Representation of Women's Rights issues in David Lodge's Changing Places

Seminar paper in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, Dresden Technical University, language: English, abstract: This term paper deals with the topic of Women's Rights in the 1960s in Britain and the United States by especially examining abortion rights issues. The statements used in this term paper are supported by the novel "Changing Places" by the English author and literary critic David Lodge. The Abortion Act of 1967 in Britain was a central occasion in the Women's Liberation Movement, as women were now free to choose between keeping a child or aborting it, even though an abortion required certain reasons. But this was not the only change in the Women's Liberation Movement. Women started to get more rights in keeping a part of the money their husbands gave them. Women furthermore started to get involved in politics, since the first female Secretary of State in Britain was appointed in 1968 and the youngest female Minister-President in 1969. But there was still inequality in payment, job opportunities, and the educational system. Discrimination on the basis of sex was no rarity, and women had to fight for equal treatment.