Social, Cultural, Historical Contexts Of The Avengers

Social, Cultural, Historical Contexts Of The Avengers

The avengers is a very distinctive that is British - its a spy thriller featuring three spy women as the main character. Television was responding to the cultural social changes in society.

Brief summary - 
Steed and Emma are on the trail of several murdered agents. They visit little bazley by the sea, a town that strangers rarely leave alive- and discover its secretly infiltrated by enemy agents.

• Coming out of the 1950s the UK is very bleak and still recovering from the war.
• Young people were given a choice.
• Parents grew up with the war with rationing and fighting, the parents want their own children to have a more fun and freedom.
• People had fought for what we take for granted nowadays.

When we write about the 1950s it is historical context 

Music-

They experimented with new sounds and developed innovative pieces of music. Their albums lyrics included rebellion against the authorities,  as seen in 'revelation'.

Drug culture-

Recreational drug use was at its height in the 60s. It was very difficult for anyone in the show business to avoid becoming involved drugs such as LSD and ecstasy. Young people who were looking for fun were encouraged by their idols to take hallucinating drugs.



Feminism-

• Rise of the feminist movement,
• Use of contraceptive safe birth control. This  change the relationships / attitudes of many onyx women sexuality,
• Lawsuits for equal pay (women were payed 60% less),
• Fighting for reproductive rights, 
• Abortions were illegal,
• The 1960s was a patriarchy society,

Emma Peel - 

• Seen Steeds professional equal,
• Inspired by James Bond, intertextuality Bond an M relationship,
• Sexual tension (Peel and steed)
• Clothes of Peel and fighting ability: demonstrated modern liberated femininity, she embodies the new fashion in some who like to dress and fight like men, slightly ahead of fashion at the time.
• Leather outfit very different from the typical 1950s woman,
• Spitted heroine of the 60s,
• Use of dialogue is always seductive,

Sexuality -

• Homosexuality was illegal,
• A survey taken four out that 93% of people thought being gay was an illness that you should be medicated,
• Public gay men were either sent to prison or a mental institution,
• Gay men had  chemical castration to 'remove their gayness',
• If men were sent to the institution they would get treatment that we would consider like torture,
• In 1967 the law was changed that gay sexual activities were allowed on 3 conditions, they had to be 21, give consent and in a private place,

Heterosexuality was considered to be the norm an example of this is that emma uses her sexuality as a weapon and is very sedative while speaking with men. Emma bum is touched by Steed although nothing happened due to in the 1960s women were seen as objects, In the avengers there is a complete absence of homosexuality as it was still illegal then.

Cold war - 

The cold war (45-91) was an ongoing stand off  between Russia and America to show who was the strongest country, they were also very close to having another world war (3). People in UK were in fear from the Russians spies watching them in their daily lives.

Ethnicity-

There are very limited numbers of ethnic minorities and this does not represent the time it was set as there were many asian and Caribbean communities and all the characters in The Avengers were white as at that time British media was seen as a show that was whitewashed.

There was a sitcon called love thy neighbour that had a black character in it however, he was the victim of a racist joke.

Gender-

• Steed was the archetype of a gentleman hero like james bond. Peel combined femininity and modernity. The show is set in a post sexual revolution times which meant women were allowed to be free and were allowed to have sex unconditionally due to the pill.
• By the ed of the sixties more than 80% of women used the contraceptive pill as the government allowed it to happen. 
• Rise in women driving (Mini was designed for women).
• 850 women went out on strike for equal pay.
•