Women in France Since 1789: The Meanings of Difference

ISBN-13: 9780333619933 / Angielski / Miękka / 2004 / 378 str.

S Foley

Opis

Susan K. Foley traces the changes in women's lives in France from 1789 to the present, examining debates over gender and the anxiety created by women's perceived departure from ideals of womanhood. Foley explores major controversies over matters such as reproductive rights, significant cultural changes, and women's often underestimated political roles. In so doing, she demonstrates women's efforts over two centuries to create a place in society on their own terms.

Spis treści

Preface.- Acknowledgements.- Introduction: The French Revolution and Gender Politics: Creating a World of Difference.- PART I: THE SOCIAL STRUCTURES OF DIFFERENCE: THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY GENDER ORDER.- Elite Women.- Urban Working Women.- Peasant Women.- PART II: SEX AND CITIZENSHIP, 1804-1914.- Women, Politics and Citizenship, 1804-52.- Women and the Creation of the Republic, 1852-1914.- PART III: WOMEN IN THE ERA OF THE GREAT WARS, 1890-1944.- 'New Women' in the Era of the Great War, 1890-1930.- Taking Sides: Women in the 1930s.- Vichy France: Reviving the 'Natural Woman', 1940-44.- PART IV: TRANSFORMATIONS AND CONTINUITIES, 1945-2003.- From the Liberation to 'Women's Liberation', 1945-75.- The Politics of 'Women's Place' since 1975.- Conclusion.- Suggestions for Further Reading.- Index.

O autorze

SUSAN K. FOLEY is Senior Research Fellow in the Department of History at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Blurb

This compelling study traces the changes in women's lives in France from 1789 to the present. Susan K. Foley surveys the patterns of women's experiences in the socially-segregated society of the early nineteenth century, and then traces the evolution of their lifestyles to the turn of the twenty-first century, when many of the earlier social distinctions had disappeared.

Focusing on women's contested place within the political nation, Women in France since 1789 examines:

- the on-going strength of notions of sexual difference
- recurrent debates over gender
- the anxiety created by women's perceived departure from ideals of womanhood
- major controversies over matters such as reproductive rights, significant cultural changes, and women's often under-estimated political roles.

By addressing and exploring these key issues, Foley demonstrates women's efforts over two centuries to create a place in society on their own terms.