Summary
Overview
British Scandal hosts Matt Ford and Alice Levine explore the fascinating Russell v Russell case with Professor Lucy Bland, a leading historian of gender and sexuality. This episode examines how the 1920s scandal about a woman becoming pregnant while allegedly still being a virgin exposed deep societal issues around class, sexuality, misogyny, and sexual ignorance in post-WWI Britain.
Women's Transformation After World War I
The First World War fundamentally changed women's lives and confidence, particularly around sexuality and work. Women working in munitions factories exchanged information about their bodies and sexuality, gaining knowledge and confidence. However, after the war, there was tremendous pressure to push women back into domestic roles and out of skilled work they'd been doing, with domestic service being the primary option offered at labor exchanges despite women's resistance.
- WWI changed women dramatically as they took on men's jobs, gained skills and confidence including about their sexuality
- Women working in munitions exchanged information about bodies and sexuality, reducing ignorance
- After WWI, women were forced out of skilled work and pushed back into domestic service despite resistance
- The 'modern woman' or 'flapper' was both celebrated and vilified in interwar press
" Women gained a lot of confidence and skills in the war and they came out of the war wanting to be able to carry on working in the sort of work they've been doing but they weren't allowed to "
The Evolution of Sex Education and Sexual Knowledge
Professor Lucy Bland reveals shocking gaps in historical sexual knowledge, including widespread ignorance about when women were fertile. Until at least the 1940s, it was believed women were most likely to get pregnant around their periods - the exact opposite of reality. The Catholic church promoted this 'safe period' method, leading to many unplanned pregnancies. Even knowledge about the clitoris and female pleasure that existed in the early 19th century was completely lost and only rediscovered in the 1970s through feminism.
- Until the 1940s, it was wrongly believed women were most fertile around their periods, not mid-cycle
- Knowledge about the clitoris and female pleasure existed in early 19th century but was completely forgotten and only rediscovered in the 1970s
- Catholic Church promoted the 'safe period' method which was actually completely unsafe
" I found absolutely extraordinary, actually, was about ignorance about when women were fertile. For a long time until at least the 1940s it was thought that women were like other animals and they were most likely to get pregnant around the times of their periods "
" There used to be, earlier on in the 19th century, knowledge about the clitoris and that could give women pleasure. And then that got completely lost and sidelined...only really rediscovered in the 70s "
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