zoomette

I : Du réveil nationaliste au référendum sur le Scotland Act (1967-1979)

          Emergence du SNP et publication du rapport Kilbrandon (1967-1973) :

          La renaissance du SNP intervient dans un contexte de difficultés économiques : déclin du secteur manufacturier écossais. Réponse des partis britanniques : aide économique et changement constitutionnel. Rapport Kilbrandon publié en 1973 = dernier et plus exhaustifs des projets de dévolution, et allait jeter les bases du débat parlementaire ultérieur.

          2ème naissance du SNP : 

          Avril 45 : SNP : unique siège de député qu'il reperd aussitôt à l'occasion des élections législatives de juillet 45. 2 décénnies suivantes : aucun élu. 
          1967 : scrutin local : SNP en tête à Edimbourg et Glasgow : prive le Labour du contrôle de la ville pour la 1ère fois depuis 1952. SNP mordait désormais sur les bastions ouvriers travaillistes du central Belt et sur un électorat jeune et citadin.
          Elections législatives de 1970 : SNP : 1 élu à Westminster !

                    Pourquoi ce succès ?

• Perte de crédit des formations britanniques : difficultés économiques et sociales. 2ème moitié des 70s : appel à l'aide du fond monétaire international. 50s, 60s : retard de croissance et de compétitivité par rapport à certains continents voisins. Donc le RU décide d'intégrer la CEE.
• Ecosse dans les 60s : prospérité économique. Début des 60s : chômage double brutalement. Score du parti conservateur commence à chuter au profit des libéraux et du SNP.
• Forte identification au sentiment national.
• Pétrole : découverte et exploitation de gisements de pétrole dans la mer du Nord en 1969. Cela a contribué à crédibiliser l'hypothèse de self-government.
• 1960s : déclin de l'industrie écossaise, et interventionnisme des gouvernements.
• Selon le SNP, l'adhésion à la CEE allait accentuer les déséquilibres Nord-Sud au sein du RU, et traduisait l'indifférence du gouvernement britannique à la situation de l'Ecosse. Elle renforçait donc la cause de l'indépendance écossaise.

          Réponses aux succès du SNP :

          Eté 1967 : le parti conservateur créa une commission chargée de proposer une structure de gouvernement qui soit plus à l'écoute des besoins de l'opinion. Edward Heath se déclara être favorable à une dévolution des pouvoirs à une assemblée écossaise : commission constitutionnelle interne sous la présidence de l'ancien premier ministre et député écossais Sir Alec Douglas-Home, avec pour mission de donner aux Ecossais un rôle plus important dans la conduite de leurs affaires, tout en préservant le principe essentiel de la Souveraineté du Parlement britannique. Rapport en 1970 en faveur d'une assemblée écossaise directement élue, mais avec des pouvoirs modestes. 
          Dès octobre 1966 : le parti libéral : projet de loi en faveur de la dévolution écossaise (Scottish Self-Government Bill) : cadre plus vaste d'un projet fédéral à l'échelle britannique, tout en rejetant clairement l'idée d'indépendance. 
          Décembre 1968 : le camp travailliste : Harold Wilson 1er ministre : création d'une commission royale sur la constitution, présidée par Lord Kilbrandon. Novembre 1973 : rapport majoritairement favorable à l'idée de dévolution législative.

           Rapport Kilbrandon et ses suites :

          Novembre 1973 : 2 rapports : 
          un majoritaire : signé par 11 membres non-anglais : traitement spécial pour l'Ecosse et le pays de Galles : dévolution legislative, et rejet d'assemblées régionales anglaises. 
          un minoritaire : par 2 membres anglais : dévolution doit être fondée sur le principe de l'égalité de traitement en matière de droits politiques entre tous les citoyens et territoires britanniques. 

          Les années dévolution (1974-1979) :

          Les propositionssur la dévolution sont présentées par les gouvernements travaillistes de Harold Wilson etJames Callaghan. Cela débouche sur le Scotland Act de 1978.

                    Elections législatives de 1974 et nouvelle progression du SNP :

          Début septembre 1974 : livre blanc publié : Democracy and Devolution : proposals for Scotland and Wales. Il préconisait la création d'une assemblée législative sur le modèle recommandé par le rapport majoritaire de la commission Kilbrandon. 
          Elections d'octobre 1974 : le SNP = 2ème parti écossais en voix, et devancé seulement par les travaillistes. 

                    Débat parlementaire menant au Scotland Act : 

         

The original Barbie doll (1959)

            This document is a photograph representing the first Barbie doll. This doll was launched in 1959 as can be seen at the bottom of the document. To start with, I would like to describe the picture and then develop the idea that this doll was a kind of revolutionary one at the time.

We can thus wonder what kind of woman this doll represents. Then I will discuss the perfect beauty of this doll and what problem it can raise.

            As for the picture, the Barbie doll in the foreground is tall, blond-haired, and has quite dark eyes. She is wearing a one-piece swimsuit, which is decorated with black and white stripes. This swimsuit attempts to hide the Barbie doll’s figure as it goes down her legs and up her breasts. She is wearing high heels, carrying a small handbag with many things inside it and she seems to have a pair of sunglasses in her left hand.  She might be on the sand, we can hardly see. The main colours of this picture are black and white.

            As for the background, I presume it is the sky with clouds. She may be on the beach as she is wearing a swimsuit. We cannot see properly.

            Concerning the interpretation of this picture,

In a first part, it is interesting to notice that this kind of Barbie doll was quite revolutionary at the time. I think that all the dolls of that time were the representation of infants. I suppose this doll is the first adult-bodied doll. This doll is tall and blond, with breasts and is quite seductive. She is very fit. It is quite impossible to be as fit as this Barbie doll in real life. During the fifties, it was quite unusual to be such a thin woman. I think the women of those years were considered beautiful if they were rather plump.

This brings us to the second part of our interpretation: what kind of woman does it represent? The woman at the time was rather a housewife kind of woman. She was seen with children to care for, and a lot of tasks to do in the house. Here the new Barbie doll gives a new image of women. Indeed, this doll is dressed to go and relax on the beach. She seems free to do what she wants to do. She has no children around her. She is a single woman around twenty-five years old. Normally, women of that age were married at the time. But here, she seems to enjoy herself before entering the “housewife” life. Moreover, the fact that she is dressed like a modal shows us that people were starting to think differently. It is the beginning of a change for women. They start to become emancipated.

            In a third part, it is worth considering the relation between the perfection of this doll and its meaning for society. It is interesting to examine the fact that this doll looks perfect. She has a good figure, she is fit, she is tall, blond, has long legs. She can be seen as too perfect for certain people and is not a realistic view of women. This kind of subject can be put in parallel with the fact that nowadays models are too thin and people think they should be thinner. Women are on diets and increasingly they become more and more anorexic. Now society is starting to change its mind. They start to show less thin models on TV so that people are not overwhelmed by images of “extra-thin” women.

To conclude, this Barbie doll was revolutionary at the time. She represents fit people like modals. And finally, she can raise a problem among society which is: anorexia. We can then wonder if this kind of doll can put a certain image of women into children’s minds when they play with it and thus if it can influence them in the way they dress, in the way they eat, and in the way they live.

Sigourney Weaver in drag, Los Angeles 1983:

       This document is a photograph of the American actress Sigourney Weaver. Before describing and interpreting the photograph, I would like to mention that the actress is dressed up as a man. The caption says: Sigourney Weaver in drag, Los Angeles 1983. We can deduce that the picture was taken in 1983 in Los Angeles. We can raise a problematic based on the fact that Sigourney Weaver is dressed like a man. What could she represent? What is her aim in this picture? I will first describe the picture and then I will develop the analysis in two parts: on the one hand, Sigourney Weaver and on the other hand, the mysterious shadow. 
            
           First of all, I would like to describe this picture. In the foreground, Sigourney Weaver is standing with her hands in her pockets. She is dressed up as a man. She is in a black grey-striped suit. She has a white shirt, a grey waistcoat and a black tie. With her short hair and her suit and tie she looks like a man. She is very well-dressed. She looks like a gentleman.

In the background, there is a shadow which is reflected on a wall made of concrete blocks. We cannot see the limit between the shadow and the right side of Sigourney as everything is dark on that part of the picture. The light is coming from the left hand-side of the photograph. 

Now, I would like to deal with the interpretation which will be divided into two parts: Sigourney Weaver, and the shadow.

On the one hand, there is Sigourney Weaver dressed up as a man. We can wonder who she wants to represent. Does she represent a character for a film? Is she dressed like that in order to play a character? Or is she dressed like that in her real life? I think she is in suit and tie to seduce the public. She is looking straight in our direction. And wherever we place ourselves, she is looking at us. What does she want to tell us? Maybe she wants to convince us that she is the right actress to represent a character in a certain film. She might want to show as well that she is born to be an actress, as she really looks like a man. She shows her qualities as an actress, and she may want to draw the attention of a film-maker. She seems to say: look what I am, I’m able to look like someone else in a natural way only by dressing myself up, and only with my hair combed in this way.

On the other hand, there is the presence of the shadows. We can see that the light is coming from the top left hand-side of the picture because a part of Sigourney’s face as well as her shirt are brighter than the rest. Moreover, we can see that the shadow is lower than the actress. But as we cannot see the difference between Sigourney and the shadow, we can wonder if this shadow does not belong to someone else. It may be the photographer’s shadow.

But we can interpret it differently. The shadow could be that of the actress. As she is playing a role with a man’s personality, the shadow might represent her femininity. Her femininity is put into brackets and is put in the background because she has to play a role. Thus she puts her female personality aside for a moment. She forgets she is a woman as long as she needs to. But she does not totally acts as a man as her shadow will always follow her.

            To conclude, I can say that we have seen that this picture could have several interpretations. This photograph is quite mysterious. We have the impression that the shadow is complementarity to the American actress. This picture can also raise the role of women in society. Can a “feminine” woman succeed in “male” jobs? Can a woman succeed better in such jobs if she dresses like a man or if she behaves in a “manly” way?