...feminist activism in the period could also be seen in the private domestic sphere. Historians have often dismissed the ability of the domestic sphere to be a site of activism in itself. However, an exploration of women’s groups and their focus on domestic issues is telling of the rich activism in the domestic sphere. The 1920s and 1930s saw a marked rise in women’s voluntary groups, particularly those which discussed broader political issues such as attitudes to divorce, birth control and abortion. Debate on these issues became prevalent in the period. For example, throughout the period, the Women’s Co-operative Guild, which represented roughly 27,000 working-class wives, continually argued that cruelty, insanity, and mutual consent should be accepted as grounds for divorce, given that the existing 1957 Divorce Law was marred by inconsistency and made women’s attempts to request divorces largely futile. In response to ongoing pressure from groups like the Women’s Co-operative Guild and the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, which continued to campaign for a wide variety of women’s rights after the passing of the 1928 Representation of the People Act, limited divorce reform was passed in the 1923 Matrimonial Causes Act, giving women the right to sue for divorce on the grounds of adultery.
Women’s voluntary organisations that specifically targeted housewives also engaged in discussions surrounding birth control and contraception. Though many didn’t identify specifically with the word ‘feminism’, they provided key sites for discussion and petitioning parliament about prominent women’s issues of the time. In 1915, the Women’s Co-operative Guild published ‘Maternity: Letters from Working Women’, highlighting the negative physical and emotional effects that frequent childbirth could have on mothers. It suggested birth control as an option for married women to reduce these negative effects. This focus on birth control as a tool to alleviate the burdens faced by married women continued throughout the period, with the creation of the National Birth Control Association in 1930, and the rise of the Abortion Law Reform Association in 1936 to pressure the government into introducing birth control for married women. This focus on alleviating the personal domestic burdens caused by the lack of birth control for wives and mothers in the 1930s signalled a departure from the focus of feminist discourse at the beginning of the interwar years, which primarily discussed women’s changing public roles in the immediate aftermath of the FWW.
Ultimately, the interwar era of feminism can be understood as a period in which activism shifted from public to more private spheres, making it less visible to the general public. However, viewing it as a retraction fails to acknowledge its vibrancy and the groundwork that it did for the more visible form of feminism commonly associated with the ‘second wave’. Indeed, feminist discussions in the interwar period can be seen as setting the groundwork for the idea that ‘the personal is the political’ that is commonly associated with ‘second wave’ feminism.
...ushirikiano wa wanawake katika kipindi hicho pia ungeweza kuonekana katika uwanja wa kibinafsi wa nyumbani. Mara nyingi wanahistoria wamepuuza uwezo wa mazingira ya nyumbani kuwa mahali pa uchochezi yenyewe. Hata hivyo, uchunguzi wa vikundi vya wanawake na kuzingatia kwao masuala ya ndani ni kusema ya uendeshaji tajiri katika uwanja wa ndani. Katika miaka ya 1920 na 1930, kulikuwa na ongezeko kubwa la vikundi vya wanawake, hasa wale ambao walijadili masuala ya kisiasa kama vile mtazamo wa talaka, udhibiti wa kuzaliwa na utoaji mimba. Mazungumzo juu ya masuala haya yakawa ya kawaida katika kipindi hicho. Kwa mfano, katika kipindi hicho, Chama cha Wanawake cha Co-operative Guild, ambacho kilikuwa na wanawake 27,000 wa jamii ya wafanyakazi, kilisisitiza daima kwamba ukatili, wazimu, na makubaliano ya pande zote zinapaswa kukubaliwa kama misingi ya talaka, kwa kuwa Sheria ya Talaka ya 1957 ilikuwa na makosa na ilifanya majaribio ya wanawake kuomba talaka kuwa ya bure. "Kwa mujibu wa sheria ya ""Mashirika ya Wanawake ya Ushirikiano"" (Women's Co-operative Guild) na ""Mashirika ya Wanawake wa Haki ya Kupiga Kura ya Kitaifa (National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies) "" (Women's Suffrage Societies) "", sheria ya talaka ya mwaka 1923 iliruhusu wanawake kuamua kuachana na wake zao kwa sababu ya uzinzi." Mashirika ya kujitolea ya wanawake ambayo hasa yalielekezwa kwa wakazi wa nyumbani pia walishiriki katika majadiliano yanayohusu udhibiti wa uzazi na kuzuia mimba. Ingawa wengi hawakujitambulisha haswa na neno "feminism", walitoa maeneo muhimu kwa majadiliano na kuomba bunge juu ya masuala maarufu ya wanawake wa wakati huo. "Mwaka wa 1915, shirika la Women's Co-operative Guild lilichapisha kitabu ""Maternity: Letters from Working Women"" (Uzao: Barua kutoka kwa Wanawake Wanaofanya Kazi), ikikazia athari mbaya za kimwili na kihemko ambazo kuzaa mara kwa mara kunaweza kuwa nazo kwa akina mama." Ilipendekeza udhibiti wa uzazi kuwa chaguo kwa wanawake walioolewa ili kupunguza athari hizo mbaya. "Kutumia dawa za kuzuia uzazi kama chombo cha kupunguza mzigo wa wanawake waliooa iliendelea katika kipindi hicho, na kuanzishwa kwa Chama cha Kitaifa cha Kudhibiti Uzazi mnamo 1930 na kuongezeka kwa Chama cha Marekebisho ya Sheria ya Kutolewa kwa mimba mnamo 1936 ili kushinikiza serikali kuanzisha ""udhibiti wa uzazi kwa wanawake waliooa.""" "Kujishughulisha na kupunguza mzigo wa kibinafsi wa nyumbani uliosababishwa na ukosefu wa udhibiti wa kuzaliwa kwa wake na mama katika miaka ya 1930 ilionyesha kuondoka kwa lengo la mazungumzo ya wanawake mwanzoni mwa miaka ya kati ya vita, ambayo hasa ilizungumzia mabadiliko ya majukumu ya umma ya wanawake baada ya vita vya kwanza vya dunia. """ Katika kipindi cha kati ya vita, uwanjani ulibadilika kutoka kwa umma hadi kwa faragha, na hivyo kuwa wazi kwa umma. Hata hivyo, kuiona kama kurudi nyuma kushindwa kutambua vibrantness yake na msingi kwamba alifanya kwa ajili ya aina zaidi inayoonekana ya feminism kawaida kuhusishwa na <unk>wimbi la pili<unk>. Kwa kweli, majadiliano ya wanawake katika kipindi cha kati ya vita inaweza kuonekana kama kuweka msingi kwa wazo kwamba "ya kibinafsi ni ya kisiasa" ambayo ni kawaida kuhusishwa na "wimbi la pili" feminism.