Cordelia Beattie
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199283415
- eISBN:
- 9780191712616
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283415.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This book is a focused study of the use of the category ‘single woman’ in late medieval England. In a culture in which marriage was the desirable norm and virginity was particularly prized in ...
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This book is a focused study of the use of the category ‘single woman’ in late medieval England. In a culture in which marriage was the desirable norm and virginity was particularly prized in females, the categories ‘virgin’ and ‘widow’ held particular significance. But the law gave unmarried women legal rights and responsibilities that were generally withheld from married women. The pervasiveness of religion and the law in people's day-to-day lives led to a complex interplay between moral and economic concerns in how medieval women were conceptualized. The result is different unmarried women are marked out as ‘single women’ in different contexts. This study is therefore revealing of the multiplicity of ways in which dominant cultural ideas impacted on medieval women. It also offers a way into the complex process of social classification in late medieval England. All societies use classificatory schemes in order to understand and to impose order on society. This study views classification as a political act: those classifying must make choices about what divisions are most important or about who falls into which category, and such choices have repercussions. When those classifying choose what defines a group or how an individual should be labelled, they choose between certain variables, such as social status, gender, or age, and decide which to prioritize. This study does not isolate gender as a variable, but examines how it relates to other social cleavages.Less
This book is a focused study of the use of the category ‘single woman’ in late medieval England. In a culture in which marriage was the desirable norm and virginity was particularly prized in females, the categories ‘virgin’ and ‘widow’ held particular significance. But the law gave unmarried women legal rights and responsibilities that were generally withheld from married women. The pervasiveness of religion and the law in people's day-to-day lives led to a complex interplay between moral and economic concerns in how medieval women were conceptualized. The result is different unmarried women are marked out as ‘single women’ in different contexts. This study is therefore revealing of the multiplicity of ways in which dominant cultural ideas impacted on medieval women. It also offers a way into the complex process of social classification in late medieval England. All societies use classificatory schemes in order to understand and to impose order on society. This study views classification as a political act: those classifying must make choices about what divisions are most important or about who falls into which category, and such choices have repercussions. When those classifying choose what defines a group or how an individual should be labelled, they choose between certain variables, such as social status, gender, or age, and decide which to prioritize. This study does not isolate gender as a variable, but examines how it relates to other social cleavages.
Cordelia Beattie
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199283415
- eISBN:
- 9780191712616
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283415.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This conclusion reflects on how the power of classification resides as much in language, in dominant cultural ideas that influence and inflect language use, as with individual classifiers. Key ...
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This conclusion reflects on how the power of classification resides as much in language, in dominant cultural ideas that influence and inflect language use, as with individual classifiers. Key factors affecting the cultural construction of categories include dominant religious and legal ideas in particular historical contexts, although the specific intentions of particular texts do affect how categories are deployed. The category ‘single woman’ has been shown to interact with those of ‘maiden’ and ‘widow’, whatever language is used, from the 13th century and into the 17th century. Its analysis pointed out various paths through the labyrinthine world of social classification, illustrating the interconnectedness of medieval culture, the complex relationship between representation and social reality, and the competing and overlapping nature of social categories.Less
This conclusion reflects on how the power of classification resides as much in language, in dominant cultural ideas that influence and inflect language use, as with individual classifiers. Key factors affecting the cultural construction of categories include dominant religious and legal ideas in particular historical contexts, although the specific intentions of particular texts do affect how categories are deployed. The category ‘single woman’ has been shown to interact with those of ‘maiden’ and ‘widow’, whatever language is used, from the 13th century and into the 17th century. Its analysis pointed out various paths through the labyrinthine world of social classification, illustrating the interconnectedness of medieval culture, the complex relationship between representation and social reality, and the competing and overlapping nature of social categories.
Rosanna Hertz
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195179903
- eISBN:
- 9780199944118
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179903.003.0103
- Subject:
- Sociology, Marriage and the Family
This chapter concludes Part III of the book. Unable to leave the workforce, the women in the interviews settle for resting the measure of motherhood not on being there every moment but on being ...
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This chapter concludes Part III of the book. Unable to leave the workforce, the women in the interviews settle for resting the measure of motherhood not on being there every moment but on being visible at key moments and logging what many call “family time.” Streamlining employment is the compromise for these women, and their success in this attempt depends on their skill sets. Women are giving up their personal time, social life, and outside hobbies so that they can be home on time for day care pickups or in time for dinner, things that are essential to them. Crucial to these women's survival on this fault line is help with child care. Besides surrounding their child with people who care, the final test of good mothering for these women is providing the social capital for middle-class citizenship.Less
This chapter concludes Part III of the book. Unable to leave the workforce, the women in the interviews settle for resting the measure of motherhood not on being there every moment but on being visible at key moments and logging what many call “family time.” Streamlining employment is the compromise for these women, and their success in this attempt depends on their skill sets. Women are giving up their personal time, social life, and outside hobbies so that they can be home on time for day care pickups or in time for dinner, things that are essential to them. Crucial to these women's survival on this fault line is help with child care. Besides surrounding their child with people who care, the final test of good mothering for these women is providing the social capital for middle-class citizenship.
Allyson M. Poska
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199265312
- eISBN:
- 9780191708763
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199265312.003.02
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
Approximately twenty percent of Galician women never married — some by choice, some because the sex ratio of many parishes was such that there were often two women for every man. Half of those who ...
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Approximately twenty percent of Galician women never married — some by choice, some because the sex ratio of many parishes was such that there were often two women for every man. Half of those who did eventually marry waited until they were more than thirty years old to do so. Thus, life-cycle and lifetime single women were visible and vital members of Galician society. This chapter analyzes how regional inheritance traditions that favored women over men, and Castilian legal norms like mejora that gave them extensive rights to inherit, bequeath, purchase and sell property, allowed single women to live independently of men.Less
Approximately twenty percent of Galician women never married — some by choice, some because the sex ratio of many parishes was such that there were often two women for every man. Half of those who did eventually marry waited until they were more than thirty years old to do so. Thus, life-cycle and lifetime single women were visible and vital members of Galician society. This chapter analyzes how regional inheritance traditions that favored women over men, and Castilian legal norms like mejora that gave them extensive rights to inherit, bequeath, purchase and sell property, allowed single women to live independently of men.
Diane Sainsbury and Ann Morissens
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195314304
- eISBN:
- 9780199865574
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314304.003.0002
- Subject:
- Social Work, Social Policy
This chapter initially presents the specific matrix of Swedish policies that has contributed to low poverty rates, with special emphasis on women's employment and social rights. It then describes the ...
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This chapter initially presents the specific matrix of Swedish policies that has contributed to low poverty rates, with special emphasis on women's employment and social rights. It then describes the challenge to the Swedish welfare state in the 1990s — an era of economic crisis and retrenchment — and the major policy responses. The main part of the chapter offers an analysis of the economic situation of solo mothers and single elderly women in the middle of the first decade of this century (mid-2000s), taking 1990 as benchmark for comparison. Central to the analysis is the question of whether policy changes since 1990 have led to a feminization of poverty in Sweden.Less
This chapter initially presents the specific matrix of Swedish policies that has contributed to low poverty rates, with special emphasis on women's employment and social rights. It then describes the challenge to the Swedish welfare state in the 1990s — an era of economic crisis and retrenchment — and the major policy responses. The main part of the chapter offers an analysis of the economic situation of solo mothers and single elderly women in the middle of the first decade of this century (mid-2000s), taking 1990 as benchmark for comparison. Central to the analysis is the question of whether policy changes since 1990 have led to a feminization of poverty in Sweden.
Cordelia Beattie
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199283415
- eISBN:
- 9780191712616
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283415.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter contends that ‘single woman’ was a useful category in a religious discourse concerned with sexual sin and penance. The focus here is on pastoral manuals that use the category in their ...
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This chapter contends that ‘single woman’ was a useful category in a religious discourse concerned with sexual sin and penance. The focus here is on pastoral manuals that use the category in their discussions of the sin of lechery (lust) and the opposing virtue, chastity, although these texts are situated in the wider context of preaching and the conduct of confession. The chapter explores what the category denotes, why it was included, and how it relates to other categories such as ‘virgin’, ‘widow’, and ‘whore’. While some texts did portray all sexually-active, unmarried women as whores, this chapter seeks to further debate by discussing why such women might themselves constitute a useful group in a penitential discourse.Less
This chapter contends that ‘single woman’ was a useful category in a religious discourse concerned with sexual sin and penance. The focus here is on pastoral manuals that use the category in their discussions of the sin of lechery (lust) and the opposing virtue, chastity, although these texts are situated in the wider context of preaching and the conduct of confession. The chapter explores what the category denotes, why it was included, and how it relates to other categories such as ‘virgin’, ‘widow’, and ‘whore’. While some texts did portray all sexually-active, unmarried women as whores, this chapter seeks to further debate by discussing why such women might themselves constitute a useful group in a penitential discourse.
Cordelia Beattie
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199283415
- eISBN:
- 9780191712616
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283415.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter explores the associations that accrue to certain categories through their repeated use in particular contexts by influential cultural discourses. It argues that use of the categories ...
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This chapter explores the associations that accrue to certain categories through their repeated use in particular contexts by influential cultural discourses. It argues that use of the categories ‘virgin’ and ‘widow’ in a widely disseminated religious discourse about chastity means that the categories often carry with them associations of chastity, which could influence their use in other discourses, even when chastity is not an overt concern. Femme sole has specific meaning as a legal construct in late medieval England and these associations might similarly imprint themselves on the term and its Latin and Middle English variants, even when the legal construct itself is not being intentionally evoked. The chapter also reviews the arguments about how marriage and thus non-marriage was affected by demographic and economic changes after the Black Death, and whether this had some bearing on the use of the category ‘single woman’ in contemporary texts.Less
This chapter explores the associations that accrue to certain categories through their repeated use in particular contexts by influential cultural discourses. It argues that use of the categories ‘virgin’ and ‘widow’ in a widely disseminated religious discourse about chastity means that the categories often carry with them associations of chastity, which could influence their use in other discourses, even when chastity is not an overt concern. Femme sole has specific meaning as a legal construct in late medieval England and these associations might similarly imprint themselves on the term and its Latin and Middle English variants, even when the legal construct itself is not being intentionally evoked. The chapter also reviews the arguments about how marriage and thus non-marriage was affected by demographic and economic changes after the Black Death, and whether this had some bearing on the use of the category ‘single woman’ in contemporary texts.
Hera Cook
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199252183
- eISBN:
- 9780191719240
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199252183.003.0016
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter re-analyses existing statistical sources to explain the underlying transformation and disruption of existing ways of living that occurred as a result of the astonishing reduction in risk ...
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This chapter re-analyses existing statistical sources to explain the underlying transformation and disruption of existing ways of living that occurred as a result of the astonishing reduction in risk of pregnancy brought about by the Pill and legal abortion, and the accompanying collapse of restraints on young women's sexual behaviour. It shows that the greater autonomy that female controlled contraception made possible reached directly into the lives of the vast majority of English women. Over 80% of British women of reproductive age since the early 1960s have taken the Pill.Less
This chapter re-analyses existing statistical sources to explain the underlying transformation and disruption of existing ways of living that occurred as a result of the astonishing reduction in risk of pregnancy brought about by the Pill and legal abortion, and the accompanying collapse of restraints on young women's sexual behaviour. It shows that the greater autonomy that female controlled contraception made possible reached directly into the lives of the vast majority of English women. Over 80% of British women of reproductive age since the early 1960s have taken the Pill.
Cordelia Beattie
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199283415
- eISBN:
- 9780191712616
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283415.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This introductory chapter discusses the types of classification considered in the book (interpretative schemes, which divide society into various subgroups, and the labelling of named individuals), ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the types of classification considered in the book (interpretative schemes, which divide society into various subgroups, and the labelling of named individuals), and the sources that these are drawn from. It argues that a focus on the troubling category ‘single woman’ entails thinking about how medieval women are classified generally and, in particular, how the category relates to others such as ‘maiden’, ‘widow’, and ‘whore’. The emphasis on language means that the study goes into certain areas in depth, rather than attempt a broad survey of how the category ‘single woman’ was used in late medieval England. These case studies are briefly outlined.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the types of classification considered in the book (interpretative schemes, which divide society into various subgroups, and the labelling of named individuals), and the sources that these are drawn from. It argues that a focus on the troubling category ‘single woman’ entails thinking about how medieval women are classified generally and, in particular, how the category relates to others such as ‘maiden’, ‘widow’, and ‘whore’. The emphasis on language means that the study goes into certain areas in depth, rather than attempt a broad survey of how the category ‘single woman’ was used in late medieval England. These case studies are briefly outlined.
Rosanna Hertz
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195179903
- eISBN:
- 9780199944118
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179903.003.0016
- Subject:
- Sociology, Marriage and the Family
When women chance pregnancy and decide to both bear and raise their children, this chapter suggests that they do so knowing that their children have been created according to the deeply ingrained ...
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When women chance pregnancy and decide to both bear and raise their children, this chapter suggests that they do so knowing that their children have been created according to the deeply ingrained belief that two heterosexual parents create children out of intimacy and through intercourse. These children are aware that a physical father exists for them, despite how uninvolved he may be in the family's life. Not unlike those women who have other kinds of alternative families, other men become substitute social dads for the biological fathers, resembling the increasingly common American stepfamily. Nonetheless, these stepfamilies retain both the original father and a new man who “steps in” to participate in the child's life, even if he is a lesser parent.Less
When women chance pregnancy and decide to both bear and raise their children, this chapter suggests that they do so knowing that their children have been created according to the deeply ingrained belief that two heterosexual parents create children out of intimacy and through intercourse. These children are aware that a physical father exists for them, despite how uninvolved he may be in the family's life. Not unlike those women who have other kinds of alternative families, other men become substitute social dads for the biological fathers, resembling the increasingly common American stepfamily. Nonetheless, these stepfamilies retain both the original father and a new man who “steps in” to participate in the child's life, even if he is a lesser parent.
J. R. Watson
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198270027
- eISBN:
- 9780191600784
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019827002X.003.0016
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
Discusses the woman writer, and hymn writing as an acceptable occupation for women; the character of this writing, and examples of it from Charlotte Elliott, Sarah Flower Adams, and Cecil Frances ...
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Discusses the woman writer, and hymn writing as an acceptable occupation for women; the character of this writing, and examples of it from Charlotte Elliott, Sarah Flower Adams, and Cecil Frances Alexander; Frances Ridley Harvergal and her enthusiasm. Also talks about Dora Greenwell and the single woman; Anna Laetitia Waring; the Brontë sisters.; Christina Rossetti.Less
Discusses the woman writer, and hymn writing as an acceptable occupation for women; the character of this writing, and examples of it from Charlotte Elliott, Sarah Flower Adams, and Cecil Frances Alexander; Frances Ridley Harvergal and her enthusiasm. Also talks about Dora Greenwell and the single woman; Anna Laetitia Waring; the Brontë sisters.; Christina Rossetti.
Kunihiro Kimura
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199732166
- eISBN:
- 9780199866144
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199732166.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter describes sex-based discrimination trends in Japan and proposes hypotheses that might explain these trends. Section 2 briefly describes the official statistics that provide the source of ...
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This chapter describes sex-based discrimination trends in Japan and proposes hypotheses that might explain these trends. Section 2 briefly describes the official statistics that provide the source of the data analyzed throughout this chapter. Section 3 describes trends in Japan's gender wage gap from 1965 to 2005, demonstrating that the gender wage gap has dramatically decreased although not disappeared. To explain this development, it proposes a hypothesis that highlights the effect of educational attainment on wages. Section 4 compares the proportions of full-time or regular employees who are unmarried women and married women, analyzing the difference between these two proportions during this time period. The results suggest that the marriage bar remains a source of sex-based discrimination. Section 5 discusses the research that is necessary to improve understanding of sex discrimination in Japan.Less
This chapter describes sex-based discrimination trends in Japan and proposes hypotheses that might explain these trends. Section 2 briefly describes the official statistics that provide the source of the data analyzed throughout this chapter. Section 3 describes trends in Japan's gender wage gap from 1965 to 2005, demonstrating that the gender wage gap has dramatically decreased although not disappeared. To explain this development, it proposes a hypothesis that highlights the effect of educational attainment on wages. Section 4 compares the proportions of full-time or regular employees who are unmarried women and married women, analyzing the difference between these two proportions during this time period. The results suggest that the marriage bar remains a source of sex-based discrimination. Section 5 discusses the research that is necessary to improve understanding of sex discrimination in Japan.
Nancy Rosenberger
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824836962
- eISBN:
- 9780824870898
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824836962.003.0003
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines how single women live within the dilemma of choice. Singles are at the center of contradictions in Japan and the social movement that is stretching the limits of compatibility ...
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This chapter examines how single women live within the dilemma of choice. Singles are at the center of contradictions in Japan and the social movement that is stretching the limits of compatibility with the societal rules. Experiencing both the chaos and the flexibility of late modernity, they feel the pressure to appear successful. This chapter considers two groups, the successful singles and the struggling singles, and how they deal with the question of dependence versus independence in their evolving search for self. It shows that the singles are all seeking an extended or reinterpreted version of self as an expression of their quiet long-term resistance to the rules of society. It also examines how, within the framework of singlehood, these women continue to grapple with the ambiguity of independence and success.Less
This chapter examines how single women live within the dilemma of choice. Singles are at the center of contradictions in Japan and the social movement that is stretching the limits of compatibility with the societal rules. Experiencing both the chaos and the flexibility of late modernity, they feel the pressure to appear successful. This chapter considers two groups, the successful singles and the struggling singles, and how they deal with the question of dependence versus independence in their evolving search for self. It shows that the singles are all seeking an extended or reinterpreted version of self as an expression of their quiet long-term resistance to the rules of society. It also examines how, within the framework of singlehood, these women continue to grapple with the ambiguity of independence and success.
Anya Jabour
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807831014
- eISBN:
- 9781469605166
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807887646_jabour.7
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Gender Studies
This chapter examines the difficulties that beset young women in the nineteenth-century Old South as they finished college and confronted their adult destiny as wives and mothers. It focuses on the ...
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This chapter examines the difficulties that beset young women in the nineteenth-century Old South as they finished college and confronted their adult destiny as wives and mothers. It focuses on the personal experience of Laura Henrietta Wirt, a Washington, D.C. resident who declared that “it will never do for me to be married,” tutored her younger siblings, and dreamed of establishing a “charming happy hall” for single women with her cousin, Louisa Cabell. The chapter considers Laura's reluctance to commit herself to marriage as a form of resistance explored by young southern women, as well as the time that Laura and Louisa spent as single women. It also discusses southern girls' desire to maintain female friendships, and how this was often thwarted not only by physical distance but also by social conventions. Finally, the chapter highlights the search for “single blessedness” as one of the southern girls' most creative—although ultimately unsuccessful—forms of resistance.Less
This chapter examines the difficulties that beset young women in the nineteenth-century Old South as they finished college and confronted their adult destiny as wives and mothers. It focuses on the personal experience of Laura Henrietta Wirt, a Washington, D.C. resident who declared that “it will never do for me to be married,” tutored her younger siblings, and dreamed of establishing a “charming happy hall” for single women with her cousin, Louisa Cabell. The chapter considers Laura's reluctance to commit herself to marriage as a form of resistance explored by young southern women, as well as the time that Laura and Louisa spent as single women. It also discusses southern girls' desire to maintain female friendships, and how this was often thwarted not only by physical distance but also by social conventions. Finally, the chapter highlights the search for “single blessedness” as one of the southern girls' most creative—although ultimately unsuccessful—forms of resistance.
Jan Luiten
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190847883
- eISBN:
- 9780190847913
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190847883.003.0008
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The beguine movement is a most remarkable phenomenon in the history of the Low Countries, but it still remains to be explained. The skewed sex ratio, diminished access to convents, and religious ...
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The beguine movement is a most remarkable phenomenon in the history of the Low Countries, but it still remains to be explained. The skewed sex ratio, diminished access to convents, and religious revival of the late Middle Ages seem insufficient to explain the movement in the long run. This chapter argues that the specific attitude toward women in the Low Countries that originated with the emergence of the European Marriage Pattern created a fertile and unique basis for the beguinages to develop: the beguinages may have offered women in the Low Countries safety and security if they chose to remain single.Less
The beguine movement is a most remarkable phenomenon in the history of the Low Countries, but it still remains to be explained. The skewed sex ratio, diminished access to convents, and religious revival of the late Middle Ages seem insufficient to explain the movement in the long run. This chapter argues that the specific attitude toward women in the Low Countries that originated with the emergence of the European Marriage Pattern created a fertile and unique basis for the beguinages to develop: the beguinages may have offered women in the Low Countries safety and security if they chose to remain single.
Brianna Leavitt-Alcántara
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603684
- eISBN:
- 9781503604391
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603684.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This book reframes our understanding of single women and religious culture in colonial and nineteenth-century Latin America. Most works on women and early modern religion examine nuns, holy women, or ...
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This book reframes our understanding of single women and religious culture in colonial and nineteenth-century Latin America. Most works on women and early modern religion examine nuns, holy women, or religious “deviants,” and emphasize rising hostility towards female autonomy as officials moved to enclose unmarried women and intensive female religiosity (e.g. mysticism, asceticism). This study takes a different approach and examines ordinary laywomen, particularly the broad population of non-elite women living outside of both marriage and convent. Much like other Spanish American cities, Guatemala’s colonial capital was a city of women due to labor and migration patterns with many single and widowed women heading households. Alone at the Altar argues that laboring single women forged complex alliances with the Church, which shaped local religion and the spiritual economy, late colonial reform efforts, and post-Independence politics in Guatemala. Through an analysis of approximately 550 wills, as well as a variety of other sources such as hagiographies, religious chronicles, and ecclesiastical records, this study moves beyond anecdotal evidence and exemplary case studies, to consider broader patterns and the ways in which gender, social, and marital status shaped early modern devotional networks. By extending its analysis to 1870, the book also illuminates how the alliances between laboring women and the Catholic Church became politicized in the Independence era and influenced the successful rise of popular conservatism in Guatemala.Less
This book reframes our understanding of single women and religious culture in colonial and nineteenth-century Latin America. Most works on women and early modern religion examine nuns, holy women, or religious “deviants,” and emphasize rising hostility towards female autonomy as officials moved to enclose unmarried women and intensive female religiosity (e.g. mysticism, asceticism). This study takes a different approach and examines ordinary laywomen, particularly the broad population of non-elite women living outside of both marriage and convent. Much like other Spanish American cities, Guatemala’s colonial capital was a city of women due to labor and migration patterns with many single and widowed women heading households. Alone at the Altar argues that laboring single women forged complex alliances with the Church, which shaped local religion and the spiritual economy, late colonial reform efforts, and post-Independence politics in Guatemala. Through an analysis of approximately 550 wills, as well as a variety of other sources such as hagiographies, religious chronicles, and ecclesiastical records, this study moves beyond anecdotal evidence and exemplary case studies, to consider broader patterns and the ways in which gender, social, and marital status shaped early modern devotional networks. By extending its analysis to 1870, the book also illuminates how the alliances between laboring women and the Catholic Church became politicized in the Independence era and influenced the successful rise of popular conservatism in Guatemala.
Brianna Leavitt-Alcántara
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603684
- eISBN:
- 9781503604391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603684.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
Evidence from wills highlight the striking number of non-elite women living outside of marriage who successfully professed as lay Franciscan tertiaries, that is, as members of the powerful Franciscan ...
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Evidence from wills highlight the striking number of non-elite women living outside of marriage who successfully professed as lay Franciscan tertiaries, that is, as members of the powerful Franciscan Third Order. Chapter 2 explores how and why priests in Guatemala’s colonial capital, especially Franciscans and Jesuits, allied with poor single and widowed laywomen and supported active and unenclosed female religiosity. Santiago de Guatemala’s status as a distant provincial capital, removed from the Inquisition’s close oversight and without the institutional resources necessary to enforce female enclosure, led to greater tolerance of lay female religiosity and single women compared to larger cities like Mexico City and Lima. At the same time, global missionary movements forged diverse models of female piety and sustained support for active female ministries. These findings suggest the need to modify interpretations of early modern Catholicism as primarily hostile towards single women and lay female religiosity.Less
Evidence from wills highlight the striking number of non-elite women living outside of marriage who successfully professed as lay Franciscan tertiaries, that is, as members of the powerful Franciscan Third Order. Chapter 2 explores how and why priests in Guatemala’s colonial capital, especially Franciscans and Jesuits, allied with poor single and widowed laywomen and supported active and unenclosed female religiosity. Santiago de Guatemala’s status as a distant provincial capital, removed from the Inquisition’s close oversight and without the institutional resources necessary to enforce female enclosure, led to greater tolerance of lay female religiosity and single women compared to larger cities like Mexico City and Lima. At the same time, global missionary movements forged diverse models of female piety and sustained support for active female ministries. These findings suggest the need to modify interpretations of early modern Catholicism as primarily hostile towards single women and lay female religiosity.
Elisabeth van Houts
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198798897
- eISBN:
- 9780191839542
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198798897.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History, Social History
This chapter is devoted to the single life. First it contains a section devoted to the issue of consent: who gives consent for the entry into monastic life, parents or the child? This section is ...
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This chapter is devoted to the single life. First it contains a section devoted to the issue of consent: who gives consent for the entry into monastic life, parents or the child? This section is followed by a discussion on single women in monastic and lay environments. The final section is devoted to single men in lay and monastic environments. The majority of single men and women were held hostage by economic circumstances rather than their own agency or choice. The relatively small group of religious young men and women entered their future destination by a combination of parental choice and their own agency. The increase in texts charting the generational battle for consent should be seen firmly in the wider context of a demand for choice amongst young people, especially women.Less
This chapter is devoted to the single life. First it contains a section devoted to the issue of consent: who gives consent for the entry into monastic life, parents or the child? This section is followed by a discussion on single women in monastic and lay environments. The final section is devoted to single men in lay and monastic environments. The majority of single men and women were held hostage by economic circumstances rather than their own agency or choice. The relatively small group of religious young men and women entered their future destination by a combination of parental choice and their own agency. The increase in texts charting the generational battle for consent should be seen firmly in the wider context of a demand for choice amongst young people, especially women.
Lynne Y. Nakano
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824838683
- eISBN:
- 9780824868895
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824838683.003.0007
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines the perceptions of single women about their lives during and after their marriageable years. Drawing on research that involved extensive interviews with single women and ...
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This chapter examines the perceptions of single women about their lives during and after their marriageable years. Drawing on research that involved extensive interviews with single women and participation in their daily lives, the chapter considers how single women's experiences in the 2000s were influenced by marriage and employment markets. Employment markets in Japan in the 2000s were favorable to people who were young and possessed higher education and specialized skills. There was also a decline in the lifetime employment system, the rise of the part-time and temporary work sectors, and greater acceptance of a diversity of lifestyles—including indefinitely delayed marriage. In the face of these realities, the chapter shows that single women began to articulate values anchored on innovation, initiative, perseverance, hard work, and independence.Less
This chapter examines the perceptions of single women about their lives during and after their marriageable years. Drawing on research that involved extensive interviews with single women and participation in their daily lives, the chapter considers how single women's experiences in the 2000s were influenced by marriage and employment markets. Employment markets in Japan in the 2000s were favorable to people who were young and possessed higher education and specialized skills. There was also a decline in the lifetime employment system, the rise of the part-time and temporary work sectors, and greater acceptance of a diversity of lifestyles—including indefinitely delayed marriage. In the face of these realities, the chapter shows that single women began to articulate values anchored on innovation, initiative, perseverance, hard work, and independence.
Brianna Leavitt-Alcántara
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603684
- eISBN:
- 9781503604391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603684.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
Chapter 3 traces how non-elite single women navigated their moral status and developed alliances with the Catholic Church in the shifting religious landscape between 1700 and 1770. Although scholars ...
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Chapter 3 traces how non-elite single women navigated their moral status and developed alliances with the Catholic Church in the shifting religious landscape between 1700 and 1770. Although scholars have examined the ways in which elite women in colonial Spanish America took advantage of loopholes and the distance between public honor and private sexual matters, the experiences of non-elite women remain unclear. Wills highlight how laboring unmarried women invoked feminine ideals other than chastity and enclosure through their enthusiastic participation in confraternities and Third Orders, contributions to the spiritual economy as pious benefactors, and complex alliances with local priests. Much as scholars recognize that race in colonial Latin America was a flexible category and individuals might count multiple racial identities simultaneously or change their racial identity over time, these findings illustrate how poor single women took advantage of alternative feminine ideals and claimed moral status within their communities.Less
Chapter 3 traces how non-elite single women navigated their moral status and developed alliances with the Catholic Church in the shifting religious landscape between 1700 and 1770. Although scholars have examined the ways in which elite women in colonial Spanish America took advantage of loopholes and the distance between public honor and private sexual matters, the experiences of non-elite women remain unclear. Wills highlight how laboring unmarried women invoked feminine ideals other than chastity and enclosure through their enthusiastic participation in confraternities and Third Orders, contributions to the spiritual economy as pious benefactors, and complex alliances with local priests. Much as scholars recognize that race in colonial Latin America was a flexible category and individuals might count multiple racial identities simultaneously or change their racial identity over time, these findings illustrate how poor single women took advantage of alternative feminine ideals and claimed moral status within their communities.
