MS UNDERSTOOD: Women’s Liberation in 1970s Britain
A major exhibition at The Women’s Library, London Metropolitan University running from 8 October 2009, will mark forty years of the Women’s Liberation Movement in Britain.
Ms Understood: Women’s Liberation in 1970s Britain celebrates the 40th anniversary of the country’s first national Women’s Liberation Conference at Ruskin College, Oxford, where five hundred women came together and lay the foundation for the movement’s key demands:
Demands 1-4 of the Women’s Liberation Movement adopted in Skegness, 1971
- Equal pay for equal work
- Equal educational and job opportunities
- Free contraception and abortion on demand
- Free 24 hour nurseries under community control
Ms Understood: Women’s Liberation in 1970s Britain reflects on this and subsequent events which transformed the lives of women today. It aims to enhance public understanding of this important social movement using testimonies from women at the centre of the movement and original, evocative documents and objects illustrating what it really stood for and the context it emerged in.
“If you thought Women’s Lib was all about burning bras and wearing dungarees then think again. This intriguing exhibition exposes the diversity, dissent and sisterhood of feminism in the 70s through firsthand accounts of the women who lived it.”
Claire Henry, Curator, Ms Understood
Public understanding of the Women’s Liberation Movement has often been clouded by stereotype, misrepresentation, and a simple lack of information. Revealing the complexity behind the movement, this exhibition explores the social, personal, and cultural legacies of liberation.
The exhibition will be interactive, inviting visitors to respond with their own views and memories of how Women’s Liberation has affected their own lives—for better, and for worse. This will provide a growing display throughout the course of the exhibition, creating a resource for the public and future researchers and helping build a more complete picture of this exciting, chaotic and seminal period of British history.
“It was an amazing buzz. I think it was one of those rare times in your own history when you know you’re there at an occasion that’s historically important.”
Sue Crockford, Activist and Film-maker
Ms Understood will feature the movement’s wit as well as its wisdom through highlighting colourful and creative posters, leaflets and badges. The relationship between feminism and fashion will also be explored, through home-made clothes worn by women active in the movement as well as those who chose to express themselves through the influence of the designers of the day.
There is a rare chance to view A Woman’s Place, the first film made about, by and for the women’s liberation movement, as well as a second, specially commissioned film by Annis Joslin looking at contemporary opinions on the position of women today.
On display until March 2010, the exhibition also marks the 40th anniversary of protests against the Miss World beauty contests at the Royal Albert Hall, and the publication of two key feminist books: Germaine Greer’s ‘The Female Eunuch’ and Kate Millett’s ‘Sexual Politics’.
“The Women’s Liberation Movement was perhaps the major social movement of the past half century, leading to changes affecting us all, yet our understanding as a nation of what it stood for remains cloudy at best. I am delighted that Ms Understood will make intriguing material about this fascinating movement accessible at The Women’s Library to a whole new audience.”
Caroline Ellis, Head of Special Collections, London Metropolitan University
There will also be an accompanying series of events:
- A study day, featuring leading activists, feminists and researchers on 17 October examining the cultural legacy of the liberation movement
- A special fashion event, ‘The Liberation Look’, recording fashion and feminism where visitors are invited to bring their memories and images of the 70′s and debate some of those fraught feminist concerns about the politics of appearance on 5 December
- A major collaborative event, with Black Cultural Archives on 14 November looking at the history of British black feminism from the 70’s onwards
Ms Understood: Women’s Liberation in 1970s Britain
Thursday 8 October 2009 to Wednesday 31 March 2010
Press preview: Wednesday 7 October 2009, 2pm – 4pm
The Women’s Library, London Metropolitan University
Old Castle Street, London E1 7NT
Monday to Friday 9.30am-5.30pm (Thursday until 8pm)
Saturday 10am-4pm
Closed Sunday
Entry is free and there is no need to book.
pressinfo@thewomenslibrary.ac.uk
www.thewomenslibrary.ac.uk
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