Germany, supporting the lifting of economic sanctions against Hitler's regime.World War II, Nancy Astor was noted for her morale-boosting visits to her constituents, especially during German bombing raids. She just missed being hit once, herself. She also served, unofficially, as hostess to American troops stationed at Plymouth during the build-up to the Normandy invasion.1945, Nancy Astor left Parliament, at her husband's urging, and not entirely happily. She continued to be a witty and sharp critic of social and political trends when she disapproved, including both communism and the American McCarthy witch-hunts.largely withdrew from public life with the death of Waldorf Astor in 1952. She died in 1964.1923, Nancy Astor published "My Two Countries", her own story.
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher was born Britain's first female prime minister. A graduate of Somerville College, Oxford, with a master of arts degree from the University of Oxford she worked as achemist and a barrister, concentrating on tax law, before being elected to the House of Commons in 1953. She held several ministerial appointments including education minister (1970-74). Elected leader of her Party (the Opposition) in 1975, she became prime minister in 1979. Known as a strong leader and an "astute Parliamentary tactician, she knew how to handle disagreement, no matter from which bench it issued.1982 she ordered British troops to the Falkland Islands to retake them from Argentina. She took a strong stand against the trade unions during the miner's strike (1984-85), and moved Britain toward privatization, selling minor interests in public utilities to the business interests. She also introduced "rate capping" which effectively took control of expenditures out of the hands of city councils, part of her policies aimed at reducing the influence of local governments. In 1989, she introduced a community poll tax. In 1990, her cabinet was divided over issues including the European Community which forced her resignation. In 1992, she entered the House of Lords, created Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven. Her memoirs are being published by HarperCollins. The first volume, "The Downing Street Years" was published in 1993.
Diana, Princess of Wales
Lady Diana Frances Spencer, (Diana Frances Mountbatten-Windsor, ne Spencer) (July 1, 1961-August 31, 1997) was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. From her marriage in 1981 to her divorce in 1996 she was styled "Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales". After her divorce from the Prince of Wales in 1996 Diana ceased to be the Princess of Wales and also lost the resulting Royal Highness style. She received the title normally used by the ex-wives of peers, Diana, Princess of Wales under Letters Patent issued by Queen Elizabeth II at the time of the divorce.was often called Princess Diana by the media and the public, but she did not possess such a title and was not personally a princess, a point Diana herself made to people who referred to her as such. Contrary to belief, being Princess of Wales does not make one a princess in one's own right. It merely indicates that one was married to a Prince of Wales. Princesses in their own right only exist by creation of the monarch or by birth. Diana was in fact the first non-princess to be Princess of Wales for centuries. Previous Princesses of Wales, such as Alexandra of Denmark or Mary of Teck were already princesses by birth when they married a Prince of Wales. An iconic presence on the world stage, Diana, Princess of Wales was noted for her pioneering charity work. Yet her philanthropic endeavours were overshadowed by her scandal-plagued marriage to Prince Charles. Her bitter accusations via friends and biographers of adultery, mental cruelty and emotional distress visited upon her, and her own admission of adultery and numerous love affairs riveted the world for much of the 1990s, spawning books, magazine articles and television movies.the time of her engagement to the Prince of Wales in 1981 until her death in a car accident in 1997, the Princess was arguably the most famous woman in the world, the pre-eminent female celebrity of her generation: a fashion icon, an image of feminine beauty, admired and emulated for her high-profile involvement in AIDS issues, and the international campaign against landmines. During her lifetime, she was often referred to as the most photographed person in the world. To her admirers, the Princess of Wales was a role model - after her death, there were even calls for her to be nominated for sainthood - while her detractors saw her life as a cautionary tale of how an obsession with publicity can ultimately destroy an individual.
Conclusion
Fatal contradistinction between man as "a master", "a maker of destinies" to woman as a minor creature "made of Adams rib" is the reason of the discharmony of social structure. There was no equality between this to entities in remote ages. Woman didnt have independence. She was a slave performing her family duties. One paradox should be mentioned here: the more woman was worshipped at some space of time, the more humiliating and subordinate position they really had.an instance, we could refer to Middle Ages. Little is known about the life of women of Britain in that period, but without doubt it was hard. The Church tought that women shoukd obey their husbands. It also spread two different ideas about women: that they should be pure and holy like the Virgin Mary; and that,like Eve, they could not be trusted and were a moral danger and a moral danger to men. Such religious teaching led men both to worship and also to look down on women, and led women to give in to mens authority.was usually the single most important event in the lives of men and women. But the decision itself was by the family, not the couple themselves. This was because by marriage a couple themselves. This was because by marriage a family could improve its wealth and social position. Everyone, both rich and poor, married for mainly financial reasons. Once married, a woman had to accept her husband as a master. A disobedient wife was usually beaten. It is unlikely that love played much of a part in most marriages.first duty of every wife was to give her husband chidren, preferably sons. Because so many children died as babies, and because there was little that could be done if a birth was wrong, producing children was dangerous and exhausting. Yet this was the future for every wife from twenty or younger until she was forty.wife of a noble had other responsibilities. When her lord was away, she was in charge of the manor and the village lands, all the servants and villagers, the harvest and the animals. She also had to defend the manor if it was attacked. She was to run the household, welcome visitors, and store enough food, including salted meat, for winter. She was expected to have enough knowledge of herbs and plants to make suitable medicines those in the village who were sick. She probably visited the poor and the sick in the village, showing that the rules "cared" for them. She had little time her own children, who in any case were often sent away at the age of eight to another manor, "the boys to be made into men".women, of course, were peasants, busy making food, making cloth and making clothes from the cloth. They worked in the fields, looked after their children, after animals.womans position improved if her husband died. She could get control of the money her family had given the husband at the time of marriage, usually about one-third of his total land and wealth. But might have to marry again: men wanted her land, and it was was difficult to look after it without the help of a man.in Britain since long ago thereve been women who managed to change the march of history, those who were not afraid to struggle for their rights, struggle a