Sarah S. Richardson
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780226084688
- eISBN:
- 9780226084718
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226084718.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter situates the sex chromosomes within the history of twentieth century theories of sex, gender, and sexuality. The author shows how the X and Y chromosomes, thought of as “sex itself,” ...
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This chapter situates the sex chromosomes within the history of twentieth century theories of sex, gender, and sexuality. The author shows how the X and Y chromosomes, thought of as “sex itself,” came to anchor a conception of sex as a biologically fixed and unalterable binary. The chapter frames the book’s major questions, locating them within scholarship in feminist science studies and social, historical, and philosophical research on the social dimensions of science. The book’s theoretical and methodological innovations, including the concepts of “modeling gender in science,” “gender analysis,” “gender criticality,” and “gender valence,” are introduced and defined.Less
This chapter situates the sex chromosomes within the history of twentieth century theories of sex, gender, and sexuality. The author shows how the X and Y chromosomes, thought of as “sex itself,” came to anchor a conception of sex as a biologically fixed and unalterable binary. The chapter frames the book’s major questions, locating them within scholarship in feminist science studies and social, historical, and philosophical research on the social dimensions of science. The book’s theoretical and methodological innovations, including the concepts of “modeling gender in science,” “gender analysis,” “gender criticality,” and “gender valence,” are introduced and defined.
Elaine Leong
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226583495
- eISBN:
- 9780226583525
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226583525.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Early modern English men and women were fascinated by recipes. Across the country, people of all ranks enthusiastically collected, exchanged, and experimented with medical and cookery instructions. ...
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Early modern English men and women were fascinated by recipes. Across the country, people of all ranks enthusiastically collected, exchanged, and experimented with medical and cookery instructions. They sent recipes in letters, borrowed handwritten books of family recipes, and consulted popular printed medical and culinary books. Recipes and Everyday Knowledge is the first major study of knowledge production and transfer in early modern households. It places the production and circulation of recipes at the heart of “household science”—quotidian investigations of the natural world—and situates these practices in larger and current conversations in gender and cultural history, the history of the book and archives and the history of science, medicine and technology. Household recipe knowledge was made through continual, repeated, and collective trying, making, reading, and writing. And recipe trials were one of the main ways householders gained deeper understandings of sickness, health and the human body, and the natural and material worlds. Recipes were also social knowledge. Recipes and recipe books were gifted between friends, viewed as family treasures, and passed down from generation to generation. By recovering the knowledge activities of householders—masters, servants, husbands and wives—this project recasts current narratives of early modern science through elucidating the very spaces and contexts in which famous experimental philosophers worked and, crucially, by extending the parameters of natural inquiry.Less
Early modern English men and women were fascinated by recipes. Across the country, people of all ranks enthusiastically collected, exchanged, and experimented with medical and cookery instructions. They sent recipes in letters, borrowed handwritten books of family recipes, and consulted popular printed medical and culinary books. Recipes and Everyday Knowledge is the first major study of knowledge production and transfer in early modern households. It places the production and circulation of recipes at the heart of “household science”—quotidian investigations of the natural world—and situates these practices in larger and current conversations in gender and cultural history, the history of the book and archives and the history of science, medicine and technology. Household recipe knowledge was made through continual, repeated, and collective trying, making, reading, and writing. And recipe trials were one of the main ways householders gained deeper understandings of sickness, health and the human body, and the natural and material worlds. Recipes were also social knowledge. Recipes and recipe books were gifted between friends, viewed as family treasures, and passed down from generation to generation. By recovering the knowledge activities of householders—masters, servants, husbands and wives—this project recasts current narratives of early modern science through elucidating the very spaces and contexts in which famous experimental philosophers worked and, crucially, by extending the parameters of natural inquiry.
Elaine Leong
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226583495
- eISBN:
- 9780226583525
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226583525.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This opening chapter outlines the main arguments presented in this book and household recipe books as a historical source. It contends that the production and circulation of recipes lie at the heart ...
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This opening chapter outlines the main arguments presented in this book and household recipe books as a historical source. It contends that the production and circulation of recipes lie at the heart of what we might call “household science” – that is quotidian home-based investigations of the natural world. It situates these knowledge processes within larger and current conversations in gender and cultural history, the history of the book and archives, and the history of science, medicine, and technology. It argues that household recipe practices generated more than just natural knowledge but also knowledge about materials and techniques, household management, social and familial strategies and health and the human body. The broad term “everyday knowledge” aptly serves as an umbrella for these varied epistemic activities, reminding us that “knowing” often comes from the “practices of everyday life”.Less
This opening chapter outlines the main arguments presented in this book and household recipe books as a historical source. It contends that the production and circulation of recipes lie at the heart of what we might call “household science” – that is quotidian home-based investigations of the natural world. It situates these knowledge processes within larger and current conversations in gender and cultural history, the history of the book and archives, and the history of science, medicine, and technology. It argues that household recipe practices generated more than just natural knowledge but also knowledge about materials and techniques, household management, social and familial strategies and health and the human body. The broad term “everyday knowledge” aptly serves as an umbrella for these varied epistemic activities, reminding us that “knowing” often comes from the “practices of everyday life”.
Susanne Schmidt
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780226686851
- eISBN:
- 9780226686998
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226686998.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
A favorite gendered cliché, the midlife crisis conjures up images of male indulgence and irresponsibility—but it was first successfully presented as a concept about women’s rights. This chapter ...
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A favorite gendered cliché, the midlife crisis conjures up images of male indulgence and irresponsibility—but it was first successfully presented as a concept about women’s rights. This chapter introduces the feminist definition of midlife change put forward by the New York journalist Gail Sheehy in the 1970s. It examines Sheehy’s place in existing origin stories and disciplinary histories of the midlife crisis and challenges the dominant narrative of science popularization. Pointing to the focus on men in contemporary tales about midlife crisis, it highlights instead the particular relevance of life-choices and midlife reassessments for women. Lastly, it discusses the gendered double standard of aging and the literature on menopause, gender, and science, drawing attention to the relevance of feminist contributions and critical and liberating concepts of middle life and aging. In the course of the discussion, the chapter also gives an overview of the book.Less
A favorite gendered cliché, the midlife crisis conjures up images of male indulgence and irresponsibility—but it was first successfully presented as a concept about women’s rights. This chapter introduces the feminist definition of midlife change put forward by the New York journalist Gail Sheehy in the 1970s. It examines Sheehy’s place in existing origin stories and disciplinary histories of the midlife crisis and challenges the dominant narrative of science popularization. Pointing to the focus on men in contemporary tales about midlife crisis, it highlights instead the particular relevance of life-choices and midlife reassessments for women. Lastly, it discusses the gendered double standard of aging and the literature on menopause, gender, and science, drawing attention to the relevance of feminist contributions and critical and liberating concepts of middle life and aging. In the course of the discussion, the chapter also gives an overview of the book.
Susanne Schmidt
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780226686851
- eISBN:
- 9780226686998
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226686998.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
What is the meaning of the surprising origin story of the midlife crisis? Reflecting on the history of the midlife crisis in light of ongoing debates about the cost of living for women and men, the ...
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What is the meaning of the surprising origin story of the midlife crisis? Reflecting on the history of the midlife crisis in light of ongoing debates about the cost of living for women and men, the final chapter points to the relevance of female and feminist discourses about aging and the life-course. Feminist conceptions of “midlife crisis” continue to exist, although the term is rarely used. The idea of changing your life midway through is central in the work of theorist Sara Ahmed, and middle age also remains prominent in the debate about gender and careers, where a new “midlife crisis at 30” describes women’s anxiety about integrating work and family lives. However, as Sheila Heti points out, time and aging often liberate from the strain of making a decision and can bring relief for women who are faced with the choice of motherhood. By illuminating critical attitudes and alternative conceptions of the meaning of life, the story of the midlife crisis makes visible the legacy of feminist thought and practice. This makes it important to better comprehend who suppressed it and how, while also encouraging a fuller engagement with feminist pasts as a starting point for new visions today.Less
What is the meaning of the surprising origin story of the midlife crisis? Reflecting on the history of the midlife crisis in light of ongoing debates about the cost of living for women and men, the final chapter points to the relevance of female and feminist discourses about aging and the life-course. Feminist conceptions of “midlife crisis” continue to exist, although the term is rarely used. The idea of changing your life midway through is central in the work of theorist Sara Ahmed, and middle age also remains prominent in the debate about gender and careers, where a new “midlife crisis at 30” describes women’s anxiety about integrating work and family lives. However, as Sheila Heti points out, time and aging often liberate from the strain of making a decision and can bring relief for women who are faced with the choice of motherhood. By illuminating critical attitudes and alternative conceptions of the meaning of life, the story of the midlife crisis makes visible the legacy of feminist thought and practice. This makes it important to better comprehend who suppressed it and how, while also encouraging a fuller engagement with feminist pasts as a starting point for new visions today.
Alison E. Martin
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781474439329
- eISBN:
- 9781474453844
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474439329.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
Straddling comparative literary and cultural studies and the history of science, this chapter insists on the importance of translation to the scientific culture of early- to mid-nineteenth-century ...
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Straddling comparative literary and cultural studies and the history of science, this chapter insists on the importance of translation to the scientific culture of early- to mid-nineteenth-century Britain. It emphasises the centrality of women to the translation of Humboldt’s work for a British readership and explores more generally the reception of his work by the British critical press.Less
Straddling comparative literary and cultural studies and the history of science, this chapter insists on the importance of translation to the scientific culture of early- to mid-nineteenth-century Britain. It emphasises the centrality of women to the translation of Humboldt’s work for a British readership and explores more generally the reception of his work by the British critical press.
Elaine Leong
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226583495
- eISBN:
- 9780226583525
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226583525.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This concluding chapter argues that recipes and recipe knowledge were framed by the complex concerns of everyday life. The household as a site for making recipe knowledge had far-reaching ...
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This concluding chapter argues that recipes and recipe knowledge were framed by the complex concerns of everyday life. The household as a site for making recipe knowledge had far-reaching consequences. For many fathers and mothers, writing it was combined with a dose of family history. Concurrently, recipe books were records of social networks and, most crucially, accounts or ledgers of obligations and gratitude. Writing down recipe knowledge was thus potently influenced by these frameworks of social and family strategy. Recipe trials were also one of the main pathways through which householders gained a deeper understanding of sickness and health, of the human body, of natural and man-made processes, and of materials. Exploring recipes thus grants us a glimpse into the lives of early modern men and women and into the making of “everyday knowledge.”Less
This concluding chapter argues that recipes and recipe knowledge were framed by the complex concerns of everyday life. The household as a site for making recipe knowledge had far-reaching consequences. For many fathers and mothers, writing it was combined with a dose of family history. Concurrently, recipe books were records of social networks and, most crucially, accounts or ledgers of obligations and gratitude. Writing down recipe knowledge was thus potently influenced by these frameworks of social and family strategy. Recipe trials were also one of the main pathways through which householders gained a deeper understanding of sickness and health, of the human body, of natural and man-made processes, and of materials. Exploring recipes thus grants us a glimpse into the lives of early modern men and women and into the making of “everyday knowledge.”