Women and wireless 1929 - 1945. The British Broadcasting Corporation - its percpetion and treatment of women in the period

Abstract

This study attempts to analyse the attitudes towards and treatment of women by the British Broadcasting Corporation
(Sac) in the period 1929-45. It is largely concerned with the radio listener but also seeks to explore the issue of female representation within the Corporation. Chapter Two offers an insight into the particular genre of programmes for women and includes a comparative analysis of American broadcasting in order to assess the relative benefits or disadvantages to the woman of public service broadcasting rather than a corporate funded network.
The study is broadly divided into two sections; the representation of women before, and during the Second World War. Historians have to differing extents emphasised the significance of war to the achievement of social change positively affecting women. More recently, however, the continuities of inequality have been stressed. chapter Three of this study seeks to illustrate the role of the BBC radio broadcasts directed at women with reference to this wider debate upon social emancipation. How did the Corporation affect our perception of women and women's expectations in the period?