Abstract

Just like most females in the world, British women have been put at the lowest social level in society for a long period in history. Due to the enhancement of their awareness and more attention from society, British women’s status has been greatly improved. This paper, through the contrast between the present and the past, makes a study of British women’s rising status chiefly in four aspects: politics, economy, culture, and mentality, and ends with the conclusion that British women’s changes and improvement in their family and social status have greatly promoted both the development of society and the progress of human civilizations.

Key words: British women, political, cultural, economic, mental

摘 要

如同世界上大多数女性一样，英国女性在很长一段历史中处于社会底层。由于女性自身觉悟的提高和社会各方面的关注，英国女性的地位有了显著的提升。本文通过过去和现在的对比，对英国女性逐渐提升的地位主要从政治，经济，文化，思想四个方面进行了研究，从而得出结论——英国女性在家庭和社会生活中地位的变化和提高大大地促进了社会和人类文明的发展。

关键词：英国女性；政治；文化；经济；宗教；思想

1. Introduction
Traditionally British women are subordinate to men and deprived socially and economically. Under exclusively man-made laws women have been reduced to the most abject condition of legal slavery in which it is possible for human beings to be held under the arbitrary domination of another's will, and dependent for decent treatment exclusively on the goodness of heart of the individual master.
In British history, the movements against sexism never seem to desist, while the condition hasn’t been improved obviously. Considering all the factors, the following two were placed in the leading position. Firstly, the social environment never gave any space to females to strive for their equal rights. Various circles of society took it for granted that women deserved to be inferior to men. The authorities at that time cared not a whit for women’s rational rights. No laws or regulations were made to shelter British women from discrimination. Secondly, the shortage of female leaders made it difficult to appeal to all women in society to join forces to struggle for their more say in society. British history tells people that movements without a central leader tend to end in failure. Therefore, almost all the women’s movements were shaped in disorganization and random.