Thesis abstract:

The period from the late 1960s to the late 1980s has been popularly associated with a number of transnational movements that challenged a wide range of social and cultural norms including beliefs about the proper roles of men and women. One of the sources of significant challenge to gender roles was the Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM) which gathered momentum from the early 1970s and into the 1980s. Women in the WLM sought to understand and contest the gender norms that limited their autonomy. In doing so, they not only needed to consider the condition of women – themselves and others - but also needed to reflect on the roles and relative position of the men in their lives. This thesis examines how activists in the British WLM perceived men and masculinity, how this impacted men, and how this shaped relationships between men and women during the period.