‘Pretty birds and silly moos’: the women behind the Sex Discrimination Act
The article chronicles how female journalists and feminist activists in 1970s Britain campaigned to pass the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975. Despite facing extreme workplace sexism and limited political support, groups like Women in Media used creative tactics including petitions, publicity stunts, and even fielding their own parliamentary candidate to pressure the government into making sex discrimination illegal.
Summary
The piece tells the story of the women behind Britain's Sex Discrimination Act through the experiences of journalists like Celia Brayfield, who faced routine sexual harassment and discrimination while working at the Daily Mail in the early 1970s. Women journalists were assigned degrading stories, faced dress code restrictions, and dealt with pervasive sexism that was considered normal workplace behavior. These experiences radicalized many female journalists who formed pressure groups like Women in Media and its anti-discrimination action group ADBAG.
The campaign built on earlier efforts, including Jean Winder's fight for equal pay as a parliamentary reporter in the 1950s and the famous Ford Dagenham machinists' strike in 1968. Labour MP Joyce Butler made multiple attempts between 1968-1971 to introduce anti-discrimination legislation, famously telling Prime Minister Harold Wilson that women were 'fed up with being exploited as pretty birds when they are young, and as silly moos when they get older.'
Women in Media employed various tactics, from Shirley Conran's heart-shaped fabric cutouts on letters to politicians to organizing a 'Women's Parliament' at Caxton Hall. The group gathered petition signatures, lobbied MPs, and in 1974 made the audacious move of fielding their own candidate, Una Kroll, under the Women's Rights Campaign banner. Though Kroll won only 298 votes, the publicity stunt helped pressure Labour into promising anti-discrimination legislation.
The National Council for Civil Liberties, led by Patricia Hewitt and Harriet Harman, brought institutional weight to the campaign, organizing conferences and drafting legislation. There were tensions between different feminist factions - socialist feminists, liberal supporters, older established women politicians, and radical younger activists - but they united around the common goal.
When the Sex Discrimination Act finally passed in 1975, it was seen as a compromise - feminists criticized its limited scope and exemptions for small employers, while celebrating the inclusion of indirect discrimination provisions. The Equal Opportunities Commission was established to enforce the law, leading to important test cases like Belinda Price's successful challenge to Foreign Office age limits that indirectly discriminated against women.
About this episode
In the 50 years since equal rights for women were enshrined in UK law, the campaigners have been reduced to caricatures, or forgotten. But their struggle is worth remembering By Susanna Rustin. Read by Carlyss Peer. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
Key Insights
- Female journalists in the 1970s faced extreme workplace sexism including being assigned degrading stories, sexual harassment, and dress codes that restricted their professional movement, with editors routinely dismissing coverage of women's liberation issues.
- The Women in Media group used creative lobbying tactics including decorating letters to politicians with heart-shaped fabric cutouts and organizing a 'Women's Parliament' to pressure for anti-discrimination legislation.
- The 1974 decision by Women in Media to field their own parliamentary candidate under the Women's Rights Campaign was an audacious political stunt that, despite winning only 298 votes, generated significant publicity pressure on the Labour government.
- Tensions existed within the feminist movement between socialist feminists, older established women politicians who had fought sexism for decades, and younger radical activists, with some criticism that the movement was too middle-class and narrow in focus.
- The final Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 was viewed by activists as a compromise that achieved important victories like including indirect discrimination provisions, but fell short with exemptions for small employers and limited scope beyond employment issues.
Topics
Transcript
This is The Guardian. Welcome to The Guardian Long Read, showcasing the best long-form journalism covering culture, politics and new thinking. For the text version of this and all our Long Reads, go to theguardian.com forward slash long read. Pretty Birds and Silly Moos, the women behind the Sex Discrimination Act by Susanna Rustin, read by Carly Speer. Celia Brayfield was at her desk in the female section of the Daily Mail's Fleet Street office when an editor called her over. It was July and Wimbledon had started. He said, We want you to go down and get into the women's changing rooms and report on lesbian behaviour. One didn't normally swear at that time, but I declined. That was…
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