Drifting in manhood and womanhood: courtship, marriage and gender amongst young adults in South Wales and the North-East of England in the 1930s

Ward, Stephanie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5932-7129 2013. Drifting in manhood and womanhood: courtship, marriage and gender amongst young adults in South Wales and the North-East of England in the 1930s. Welsh History Review 26 (4) , pp. 623-648.

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Abstract

This article explores the place of marriage in marking a transition to adulthood in the life cycle of young adults in south Wales and the north-east of England. By comparing two regions which faced high and protracted unemployment in the 1930s, the article seeks to examine the impact of the depression on patterns of courtship and the decision to marry. How unemployment affected the construction of masculinity by disturbing the established pathway to marriage is considered, and the notion that young adults desired to cling to the freedom of youth is challenged. The article draws upon the rich literature generated by the ‘crisis’ period of the 1930s and considers gendered patterns of leisure and courtship, the attempts to regulate the behaviour of young adults and representations of the moral foundations of marriage.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
Publisher:	University of Wales Press
ISSN:	0043-2431
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2022 11:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/48370

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