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The British Housewives' League is a non-party group that seeks to communicate the voice of the British housewife to the State and to provide facts and research and encourage women to be active and participation in society. The League defends the UK's independence and constitution, promotes Christian (Traditional British) values, and discourages excessive state control because of the evidence of the consequent breakdown in society. In the past the League has campaigned against rationing, identity cards, anti-fluoridation campaigns〔‘Into Every Home, Into Every Body’: Organicism and Anti-Statism in the British Anti-Fluoridation (mass medication), 1952–1960, Amy C. Whipple, Oxford University Press, 2010〕 in the 1950s and UK membership of the European Union. The newsletter of the League was called ''Housewives Today'' but now produces a magazine called The Lantern, deals with all issues relevant to Women. The League was founded by Irene May Lovelock,〔Elizabeth A McCarty, 'Irene May Lovelock' in ''Dictionary of National Biography'' OUP, 2004-08〕 née Northover-Smith (1896-1974), who became its first chairman. As a housewife during the Second World War, Lovelock encountered at first hand the problems of rationing, shortages and queueing. Lovelock wrote a memoir of the League but it was never published. In April 1946 Lovelock resigned from the chair of the League to become its president. Another prominent chairman of the League was Dorothy Crisp, a journalist and writer of provocative articles in the ''Sunday Dispatch''. Under her direction it developed a campaigning posture on women, the state and the dangers of socialism similar to that of the Conservative party in the 1940s. Crisp had been a member of the Conservatives and published books promoting both conservatism and Christianity. She had sought the Conservative nomination for the by-election held in Acton in 1943, and when unsuccessful, she stood as an independent candidate. However the League broke ranks with the Conservative Party and moved further to the political right in the later part of the 1940s. She was subject of a patronising article referring to her as "the buxom, brown-eyed, voluble little woman", by Gordon Beckles,〔Gordon Beckles Willson, (1901-1954) wrote under the name Gordon Beckles, was a Daily Express journalist, and later Asst. Editor of the Daily Mail. He authored numerous popular books in the 1930s and 1940s as well as a film script. His twin daughters Janet and Patsy were among the famous 'Tony Twins' who appeared in TV and newspaper (hair product) commercials in the 1950s.〕〔'Fleet Street, press barons and politics: the journals of Collin Brooks, 1932-1940, Ed. N. J. Crowson, Camden Fifth Series Vol.II, University of Cambridge, 1998, ISBN 0-521-66239-7〕 published in the 12 July 1947 issue of Leader Magazine〔Leader Magazine, 12 July 1947 issue, (a weekly pictorial magazine published by Picture Post, Hulton Press -closed in 1950)〕 under the title of "Housewife of England!". It featured a photo of her giving a speech on behalf of the League. It has been said that Dorothy Crisp is the historical figure who most resembles Margaret Thatcher.〔James Hinton, ''Women, Social Leadership, and the Second World War: Continuities of Class'' OUP, 2002〕 == Post War 1946 Bread Rationing & Nationalisation == At its peak the League claimed over 100,000 members,〔''Encyclopedia of British & Irish Politic Organisations'', Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, Continuum Imprint, London 2000, ISBN 1-85567-264-2〕 and their collective voice was felt in many rallies against post war bread rationing. Food rationing had been established early on during World War Two. After six long years, this frustration with austerity and state control became a very political issue, particularly among women who, fed up with rationing, longed for some purchasing power and freedom of choice. Meat, bacon, butter, sugar, eggs, tea, cheese, milk, sweets, clothes, petrol were all still restricted. In February 1946, new cuts were made on poultry and eggs. During the war, bread had never been rationed, it was however introduced in 1946, for two years, to help prevent starvation in Asia and Germany. Bread rationing caused an outcry, particularly from housewives, as post-war historian Peter Hennessy,〔''Never Again: Britain 1945-1951'' by Peter Hennessy, Penguin Books, ISBN 978-0-14-101602-3〕 writes: ‘the celebrated British Housewives’ League was already becoming a thorn in ministerial flesh’. By the summer of 1946 over half a million signatures had been collected by the League, under the banner 'Bread: No Ration' petition. The Daily Sketch 3 July 1946 reported one of the League's larger provincial protest march in Cheltenham. It was this fallout with the Labour (Attlee) Government that led to political change, since many women turned to the Conservative party. Their subsequent election victory in 1951 became for many a statement of discontent with Labour. As one woman expressed it, ‘the last election was lost mainly in the queue at the butcher’s or the grocer’s’〔Prof. Michael Pugh, ''Regeneration of War-torn Societies'', Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000, p.291〕 During the spring and summer of 1946 intense opposition to bread rationing was led by the Conservative Party, which doubted that the policy was really necessary and that substantial savings in wheat could be made. The Party leadership deplored the added burden placed on consumers and alleged that the government had mismanaged the supply situation. The Conservatives were backed by the right-wing press, which highlighted opposition to bread rationing among bakers as well as the British Housewives’ League. This episode was the first concerted campaign against the Labour government on a major policy issue and marked the beginning of the debate about postwar food policy.”〔“Consensus and Consumption: Rationing, Austerity and Controls after the War” in the book “The Myth of Consensus” edited by Harriet Jones and Michael Kandiah, Macmillan Press 1996.〕 As the war ended domestic politics returned to normal. The landslide election victory of the Labour (Attlee) Government in 1945, led the private sector into a series of propaganda campaigns about the threat of nationalisation. These included the so-called Mr Cube Campaign (Tate and Lyle) of 1949/50, against the possibility of the nationalisation of the sugar industry. The 'Aims of Industry', an anti-socialist pressure group formed in 1942 by a group of well-known British industrialists, with representatives from Fords, English Electric, Austin, Rank, British Aircraft, Macdougall's and Firestone Tyres. There were also smaller campaigns by the Cement Makers Federation, the Iron and Steel Federation and by the insurance companies represented by the British Insurance Association. The Road Haulage Association sponsored the anti-nationalisation campaigns by the British Housewives' League, led by Dorothy Crisp.〔Coercion or Persuasion: Propaganda in Britain after 1945, William Crofts, Routledge, London, pp. 99-109, especially p. 106 where the League's funding by the Road Haulage Association, then distantly threatened with nationalisation, is discussed. (Best account is Hinton's see sources). Dorothy Crisp is the historical figure who most resembles Margaret Thatcher〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「British Housewives' League」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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