Murphy Behind the Wireless

A History of Early Women at the BBC
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-1-137-49173-2
Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan UK
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 304 Seiten

Reihe: History (R0)

Behind the Wireless tells the story of women at the BBC in the 1920s and 30s. Broadcasting was brand new in Britain and the BBC developed without many of the overt discriminatory practices commonplace at the time. Women were employed at all levels, except the very top, for instance as secretaries, documentary makers, advertising representatives, and librarians. Three women held Director level posts, Hilda Matheson (Director of Talks), Mary Somerville (Director of School Broadcasting), and Isa Benzie (Foreign Director). Women also produced the programmes aimed at female listeners and brought women broadcasters to the microphone. There was an ethos of equality and the chance to rise through the ranks from accounts clerk to accompanist. But lurking behind the façade of modernity were hidden inequalities in recruitment, pay, and promotion and in 1932 a marriage bar was introduced. Kate Murphy examines how and why the interwar BBC created new opportunities for women. 

Kate Murphy is Senior Lecturer at Bournemouth University, UK, where she leads the BA (Hons) History programme. Prior to this, she worked at the BBC for twenty-four years, predominantly as a Senior Producer on Radio 4's Woman's Hour. She is the author of Firsts: British Women Achievers.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Murphy, Kate

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Dedication;6
2;Acknowledgements;8
3;Contents;10
4;List of Abbreviations;14
5;Chapter 1: Introduction;15
5.1;1.1 Reconstructing BBC Women’s Lives;22
5.2;1.2 Notes;26
5.2.1;Photographs;26
5.2.2;BBC Terminology;27
5.2.3;Money and Earnings;27
6;Chapter 2: ‘Growing Like a Young Giant’: The BBC as a Place to Work;28
6.1;2.1 From Magnet House to Broadcasting House;31
6.2;2.2 BBC Hierarchies;36
6.3;2.3 Being Waged, Being Salaried;39
6.4;2.4 Being Younger, Being Older;43
6.5;2.5 High Heels, Low Heels;46
6.6;2.6 Perks, Clubs and Associations;50
6.7;2.7 John Reith and BBC Women;54
6.8;2.8 Conclusion;58
7;Chapter 3: ‘Women Who Oil the Wheels’: Waged Women at the BBC;60
7.1;3.1 Getting an Office Job at the BBC;64
7.2;3.2 The Women’s Staff Administrator;66
7.3;3.3 The General Office;71
7.4;3.4 The BBC ‘Secretary’;73
7.5;3.5 The Telephone Exchange and  Duplicating Office;78
7.6;3.6 The BBC Clerk;81
7.7;3.7 Women House Staff;83
7.8;3.8 Promotion to the Salaried Grades;87
7.9;3.9 Conclusion;92
8;Chapter 4: ‘Only an Exceptional Woman’: Married Women at the BBC;95
8.1;4.1 The Marriage Bar in Interwar Britain;96
8.2;4.2 Married Women at the BBC: Before the Bar;100
8.3;4.3 Married Women at the BBC: A Change in Attitude;103
8.4;4.4 Married Women at the BBC: The Introduction of the Marriage Bar;108
8.5;4.5 The BBC Marriage Tribunal;110
8.6;4.6 Married Women at the BBC Post-1932;117
8.7;4.7 The Abolition of the BBC Marriage Bar;119
8.8;4.8 Conclusion;125
9;Chapter 5: ‘New and Important Careers’: Salaried Women at the BBC;127
9.1;5.1 Being Salaried at the BBC;131
9.1.1;Librarian;135
9.1.2;Accompanist;138
9.1.3;Children’s Hour Organiser;140
9.1.4;Advertising Representative;142
9.1.5;Drama Producer;144
9.1.6;School Broadcaster;147
9.1.7;Assistant Editor;149
9.1.8;Social Documentary Maker;151
9.2;5.2 ‘On the same footing as men?’ Recruitment, Mobility and Pay;153
9.2.1;Inequality in Recruitment;154
9.2.2;Inequality in Promotion;156
9.2.3;Inequality in Pay;157
9.2.4;The Case of Mary Candler;160
9.3;5.3 Conclusion;162
10;Chapter 6: ‘Women Who Rule at the BBC’: Four Elite Women;164
10.1;6.1 Being Elite at the BBC;167
10.2;6.2 Mary Somerville (1897–1963);170
10.3;6.3 Hilda Matheson (1888–1940);179
10.4;6.4 Isa Benzie (1902–1988);186
10.5;6.5 Mary Adams (1898–1984);192
10.6;6.6 Conclusion;198
11;Chapter 7: ‘When They Have Their Cup of Tea’: Making Programmes for Women;200
11.1;7.1 Being a Talks Assistant at the BBC;202
11.2;7.2 Ella Fitzgerald, ‘Women’s Hour’;206
11.3;7.3 Elise Sprott and Hilda Matheson, ‘Household Talks’/‘Morning Talks’;211
11.4;7.4 Margery Wace, ‘At Home Today’;218
11.5;7.5 Janet Quigley, ‘Tea Time Talks’;224
11.6;7.6 Conclusion;228
12;Chapter 8: ‘You Feel Their Personal Touch’: Women Broadcasters;231
12.1;8.1 Being a Woman Broadcaster on the BBC;233
12.2;8.2 Marion Cran, Celebrity Gardener;237
12.3;8.3 Ray Strachey, Daytime All-Rounder;240
12.4;8.4 Beatrice Webb, Evening Grandee;243
12.5;8.5 Mrs Edna Thorpe, ‘Ordinary’, ‘Average’ Housewife;246
12.6;8.6 ‘Men Talking’ and ‘The Woman’s Point of View’;248
12.7;8.7 Women Announcers, the Sheila Borrett Experiment;251
12.8;8.8 Women Commentators, the Triumph of Olga Collett;255
12.9;8.9 Conclusion;259
13;Chapter 9: Conclusion;261
14;Epilogue: A Brief Encounter with 90 Further Years;267
15;Appendix 1;277
15.1;Grades and Wage Bands: Weekly Paid Staff;277
16;Appendix 2;278
16.1;Grades and Salary Bands: Salaried Staff;278
17;Appendix 3;280
17.1;Women Who Earned £500 or more per Annum (1939);280
18;Bibliography;282
18.1;Books;282
18.2;Book Chapters, Journal Articles, Thesis, Unpublished memoirs;288
19;Index;290