Nationalising Femininity
Subtitle: Culture, Sexuality and Cinema in World War Two Britain
Contributors: Christine Gledhill (Editor); Gillian Swanson (Editor)
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Published: August 15, 1996
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9780719042591
Subjects: British & Irish history: Second World War; Cultural studies; Feminism; Second World War, 1939-1945; Health/Fitness; Film And Society; Women - 20th Century History; Women's Studies - General; Gender Studies; United Kingdom, Great Britain; History; Feminism & Feminist Theory; Film & Video - History & Criticism; Social Science / Women's Studies; Women in war; 20th century; Great Britain; Women; Women in motion pictures
Description: The Second World War was unprecedented in the changes it demanded in the contours of British life. Work, the family, social policies, and the media were all transformed, blurring the boundaries between private and public life and challenging class and gender divisions. In particular, women were called on to play a range of new roles which threw into question traditional conceptions of femininity and national identity.

What was the relation between gender and nation when the waiting woman was displaced by the mobile woman and homes were flattened by bombs? What happened to notions of femininity, sexual difference and class as women moved into the workplace and donned dungarees, military uniforms and utility clothing?

Such questions are explored in this groundbreaking collection of new essays which for the first time brings together the work of prominent feminist researchers in film, media studies, and social history. Case studies examine competing definitions of feminism circulating in cinema, women's magazines, social policies, government pamphlets, fashion, and broadcasting.