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1967 - LGBT rights first came to prominence following the decriminalisation of sexual activity between men in England and Wales, and later in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sexual activity between women was never subject to the same legal restriction (mainly because the government thought if they even drew attention to ‘being a lesbian’ as an ‘option’, women would flock to it).

1968 - The World Health Organisation listed homosexuality as a mental disorder

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The Harry Styles of the 60s, this clip from the film Elvis perfectly encapsulates how teenage girls haven’t changed that much. A sex icon and rock and roll star, Elvis was often so polemic that his music was banned. Censored music and magazines were big amongst the religious and devout. Others saw this cultural capital as a way of escapism and liberation.

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How does the world of the 60s clash with convent life?

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How does the world of the 60s clash with convent life?

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How might behaviour and expectations differ? How might this affect your characters different worlds? What they yearn for vs. who they’re expected to be?

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The abortion act allowed women to legally receive
abortions in Britain following certain requirements.

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Women’s sexual shame and mother-baby homes

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Women’s sexual shame and mother-baby homes

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Phenomenal film that explores the fabric of unmarried women in 1950s/60s Britain and what happened to them.

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Many were still ignorant and had religious views when it comes to menstruation.

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Irish immigrants often faced discrimination and seeked community in shores afar.

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1961: Panorama: Irish Immigrants | #OTD 1961: Panorama asked whether Irish immigrants should be freely admitted into Britain when Commonwealth citizens were being restricted. | By BBC Archive | Facebook

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#OTD 1961: Panorama asked whether Irish immigrants should be freely admitted into Britain when Commonwealth citizens were being restricted.

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Catholic power - 95% identified as Catholics

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Catholic power - 95% identified as Catholics

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Later in the 20th century, revelations about abusive scandals, cruel industrial schools and heartless mother-and-baby homes for unmarried mothers – in which church and state seemed to collude – prompted a wave of hostility against the dominance of Catholic power.

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You were not allowed to hold hands with your boyfriend/girlfriend until you had been going out for at least 6 months. If a girl sat on a boy’s knee, there had to be a thick newspaper, preferably the Catholic Herald between his knee and her backside. Or two telephone directories. Once a couple got engaged, only then were they allowed to kiss.

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Students received a plain brown envelope. Inside was the ‘booklet for girls’. A book about periods that arrived a little too late when most students had already started theirs. ‘It’s just to reassure us that it’s normal because the Virgin Mary had them’ students would say, not quite knowing where or how they’d acquired this information. The booklet didn’t mention the word ‘period’ at all

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How might choir singing contrast the dancehalls?

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How might choir singing contrast the dancehalls?

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What tonal and physical differences do you think we’d see when the girls are in the convent choir, rather than at the dancehall?

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St Elisabeth Convent. Orthodox Life And Chants

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Monastic Choir Of St. Elisabeth Convent "O Lord Of Hosts Be With Us" (best Eastern Christian chants)

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All the repression and tradition of the 50s built into a force of sexual liberation and freedom in the 60s. Many girls/women felt confined and repressed by societies constraints on women in the 50s. With the introduction of ‘the pill’, sexual liberties and freedom became an option.

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Though many were intimidated by the Nuns, students often received a strong education compared to most other schools. They were expensive though, and required fees.

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The shame was so great for Irish girls who fell pregnant outside of marriage, that they had to leave the country. There was a real abandonment of women in need, especially under the guise of ‘sexual sin’. Hundreds of young, pregnant girls arrived in London alone and afraid

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The swings! The joy! Messy but fun.

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Strip the Willow Ceilidh Dancing at a Wedding with HotScotch Ceilidh Band

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Ballroom and dancehalls were an opportunity for jiving, romance and musical freedom. With bands playing representing cultural musical shifts.

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The intention for many was never to stay, but to save up enough money to be able to return to Ireland.

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The intention for many was never to stay, but to save up enough money to be able to return to Ireland.

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Many believed that the role of the church was to ‘check the false emphasis on sex . . . the moral flabbiness and the false philosophies that are so much in vogue. This is a task for the priest, not for the policeman’

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OZ became infamous in the UK through the obscenity trial in 1971 surrounding the ‘Schoolkids’ issue which was edited by 20 teenagers and featured a sexually explicit montage of Rupert Bear, resulting in the three editors being charged with ‘conspiracy to corrupt public morals.’ The six week trial is arguably the most important censorship trial of the decade.

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Irish Emigration + growing up different from the 50s to 60s

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Irish Emigration + growing up different from the 50s to 60s

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‘Times were tough, they were happy. There is a sentiment common among many… the idea that everyone had the same: no one had anything’

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Recording precious memories of 1950s emigrants to Britain

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I never asked my parents about their earlier life, so now I’m recording the stories for others