Work, Play and Performance: Masculinity and Popular Culture in Central Scotland, C1930-C1950

Work, play and performance: masculinity and popular culture in central Scotland, c.1930-c.1950. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3295/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Work, Play and Performance: Masculinity and Popular Culture in Central Scotland, c1930-c1950 Oliver J. Stockman, MPhil, MA, Bsc Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of PhD Economic and Social History. School of Social and Political Sciences College of Social Sciences University of Glasgow 1 Abstract This thesis seeks to begin to fill the gaps in the historiography surrounding the constructions of masculinity performed by young Scottish men in the mid-twentieth century. Much of the current research on British masculinity focuses on the English experience. Where historians have studied Scottish masculinity it has often been in the context of ‘deviant’ forms such as gang membership and domestic violence. In contrast to this, this thesis investigates the masculinities lived by the mass of young working-class men in Scotland. Throughout the thesis masculinity is conceptualized as performative and situational social construct that can be considered both as an identity and as a behaviour. The investigation of masculinity is conducted through examination of oral histories, newspapers and the documents of both employers and voluntary organizations. The use of this range of sources facilitates an assessment of the dominant discourses concerning masculinity, as well as the experiences of the men who constructed their gender, and social identities in the environment these discourses shaped. It is argued that economic context was a fundamental factor in determining the types of masculinity that were acceptable at work and within the greater community. Working-class youths were also able to renegotiate and reshape the discourses of masculinity presented by both commercial and ‘reforming’ sources in order to perform masculine identities that were congruent to their own community norms. This allowed them to practice an agency in their social identities constrained by socioeconomic environment that, while not radical, constituted an active construction of masculinity. 2 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Lists of figures and tables 5 Acknowledgements 6 Author’s Declaration 7 Introduction 9 Chapter 1 - Historiography 27 1.1 - Masculinity as a Social Identity 27 1.2 – Hegemonic Masculinity and its Implications 31 1.3 – Masculinity as Power Between Men 34 1.4 - Dominant Discourses of Masculinity: Middle-Class Masculinity 39 1.5 – Masculinity Within the Scottish Working Classes 41 1.6 – The Situational Nature of Masculinity 46 1.7 – Masculinity, Modernity and Popular Culture 56 Chapter 2 – Occupational Change in Scotland, 1930-c1955 73 2.1 – The Scottish Economy in a British Context 74 2.2 – Employers’ Strategies and Workplace Participation 77 2.3 – British Wage Rates in the Mid-Twentieth Century 86 2.4 – Skill as a Socioeconomic Concept 91 2.5 – Scottish Employment Trends 1930-c1955 94 2.6 – Changes to Occupational Groups in Scotland and Glasgow 99 2.7 – The Occupational Structure of Glasgow 102 2.8 – Youth Employment in Scotland 109 2.9 – Unemployment in Glasgow 112 Chapter 3 – Work Cultures and Social Identities 119 3.1 – Work as a Source of Social Identities 122 3.2 – Occupations Outside of Heavy Industry and the ‘Hard Man’ 139 3.3 - Welfare and Work 146 3.4 – Work Cultures: Singer Case Study 160 Chapter 4 - Youth, Community and the Consumption of Commercial Leisure 180 4.1 – The Growth of Commercial Leisure in the First Half of the Twentieth 181 Century 4.2 – Dancing and the Development of Jazz as a Cultural Form 196 4.3 – Contemporary Reactions to Changes in Youth Leisure 208 4.4 – Consumption as a Route to Social Status 215 4.5 – The Mass Production of Musical Culture 223 3 4.6 – The Dancehall as a Site of Autonomous Culture 234 Chapter 5 – Rational Recreation and Working-Class Youth 249 5.1 – The Discourse of Rational Recreation 251 5.2 – Establishment Recognition of Recreation by the 1930s 258 5.3 – Introduction to the Three Organisations 266 5.4 – Manliness and Citizenship: Rational Recreation as a Means to an End 294 5.5 – Rational Recreation for Irrational Youths? 312 5.6 – Rational Recreation During the Second World War and Beyond 324 5.7 – Voluntary Organisations and Mixed Activities 334 Conclusion 345 Bibliography 355 4 List of Figures Figure 2.1 – Wage Levels in Britain, 1915-1959 88 Figure 2.2 – Retail Price Index for Great Britain 89 Figure 2.3 – Registered Unemployed Workers in Glasgow, 1927-1955 115 Figure 3.1 – Finalists of the ‘Miss Imp Overalls Contest’ at Rootes car factory, 1963 172 Figure 4.1 – ‘Modern Youth and Self-Expression in Dancing 201 List of Tables Table 2.1 – Scottish Male Occupations, 1921-1951 100 Table 2.2 – Occupational Groups in Glasgow, 1931-1951 104 Table 2.3 – Occupations of Scottish Males aged 15-24, 1931-1951 108 Table 5.1 – Glasgow Boys’ Brigade Membership, 1930-1960 271 Table 5.2 – Scottish Association of Boys’ Clubs Membership Figures, 1933-1955 281 Table 5.3 – Dundee YMCA Membership, 1929-1959 285 Table 5.4 – Kirkintilloch YMCA Membership, 1930-1955 286 5 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors Annmarie Hughes and Lynn Abrams for their invaluable support and encouragement throughout the research and writing of this thesis. In addition to this I would not have been able to come this far without the continued support of my parents Roger and Rhona. Most of all I would like to thank my partner Emma Caudle for being with me from the beginning and for sharing the trials and tribulations of the last few years. 6 Author’s Declaration I declare that, except where explicit reference is made to the contribution of others, that this thesis is the result of my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree at the University of Glasgow or any other institution. Signature: Oliver Stockman 7 ‘You sign your name with the last act every time, don’t erase yourself by asking why’1 1 Oneida, ‘The Last Act Every Time’, Secret Wars (Jagjaguar, 2004). 8 Introduction This thesis will endeavour to fill a gap in the current historical literature relating to the masculinities of Scottish youth in the mid-twentieth century. Much of the literature relating to masculinity and leisure in Britain focuses on the English, rather than the Scottish experience, for example the work of Brad Beaven, Andrew Davies and David Fowler.2 Where Scottish masculinities have been studied it has often been with a focus on work, for example in the work of Arthur McIvor and Ronnie Johnston and of Alison Gilmour.3 Where work on Scottish masculinity has been concerned with the non-work parts of life the focus has often been on deviant aspects of masculine activity, such as Andrew Davies’ work on Glasgow gangs, or Annmarie Hughes’ work on domestic violence.4 This thesis will attempt to address the gap in the literature by focusing on the leisure activities of the majority of working-class youths rather on the smaller proportion whose deviant behavior made them highly socially visible. In this way it is intended to construct an inclusive history of working-class masculinities in mid- twentieth century Scotland and the context in which they existed. In order to undertake this study the city of Glasgow, and its environs will be used as a focus. The reason for this is that Glasgow could be seen as the industrial and population centre of Scotland, with 22.4% of the 2 See Brad Beavan Leisure, Citizenship and Working Class Men (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2005), Andrew Davies, Leisure, Gender and Poverty: Working-Class Culture in Salford and Manchester, 1900-1939 (Buckingham: Open University Press, 1992) and David Fowler, Youth Culture in Modern Britain, c.1920-c.1970: From Ivory Tower to Global Movement - A New History (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). 3 See Ronald Johnston and Arthur McIvor, Lethal Work: A History Of The Asbestos Tragedy In Scotland (East Linton : Tuckwell, 2000), Ronnie Johnston & Arthur McIvor, ‘Dangerous Work, Hard Men and Broken Bodies: Masculinity in the Clydeside Heavy Industries, c1930-1970s’, Labour History Review 69:2 (2004), pp.135-151 and Alison Gilmour, 'The Trouble with Linwood: Compliance and Coercion in the Car Plant, 1963-1981', Journal of Scottish Historical Studies 27:1 (2007), pp.75- 93. 4 See Andrew Davies, 'Street Gangs, Crime And Policing In Glasgow In The 1930s: The Case Of The Beehive Boys'. Social History, 23:3 (1998), pp.251-68, Annmarie Hughes, ‘Representations and Counter Representations of Domestic Violence on Clydeside Between the Two World Wars’, Labour History Review, 69:2 (2004), p.172 and ‘The ‘Non-Criminal’ Class Wife-Beating in Scotland, c1800- 1949’, Crime, History and Societies, 14:2 (2010), pp.31-54. 9 Scottish population living in the city in 1931.5 In addition to this, the growth of commercial leisure in Scotland, in terms of the building of cinemas and dancehalls, could be said to have had its greatest expression in the city in the period under review.6 Indeed Paul Maloney, writing about the development of music hall in Scotland has suggested that the socioeconomic situation in Glasgow meant that the city could be considered representative of the ‘general industrial experience’ in the country.7 For this reason Glasgow provides an ideal opportunity to investigate the development of commercial leisure in a changing economic context.

Load more