Idea of Progress

I will deal with theidea of progress. First of all, I would like to give you a definition. Thus, it
basically consists in believing that the world can become better in terms of science,
technology, liberty and quality of life. Progress implies changes, some evolution from an
ancient order with old tradition to a new order.
Thus,during the First and the Second World Wars, women replaced men in factories. The
distinction of sex and the principle of housewife were forgotten. But after the Second
World War, women went back home or were obliged to accept wages lower than men.
Moreover,
the diktat imposed to women maintained them under male control.
Because of this, in the interests of recognition and emancipation, women acted on the
society of their time. Thus, how the women situation did evolve in the Sixties ?
In order to illustrate the notion, I have chosen 3 documents : an advert, a text and a
dialogue from a movie.
The first document is a an ad for a food processor called "Kenwood Chef". The woman is
presented as totally submissive to and dependent on her husband. We see this first of all in
the position of their bodies. The man, in the center of the photo, is a full head higher than
the woman. He is in front and turns his back on his wife, whereas the woman is
behind,leaning against his back. She is wearing a chefs hat indicating that she is the one
who cooks for her husband. But at the same time she is also a sexual object, with red lipstick
and nail polish and stylish blond hair. The words printed on the photo appear just in front of
the mans face, and are clearly his words: The Chef does everything but cook thats what
wives are for, which signifies that the main role of a wife is to care for her husband. We can
see on the counter in front of them the fruits of her labour various drinks and dishes she
has prepared for her husband. In addition, the man is the one in charge of the pocketbook.
Even if it is the woman who cooks, it is the man who decides which kitchen appliances to
purchase. This is made clear in the slogan Im giving my wife a Kenwood Chef, and also in
the address coupon at the bottom left-hand corner where we understand that in order to
obtain this wonderful consumer object, a woman must convince her husband to buy it:
Send off this coupon for a husband-persuading leaflet. Advertisements are a great
barometer of public opinion because in marketing one must cater to the customers needs
and desires.They never would have designed this ad if it hadnt reflected the opinions of
their potential clients. The message here is clearly that the man is in charge.
The second document which is a text extracted from a website shows that the 60s were
revolutionary. Indeed this text deals with frenzy when the UK won the world cup. Moreover
music people and fashion designers launched new trends and revolutionized the world with
icons like Twiggy. People were cool and confident about the future. Then in the third
paragraph it's about " drugs, hippy anti-establishmentarianism and sexual revolution fuelled
by the take of the pill. So , we can say that the 60s were a counter-culture because young
people wanted to get rid of the values and habits of older generations.
But in the third and last document which is an extract from the movie Made in Dagenham ,
we attend a feminist revolution. In fact, it's a dialogue between Rita O'Grady who is a
sewing machinist at the Ford car Company in Dagenham, and Barbara Castle who is the
secretary of state for employment. The scene takes place in the 60s and as a matter of fact,
since she is underpaid and she is outraged by pay discrimination, Rita decided to voice her
protest. She is an activist, determined to fight for better wages. Here, she is brave enough to
defy Barbara Castle to achieve her goal. Rita O'Grady demands there should be a guarantee
of an Equal Pay Act but Barbara Castle implies that workers will have to be patient because
big issues were still in the hands of men. In the meantime, a woman's salary should amount
to 90% of a man's salary according to Rita. As a result of this meeting and Ritas
determination, the strikers finally got the guarantee they would now be paid 92% of what
men were paid. The actions of Rita OGrady and her co-workers paved the way forthe Equal
Pay Act of 1970 in which companies were required by law to give equal pay forequal work
regardless of sex..

Though we have learned that in the 60s great strides were made in Parliament towards
guaranteeing equality of the sexes in the name of the law, we can see by this ad that it
would take much longer to change mentalities. But thanks to women like Twiggy, Mary
Quant and Rita O Grady, these attitudes have changed it now there's the right to
contraception, working conditions identical to those of man. But so far there's always
differences between the wages of men and women which represent in UK, 40%. Although
women's rights have changed, there are still people who don't want the equallity.