How much has marriage changed since the mid-20th century? Find out with these fascinating interviews of women (and some men) of over 70 .
A woman stood up in court and admitted adultery when it was her husband who had gone off with someone else. She wanted to protect his career in the army. While many marriages from the early to mid 1950s were good, there were horror stories as well. But at that time divorce was very difficult for a woman - she could lose her children and may be left penniless. It was also frowned upon, whoever was at fault, and some women found that they were shunned by society. One woman was told 'We can't possibly babysit for you, you're divorced.'
While many felt that they were happier in their day when roles were more defined and the man tended to be the breadwinner and the one in charge, the women wouldn’t turn the clock back on equality. Almost all felt that equality for women was ‘only right’, ‘deserved’ and ‘a good thing’.
Every generation thinks that it was better in their day and there were comments like: ‘Marriage is a joke these days.’ ‘People get fed up with each other after five minutes and they’re off.’ ‘One minute they’re married and the next they’re divorced.’ ‘There’s no discipline these days.’