This section will focus on women in the BUF and how significant their role was. It is important to consider how despite Mosley’s focus on masculinity and violence women still played an influential role shown through the creation of the Women’s section. The context of Rotha Lintorn-Orman is also important to know as shows the origin of the British Union of Fascists later taken over by Oswald Mosley. This section will emphasise the importance of woman and show how they were needed in the BUF’s success.
Context
Women played an important role in the British Union of Fascists throughout the BUF’s time of success. In 1923 Rotha Lintorn-Orman created the foundation of the British Fascisti (later known as the British Fascists) as a response and criticism to the growing Labour Party. Lintorn-Orman’s main ideas were anti-communism and anti-immigration focusing on the younger generation and women. Her idol was Mussolini and Italian Fascism which was becoming increasingly popular in the early 1920s.
Women and The BUF
Oswald Mosley created the British Union of Fascists in 1932, during the early years of the party membership was high with reports of 50,000 members at its highest. Mosley admitted to not being able to get ‘a quarter of the way without women’ which highlights their importance despite there mainly being a focus on men and masculinity. The role of women within the Party increased as from September 1934 only 13% of people in the BUF meetings were women, compared with 89% in April 1940. This emphasises how largely reliant Mosley was on the women and proves their significance within the BUF. Many women and former suffragettes were drawn to the BUF for various reasons, some being the element of hope for equality through the BUF’s economic policies as well as adequate representation of housewives, the guarantee of equal wages for women and supporting new mothers. Other reasons women wanted to join was due to The Women’s Section which was established in March 1933 under Oswald’s mother Lady Maud Mosley, showing that the female members of the BUF played a very active role. “You weren’t just a tea-maker, you know,” recalled Louise Irving of Birmingham which demonstrates the many different roles women had, some being physical roles such as receiving training in jiu jitsu so that they could improve their strength and could easily fight their opposition.
During the later years membership decreased whilst women’s participation in the BUF increased. Despite there being ‘virtually all female pressure groups’ this did not help the BUF from 1938 onwards suggesting the women had a lack influence. In the late 1930’s the BUF’s successes became limited due to the Fascist ideologies which people saw as similar to that in Nazi-Germany. Thus after the outbreak of World War Two the BUF was banned in the Britain in 1940 and members were arrested.
Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley consciously separated the BUF from the BF (the British Fascists under Lintorn-Orman created in 1923), Mosley reiterated the two fascists groups had ‘no connection’. in 1932. This allowed Mosley to create the BUF and have complete control, he used this control and his masculinity to attract female members. Robert Skidelsky’s biography on Mosley published in 1975 solely focuses on Mosley’s leadership and his popularity amongst women and how he was seen as a sex object. Similarly, Gottlieb also includes many of the sex scandals within the BUF and focuses on Mosley and his secret marriage as he wanted to use his sexuality and masculinity to gain more support from the women. Throughout the 1930s there were many sex scandals within the BUF and this impacted the reputation of women fascists with 4 women being expelled due to sexual allegations in 1934. This suggests an exploitation of women and how through Mosley’s leadership he used his masculinity to diminish women’s position within the BUF.
Sources
J. Gottlieb, Feminine Fascism: Women in Britain’s Fascist Movement (Social and Cultural History Today), (London, I.B.Tauris, 2003)
M. Pugh, Hurrah For The Blackshirts!: Fascists and Fascism in Britain Between the Wars, (Pimlico; New Ed edition (30 Mar. 2006)
R. Skidelsky, Oswald Mosley, (London, Macmillan, 1980)
By Maiya Harrison-Genis
British Union of Fascists 