Emily Jackson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199545520
- eISBN:
- 9780191721113
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545520.003.0016
- Subject:
- Law, Medical Law
This chapter reflects upon the issue of egg donation for research purposes, which has reignited some old debates about reproductive technologies' potential to exploit women, and breathed new life ...
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This chapter reflects upon the issue of egg donation for research purposes, which has reignited some old debates about reproductive technologies' potential to exploit women, and breathed new life into the so-called ‘unholy alliance’ between feminists and pro-life activists. Drawing analogies with a similar shift in pro-life campaigners' strategic focus in relation to abortion, the chapter highlights and criticizes the development of a new sort of paternalism towards women's decision-making.Less
This chapter reflects upon the issue of egg donation for research purposes, which has reignited some old debates about reproductive technologies' potential to exploit women, and breathed new life into the so-called ‘unholy alliance’ between feminists and pro-life activists. Drawing analogies with a similar shift in pro-life campaigners' strategic focus in relation to abortion, the chapter highlights and criticizes the development of a new sort of paternalism towards women's decision-making.
Anne Phillips
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294153
- eISBN:
- 9780191600098
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294158.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
A number of contemporary democracies have introduced measures to ensure a more equitable representation of women and/or ethnic minority citizens within elected assemblies. These measures have ...
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A number of contemporary democracies have introduced measures to ensure a more equitable representation of women and/or ethnic minority citizens within elected assemblies. These measures have included the use of gender quotas in the selection of parliamentary candidates, and the use of ‘race‐conscious’ districting to increase the electoral chances of ethnic minority representatives. Drawing on a distinction between the politics of ideas and the politics of presence, this book explores and defends the case for such measures. The politics of ideas considers accountability in relation to declared polices and programmes, and sees the sex or race of the representative as a matter of relative indifference. In the politics of presence, by contrast, the gender or ethnic composition of elected assemblies becomes a legitimate matter of democratic concern. This book addresses the concern that the case for political presence could encourage essentialist understandings of group identity or group interest. It argues against an either/or alternative between the politics of ideas and the politics of presence and for a new combination of these two models of representation.Less
A number of contemporary democracies have introduced measures to ensure a more equitable representation of women and/or ethnic minority citizens within elected assemblies. These measures have included the use of gender quotas in the selection of parliamentary candidates, and the use of ‘race‐conscious’ districting to increase the electoral chances of ethnic minority representatives. Drawing on a distinction between the politics of ideas and the politics of presence, this book explores and defends the case for such measures. The politics of ideas considers accountability in relation to declared polices and programmes, and sees the sex or race of the representative as a matter of relative indifference. In the politics of presence, by contrast, the gender or ethnic composition of elected assemblies becomes a legitimate matter of democratic concern. This book addresses the concern that the case for political presence could encourage essentialist understandings of group identity or group interest. It argues against an either/or alternative between the politics of ideas and the politics of presence and for a new combination of these two models of representation.
Iris Marion Young
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195161922
- eISBN:
- 9780199786664
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195161920.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
These essays describe diverse aspects of women’s lived body experience in modern Western societies. They combine theoretical description of experience with normative evaluation of the unjust ...
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These essays describe diverse aspects of women’s lived body experience in modern Western societies. They combine theoretical description of experience with normative evaluation of the unjust constraints on freedom and opportunity that continue to burden many women. The lead essay rethinks the purpose of the category of “gender” for feminist theory, after important debates have questioned its usefulness. Other essays include reflection on the meaning of being at home and the need for privacy in old age residencies. Aspects of the experience of women and girls that have received little attention even in feminist theory are analyzed, such as the sexuality of breasts, or menstruation as punctuation in a woman’s life story. The phenomenology of moving in a pregnant body and the tactile pleasures of clothing are also considered.Less
These essays describe diverse aspects of women’s lived body experience in modern Western societies. They combine theoretical description of experience with normative evaluation of the unjust constraints on freedom and opportunity that continue to burden many women. The lead essay rethinks the purpose of the category of “gender” for feminist theory, after important debates have questioned its usefulness. Other essays include reflection on the meaning of being at home and the need for privacy in old age residencies. Aspects of the experience of women and girls that have received little attention even in feminist theory are analyzed, such as the sexuality of breasts, or menstruation as punctuation in a woman’s life story. The phenomenology of moving in a pregnant body and the tactile pleasures of clothing are also considered.
Helena Sanson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264836
- eISBN:
- 9780191754043
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264836.003.0008
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. The end of the nineteenth century was a further landmark in women's long battle for the literary, and now also national, language and ...
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This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. The end of the nineteenth century was a further landmark in women's long battle for the literary, and now also national, language and its grammar. The journey started with Nicostrata holding a hornbook and a key to access a symbolic tower (that of learning) from which she herself was excluded. It continued in the Cinquecento with the female addressees of some of the first vernacular grammars and with the refined portraits of women readers, such as Lucrezia Panciatichi and Maria del Berrettaio. In the Settecento they were followed by Pietro Longhi's ‘dame’, so eager to learn and instruct themselves, and with a preference for anything fashionable and French. But alongside these figures, fixed forever in time by the artist's paint and brush or the writer's pen, there were those women for whom, over the centuries and across the peninsula, acquiring even just a smattering of literacy was a small victory.Less
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. The end of the nineteenth century was a further landmark in women's long battle for the literary, and now also national, language and its grammar. The journey started with Nicostrata holding a hornbook and a key to access a symbolic tower (that of learning) from which she herself was excluded. It continued in the Cinquecento with the female addressees of some of the first vernacular grammars and with the refined portraits of women readers, such as Lucrezia Panciatichi and Maria del Berrettaio. In the Settecento they were followed by Pietro Longhi's ‘dame’, so eager to learn and instruct themselves, and with a preference for anything fashionable and French. But alongside these figures, fixed forever in time by the artist's paint and brush or the writer's pen, there were those women for whom, over the centuries and across the peninsula, acquiring even just a smattering of literacy was a small victory.
Debra L. Dodson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780198296744
- eISBN:
- 9780191603709
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198296746.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This book explores the complex relationship between women’s presence and impact in two strikingly different, consecutive congresses. Drawing on hundreds of elite interviews and archival information, ...
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This book explores the complex relationship between women’s presence and impact in two strikingly different, consecutive congresses. Drawing on hundreds of elite interviews and archival information, the case studies of three highly visible policy areas (reproductive rights, women’s health, and health care policy) move beyond the question of ‘Do women make a difference?’ to confront the oft-ignored, contested issues surrounding gender difference and impact: its probabilistic nature, contested legitimacy, and disputed meaning. The analysis enhances understanding of how gendered forces at the individual, institutional, and societal levels combine to reinforce and redefine gendered relationships to power in the public sphere, and suggests strategies to strengthen substantive representation of women.Less
This book explores the complex relationship between women’s presence and impact in two strikingly different, consecutive congresses. Drawing on hundreds of elite interviews and archival information, the case studies of three highly visible policy areas (reproductive rights, women’s health, and health care policy) move beyond the question of ‘Do women make a difference?’ to confront the oft-ignored, contested issues surrounding gender difference and impact: its probabilistic nature, contested legitimacy, and disputed meaning. The analysis enhances understanding of how gendered forces at the individual, institutional, and societal levels combine to reinforce and redefine gendered relationships to power in the public sphere, and suggests strategies to strengthen substantive representation of women.
James Ptacek (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195335484
- eISBN:
- 9780199864331
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335484.001.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Children and Families, Crime and Justice
Despite significant accomplishments over the past 35 years, antiviolence activists know that justice for most abused women remains elusive. Most victims of violence against women do not call the ...
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Despite significant accomplishments over the past 35 years, antiviolence activists know that justice for most abused women remains elusive. Most victims of violence against women do not call the police or seek help from the courts. Are there new ways that survivors might find justice? This book examines new alternative justice practices for victims. These informal, dialogue-based practices, referred to as “restorative justice,” seek to decrease the role of the state in responding to crime, and increase the involvement of communities in meeting the needs of victims and offenders. Restorative Justice and Violence Against Women considers both the dangers and potential benefits of using restorative justice in response to these crimes. The contributors include antiviolence activists and scholars from the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. A range of perspectives on these alternative justice practices is presented. This book also contains rich descriptions of new programs that combine restorative justice with feminist antiviolence approaches. The hope is that this will inspire survivors, advocates, community activists, and scholars to create new ways for abused women to find justice.Less
Despite significant accomplishments over the past 35 years, antiviolence activists know that justice for most abused women remains elusive. Most victims of violence against women do not call the police or seek help from the courts. Are there new ways that survivors might find justice? This book examines new alternative justice practices for victims. These informal, dialogue-based practices, referred to as “restorative justice,” seek to decrease the role of the state in responding to crime, and increase the involvement of communities in meeting the needs of victims and offenders. Restorative Justice and Violence Against Women considers both the dangers and potential benefits of using restorative justice in response to these crimes. The contributors include antiviolence activists and scholars from the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. A range of perspectives on these alternative justice practices is presented. This book also contains rich descriptions of new programs that combine restorative justice with feminist antiviolence approaches. The hope is that this will inspire survivors, advocates, community activists, and scholars to create new ways for abused women to find justice.
Saskia Lettmaier
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199569977
- eISBN:
- 9780191722066
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199569977.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
While common law actions for breach of promise of marriage originated in the mid-seventeenth century, it was not until the ‘long nineteenth century’ that they saw their rise to prominence and their ...
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While common law actions for breach of promise of marriage originated in the mid-seventeenth century, it was not until the ‘long nineteenth century’ that they saw their rise to prominence and their subsequent fall from favour. This monograph ties the story of the action's rise and fall between 1800 and 1940 to changes in the prevalent conception of woman, her ideal role in society, sexual relations, and the family, arguing that the idiosyncratic nineteenth-century breach-of-promise suit (a luxuriant blend of both contract and tort) and Victorian notions of ideal femininity were uneasily and fatally, but nonetheless inextricably, entwined. It classifies the ninteenth-century breach-of-promise action as a ‘codification’ of the contemporaneous ideal of true womanhood and explores the longer-term implications of this infusion of mythologized femininity for the law, in particular for the position of plaintiffs. Surveying three consecutive time periods – the early nineteenth century, the high Victorian, and the post-Victorian periods – and adopting an interdisciplinary approach that combines the perspectives of legal history, social history, and literary analysis, it argues that the feminizing process, by shaping a cause of action in accordance with an ideal at odds with the very notion of women going to law, imported a fatal structural inconsistency that at first remained obscured, but ultimately vulgarized and undid the cause of action. Alongside more than two hundred and fifty real-life breach-of-promise cases, the book examines literary and cinematic renditions of the breach-of-promise theme, by artists ranging from Charles Dickens to P. G. Wodehouse, in order to expose the subtle yet unmistakable ways in which what happened (and what changed) in the breach-of-promise courtroom influenced the changing representation of the breach-of-promise plaintiff in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literature and film.Less
While common law actions for breach of promise of marriage originated in the mid-seventeenth century, it was not until the ‘long nineteenth century’ that they saw their rise to prominence and their subsequent fall from favour. This monograph ties the story of the action's rise and fall between 1800 and 1940 to changes in the prevalent conception of woman, her ideal role in society, sexual relations, and the family, arguing that the idiosyncratic nineteenth-century breach-of-promise suit (a luxuriant blend of both contract and tort) and Victorian notions of ideal femininity were uneasily and fatally, but nonetheless inextricably, entwined. It classifies the ninteenth-century breach-of-promise action as a ‘codification’ of the contemporaneous ideal of true womanhood and explores the longer-term implications of this infusion of mythologized femininity for the law, in particular for the position of plaintiffs. Surveying three consecutive time periods – the early nineteenth century, the high Victorian, and the post-Victorian periods – and adopting an interdisciplinary approach that combines the perspectives of legal history, social history, and literary analysis, it argues that the feminizing process, by shaping a cause of action in accordance with an ideal at odds with the very notion of women going to law, imported a fatal structural inconsistency that at first remained obscured, but ultimately vulgarized and undid the cause of action. Alongside more than two hundred and fifty real-life breach-of-promise cases, the book examines literary and cinematic renditions of the breach-of-promise theme, by artists ranging from Charles Dickens to P. G. Wodehouse, in order to expose the subtle yet unmistakable ways in which what happened (and what changed) in the breach-of-promise courtroom influenced the changing representation of the breach-of-promise plaintiff in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literature and film.
Paul Hammond and Blair Worden (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264706
- eISBN:
- 9780191734557
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264706.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Milton Studies
This volume offers a series of fresh explorations of the life, writing, and reputation of John Milton. The ten papers take us inside Milton's verse and prose, into the context of the events and the ...
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This volume offers a series of fresh explorations of the life, writing, and reputation of John Milton. The ten papers take us inside Milton's verse and prose, into the context of the events and the intellectual debates within which they were written, and into the later worlds within which his reputation evolved and fluctuated. Key topics discussed include: his political beliefs and career; the characteristics of his poetry – especially Paradise Lost; the literary influences upon his verse; his perception of women; and the ways he has been seen since his death.Less
This volume offers a series of fresh explorations of the life, writing, and reputation of John Milton. The ten papers take us inside Milton's verse and prose, into the context of the events and the intellectual debates within which they were written, and into the later worlds within which his reputation evolved and fluctuated. Key topics discussed include: his political beliefs and career; the characteristics of his poetry – especially Paradise Lost; the literary influences upon his verse; his perception of women; and the ways he has been seen since his death.
Mary Ann Mason and Eve Mason Ekman
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195182675
- eISBN:
- 9780199944019
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182675.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Marriage and the Family
In the past few decades the number of women entering graduate and professional schools has been going up and up, while the number of women reaching the top rung of the corporate and academic worlds ...
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In the past few decades the number of women entering graduate and professional schools has been going up and up, while the number of women reaching the top rung of the corporate and academic worlds has remained relatively stagnant. Why are so many women falling off the fast track? This book traces the career paths of the first generation of ambitious women who started careers in academia, law, medicine, business, and the media in large numbers in the 1970s and '80s. Many women who had started families but continued working had ended up veering off the path to upper management at a point the author calls “the second glass ceiling.” Rather than sticking to their original career goals, they allowed themselves to slide into a second tier of management that offers fewer hours, less pay, lower prestige, and limited upward mobility. Men who did likewise—entered the career world with high aspirations and then started families while working—not only did not show the same trend, they reached even higher levels of professional success than men who had no families at all. Along with her daughter, an aspiring journalist, the author has written a guide for young women who are facing the tough decision of when—and if—to start a family. It is also a guide for older women seeking a second chance to break through to the next level, as the author herself did in academia.Less
In the past few decades the number of women entering graduate and professional schools has been going up and up, while the number of women reaching the top rung of the corporate and academic worlds has remained relatively stagnant. Why are so many women falling off the fast track? This book traces the career paths of the first generation of ambitious women who started careers in academia, law, medicine, business, and the media in large numbers in the 1970s and '80s. Many women who had started families but continued working had ended up veering off the path to upper management at a point the author calls “the second glass ceiling.” Rather than sticking to their original career goals, they allowed themselves to slide into a second tier of management that offers fewer hours, less pay, lower prestige, and limited upward mobility. Men who did likewise—entered the career world with high aspirations and then started families while working—not only did not show the same trend, they reached even higher levels of professional success than men who had no families at all. Along with her daughter, an aspiring journalist, the author has written a guide for young women who are facing the tough decision of when—and if—to start a family. It is also a guide for older women seeking a second chance to break through to the next level, as the author herself did in academia.
Allison L. Sneider
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195321166
- eISBN:
- 9780199869725
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195321166.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century, American History: 20th Century
By 1929, when the U.S. congress pushed the colonial legislature of Puerto Rico to adopt woman suffrage, votes for women had become a benchmark for measuring the expansion of democratic values ...
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By 1929, when the U.S. congress pushed the colonial legislature of Puerto Rico to adopt woman suffrage, votes for women had become a benchmark for measuring the expansion of democratic values overseas. Conversely, woman suffrage was also part and parcel of U.S. colonial rule. Into the 20th century, votes for women and women's rights are part of the negotiation of imperial power relations across the globe.Less
By 1929, when the U.S. congress pushed the colonial legislature of Puerto Rico to adopt woman suffrage, votes for women had become a benchmark for measuring the expansion of democratic values overseas. Conversely, woman suffrage was also part and parcel of U.S. colonial rule. Into the 20th century, votes for women and women's rights are part of the negotiation of imperial power relations across the globe.
Michael Saward
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199579389
- eISBN:
- 9780191722950
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199579389.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
In an era of disaffection from traditional political institutions and the rise of transnational politics, the need to rethink political representation – who speaks for whom and with what authority – ...
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In an era of disaffection from traditional political institutions and the rise of transnational politics, the need to rethink political representation – who speaks for whom and with what authority – has taken on a new and practical urgency. This book offers and defends an innovative approach to the topic, built around the straightforward but versatile idea of the ‘representative claim’. Representation is defined broadly as a dynamic process of claim‐making, and not solely an institutional fact deriving from election. The book shows how the idea of the representative claim provides critical purchase where conventional approaches reach their analytical limits. The elaboration of the representative claim is conducted against the background of a systematic critique of prominent existing theories. The crucial aesthetic, cultural and performative sides of representation are developed as part of its political dimension, and the key concepts are put to work in examinations of cases of non‐elective representation, political parties, and the representation of women and ‘nature’. Concluding with a detailed account of what can make representative claims democratically legitimate, the book shows how our ideas of democracy are disrupted and revised when we embrace the notion of representation as the making and reception of claims.Less
In an era of disaffection from traditional political institutions and the rise of transnational politics, the need to rethink political representation – who speaks for whom and with what authority – has taken on a new and practical urgency. This book offers and defends an innovative approach to the topic, built around the straightforward but versatile idea of the ‘representative claim’. Representation is defined broadly as a dynamic process of claim‐making, and not solely an institutional fact deriving from election. The book shows how the idea of the representative claim provides critical purchase where conventional approaches reach their analytical limits. The elaboration of the representative claim is conducted against the background of a systematic critique of prominent existing theories. The crucial aesthetic, cultural and performative sides of representation are developed as part of its political dimension, and the key concepts are put to work in examinations of cases of non‐elective representation, political parties, and the representation of women and ‘nature’. Concluding with a detailed account of what can make representative claims democratically legitimate, the book shows how our ideas of democracy are disrupted and revised when we embrace the notion of representation as the making and reception of claims.
Daniel Mendelsohn
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199249565
- eISBN:
- 9780191719356
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199249565.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book is a study of Euripides' so-called ‘political plays’ (Children of Herakles and Suppliant Women). Still disdained as the anomalously patriotic or propagandistic works of a playwright ...
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This book is a study of Euripides' so-called ‘political plays’ (Children of Herakles and Suppliant Women). Still disdained as the anomalously patriotic or propagandistic works of a playwright elsewhere famous for his subversive, ironic, artistic ethos, the two works in question — notorious for their uncomfortable juxtaposition of political speeches and scenes of extreme feminine emotion — continue to be dismissed by scholars of tragedy as artistic failures unworthy of the author of Medea, Hippolytus, and Bacchae. This study makes use of recent insights into classical Greek conceptions of gender (in real life and on stage) and Athenian notions of civic identity to demonstrate that the political plays are, in fact, intellectually subtle and structurally coherent exercises in political theorizing — works that use complex interactions between female and male characters to explore the advantages, and costs, of being a member of the polis.Less
This book is a study of Euripides' so-called ‘political plays’ (Children of Herakles and Suppliant Women). Still disdained as the anomalously patriotic or propagandistic works of a playwright elsewhere famous for his subversive, ironic, artistic ethos, the two works in question — notorious for their uncomfortable juxtaposition of political speeches and scenes of extreme feminine emotion — continue to be dismissed by scholars of tragedy as artistic failures unworthy of the author of Medea, Hippolytus, and Bacchae. This study makes use of recent insights into classical Greek conceptions of gender (in real life and on stage) and Athenian notions of civic identity to demonstrate that the political plays are, in fact, intellectually subtle and structurally coherent exercises in political theorizing — works that use complex interactions between female and male characters to explore the advantages, and costs, of being a member of the polis.
Allyson M. Poska
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199265312
- eISBN:
- 9780191708763
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199265312.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
While scholars have marveled at how accused witches, mystical nuns, and aristocratic women understood and used their wealth, power, and authority to manipulate both men and institutions, most early ...
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While scholars have marveled at how accused witches, mystical nuns, and aristocratic women understood and used their wealth, power, and authority to manipulate both men and institutions, most early modern women were not privileged by money or supernatural contacts. They led the routine and often difficult lives of peasant women and wives of soldiers and tradesmen. However, a lack of connections to the typical sources of authority did not mean that the majority of early modern women were completely disempowered. In fact, in many peripheral areas of Europe, like Galicia, local traditions and gender norms provided them with extensive access to and control over economic resources and community authority. This book is an ethnohistorical examination of how peasant women in Northwestern Spain came to have significant social and economic authority in a region characterized by extremely high rates of male migration. Using a wide array of archival documentation, including Inquisition records, wills, dowry contracts, folklore, and court cases, this book examines how peasant women asserted and perceived their authority within the family and the community and how the large numbers of female-headed households in the region functioned in the absence of men. From sexual norms to property acquisition, Galician peasant women consistently defied traditional expectations of women's behavior.Less
While scholars have marveled at how accused witches, mystical nuns, and aristocratic women understood and used their wealth, power, and authority to manipulate both men and institutions, most early modern women were not privileged by money or supernatural contacts. They led the routine and often difficult lives of peasant women and wives of soldiers and tradesmen. However, a lack of connections to the typical sources of authority did not mean that the majority of early modern women were completely disempowered. In fact, in many peripheral areas of Europe, like Galicia, local traditions and gender norms provided them with extensive access to and control over economic resources and community authority. This book is an ethnohistorical examination of how peasant women in Northwestern Spain came to have significant social and economic authority in a region characterized by extremely high rates of male migration. Using a wide array of archival documentation, including Inquisition records, wills, dowry contracts, folklore, and court cases, this book examines how peasant women asserted and perceived their authority within the family and the community and how the large numbers of female-headed households in the region functioned in the absence of men. From sexual norms to property acquisition, Galician peasant women consistently defied traditional expectations of women's behavior.
Leslie A. Schwindt-Bayer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199731954
- eISBN:
- 9780199866571
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199731954.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The number of women elected to Latin American legislatures has grown significantly over the past 30 years. Yet, wide variation persists across countries within the region. These patterns generate ...
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The number of women elected to Latin American legislatures has grown significantly over the past 30 years. Yet, wide variation persists across countries within the region. These patterns generate politically relevant and theoretically challenging questions about the causes and consequences of women’s representation in Latin America. Why have the numbers of women in office increased in some countries and why does it vary across others? What does having women in office mean for how representatives legislate? And, what consequences does the election of women have for representative democracy, more generally? This book answers these questions by articulating a comprehensive theory of women’s representation and testing this theory empirically in Latin America. It first examines explanations for the varying gender representativeness of Latin American legislatures. Then, it focuses on how a legislator’s gender affects four types of substantive representation, specifically legislators’ political preferences, policymaking behavior, leadership posts and committee assignments, and home-style activities. Finally, it examines how women’s representation affects citizen views of representative democracy in the region. Ultimately, this book communicates the complex and often incomplete nature of women’s political representation in Latin America.Less
The number of women elected to Latin American legislatures has grown significantly over the past 30 years. Yet, wide variation persists across countries within the region. These patterns generate politically relevant and theoretically challenging questions about the causes and consequences of women’s representation in Latin America. Why have the numbers of women in office increased in some countries and why does it vary across others? What does having women in office mean for how representatives legislate? And, what consequences does the election of women have for representative democracy, more generally? This book answers these questions by articulating a comprehensive theory of women’s representation and testing this theory empirically in Latin America. It first examines explanations for the varying gender representativeness of Latin American legislatures. Then, it focuses on how a legislator’s gender affects four types of substantive representation, specifically legislators’ political preferences, policymaking behavior, leadership posts and committee assignments, and home-style activities. Finally, it examines how women’s representation affects citizen views of representative democracy in the region. Ultimately, this book communicates the complex and often incomplete nature of women’s political representation in Latin America.
Katharine Hodgson
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262894
- eISBN:
- 9780191734977
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262894.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. Part of the purpose of this study has been to recover a sense of the range and scope of the work of just one of the writers generally thought to be ...
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This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. Part of the purpose of this study has been to recover a sense of the range and scope of the work of just one of the writers generally thought to be part of the world of official Soviet literature. Berggol′ts is known first of all for her wartime poetry; that work deserves to be placed firmly in the context of her writing before and after the war. Its importance should not be denied, but it should not be seen as a sudden, unprecedented outburst of creativity. In its exploration of Berggol′ts's writing, this study has shown that life and art became tightly entangled in her poetry and prose; the poet's own conviction that the two should be intimately connected is demonstrated by her texts. Yet it would be wrong to lose sight of the fact that we have been dealing with literary texts which must be viewed in relation to other literary texts. While much of what Berggol′ts wrote displays its connection with events in her life and in the life of her society, her writing also reveals its awareness of how others wrote. Russian literary tradition and the poetry of her contemporaries helped to form Berggol′ts's work.Less
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. Part of the purpose of this study has been to recover a sense of the range and scope of the work of just one of the writers generally thought to be part of the world of official Soviet literature. Berggol′ts is known first of all for her wartime poetry; that work deserves to be placed firmly in the context of her writing before and after the war. Its importance should not be denied, but it should not be seen as a sudden, unprecedented outburst of creativity. In its exploration of Berggol′ts's writing, this study has shown that life and art became tightly entangled in her poetry and prose; the poet's own conviction that the two should be intimately connected is demonstrated by her texts. Yet it would be wrong to lose sight of the fact that we have been dealing with literary texts which must be viewed in relation to other literary texts. While much of what Berggol′ts wrote displays its connection with events in her life and in the life of her society, her writing also reveals its awareness of how others wrote. Russian literary tradition and the poetry of her contemporaries helped to form Berggol′ts's work.
James Hinton
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199243297
- eISBN:
- 9780191714054
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243297.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
The associational life of middle-class women in 20th-century England has been largely ignored by historians. During the Second World War women's clubs, guilds, and institutes provided a basis for the ...
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The associational life of middle-class women in 20th-century England has been largely ignored by historians. During the Second World War women's clubs, guilds, and institutes provided a basis for the mobilization of up to a million women, mainly housewives, into unpaid part-time work. Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) — which was set up by the government in 1938 to organize this work — generated a rich archive of reports and correspondence which provide the social historian with a unique window into the female public sphere. Questioning the view that world war two served to democratize English society, the book shows how the mobilization enabled middle-class social leaders to reinforce their claims to authority. Displaying ‘character’ through their voluntary work, the leisured women at the centre of this study made themselves indispensable to the war effort. The book delineates these ‘continuities of class’, reconstructing intimate portraits of local female social leadership in contrasting settings across provincial England, tracing complex and often acerbic rivalries within the voluntary sector, and uncovering gulfs of mutual distrust and incomprehension dividing publicly active women along gendered frontiers of class and party. Britain's wartime mobilization relied on an uneasy balance between voluntarism and the expanding power of the state, calling on a Victorian ethos of public service to cope with the profoundly un-Victorian problems of total war. It was not until the 1950s and 1960s that these female social leaders finally found themselves marginalized by bureaucracy and professionalization.Less
The associational life of middle-class women in 20th-century England has been largely ignored by historians. During the Second World War women's clubs, guilds, and institutes provided a basis for the mobilization of up to a million women, mainly housewives, into unpaid part-time work. Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) — which was set up by the government in 1938 to organize this work — generated a rich archive of reports and correspondence which provide the social historian with a unique window into the female public sphere. Questioning the view that world war two served to democratize English society, the book shows how the mobilization enabled middle-class social leaders to reinforce their claims to authority. Displaying ‘character’ through their voluntary work, the leisured women at the centre of this study made themselves indispensable to the war effort. The book delineates these ‘continuities of class’, reconstructing intimate portraits of local female social leadership in contrasting settings across provincial England, tracing complex and often acerbic rivalries within the voluntary sector, and uncovering gulfs of mutual distrust and incomprehension dividing publicly active women along gendered frontiers of class and party. Britain's wartime mobilization relied on an uneasy balance between voluntarism and the expanding power of the state, calling on a Victorian ethos of public service to cope with the profoundly un-Victorian problems of total war. It was not until the 1950s and 1960s that these female social leaders finally found themselves marginalized by bureaucracy and professionalization.
Debra L. Dodson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780198296744
- eISBN:
- 9780191603709
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198296746.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Women’s health policy united women across party lines in the 103rd and yielded numerous victories. These successes continued a trend established in earlier Congresses and, relatively speaking, would ...
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Women’s health policy united women across party lines in the 103rd and yielded numerous victories. These successes continued a trend established in earlier Congresses and, relatively speaking, would not come under attack in the 104th when almost every other political gain previously made by women was vulnerable. As such, juxtaposition of women’s health case studies with the reproductive rights case studies allows us to go once again beyond the simple question of ‘Do women make a difference?’ to explore not only how the confluence of individual, institutional, and cultural factors gives meaning to gender and shapes the probabilistic relationship between descriptive and substantive representation of women over time and across policy areas, but also to suggest strategies for advancing substantive representation regardless of women’s proportional presence. The results illustrate the value of diversity and suggest strategies that can sustain unity amid diversity. They suggest that in addition to increasing women’s presence, substantive representation of women will be facilitated by raising the gender consciousness of women in the mass public, by reinforcing awareness (and fear) of the gender gap, and by women’s advancement within the institutional hierarchy. In short, even with a ‘mom and apple pie’ issue, making a difference requires efforts by women inside the Congress to put matters on the agenda and the mobilization of women outside the institution to give legitimacy and political teeth to demands that challenge masculinist values.Less
Women’s health policy united women across party lines in the 103rd and yielded numerous victories. These successes continued a trend established in earlier Congresses and, relatively speaking, would not come under attack in the 104th when almost every other political gain previously made by women was vulnerable. As such, juxtaposition of women’s health case studies with the reproductive rights case studies allows us to go once again beyond the simple question of ‘Do women make a difference?’ to explore not only how the confluence of individual, institutional, and cultural factors gives meaning to gender and shapes the probabilistic relationship between descriptive and substantive representation of women over time and across policy areas, but also to suggest strategies for advancing substantive representation regardless of women’s proportional presence. The results illustrate the value of diversity and suggest strategies that can sustain unity amid diversity. They suggest that in addition to increasing women’s presence, substantive representation of women will be facilitated by raising the gender consciousness of women in the mass public, by reinforcing awareness (and fear) of the gender gap, and by women’s advancement within the institutional hierarchy. In short, even with a ‘mom and apple pie’ issue, making a difference requires efforts by women inside the Congress to put matters on the agenda and the mobilization of women outside the institution to give legitimacy and political teeth to demands that challenge masculinist values.
Debra L. Dodson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780198296744
- eISBN:
- 9780191603709
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198296746.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Women’s health did not suffer the same endless litany of political defeats as other policy areas in the Republican-controlled 104th. While the case studies of women’s health research funding, breast ...
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Women’s health did not suffer the same endless litany of political defeats as other policy areas in the Republican-controlled 104th. While the case studies of women’s health research funding, breast cancer screening, and women veterans’ health suggest that women’s presence within the institution is important for ensuring substantive representation of women, they also suggest that other factors play a critical role in giving meaning to women’s presence. These include the political environment of Congress, the ideological perspective of those who hold positional power, and the extra-institutional pressure generated from the gender gap in the mass public, which gives legitimacy to action on behalf of women’s health among male members concerned about the next election.Less
Women’s health did not suffer the same endless litany of political defeats as other policy areas in the Republican-controlled 104th. While the case studies of women’s health research funding, breast cancer screening, and women veterans’ health suggest that women’s presence within the institution is important for ensuring substantive representation of women, they also suggest that other factors play a critical role in giving meaning to women’s presence. These include the political environment of Congress, the ideological perspective of those who hold positional power, and the extra-institutional pressure generated from the gender gap in the mass public, which gives legitimacy to action on behalf of women’s health among male members concerned about the next election.
Debra L. Dodson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780198296744
- eISBN:
- 9780191603709
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198296746.003.0014
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
By going beyond the simple question ‘Do women make a difference?’ and delving into the meaning of elected women’s sense of connection of women using this dynamic framework, the results provide ...
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By going beyond the simple question ‘Do women make a difference?’ and delving into the meaning of elected women’s sense of connection of women using this dynamic framework, the results provide insight into factors that encourage substantive representation of women and shape the meaning of gender. They suggest that women may not only transform institutions, but be transformed by them and the larger political environment. To that end, the conclusion suggests six strategies likely to further substantive representation of women at any given level of descriptive representation: (1) strengthening the voices of women on the outside to encourage those on the inside to challenge masculinist values and amass the majorities they need to effect change; (2) electing men who see women as a political group with legitimate needs and interests; (3) strengthening the recruitment of gender conscious women, while nurturing gender consciousness among women inside and outside the institution; (4) increasing the legitimacy of substantive representation of women by casting achievement of such goals in terms consistent with institutional norms; (5) confronting the legitimacy of women’s claims to act for women by rejecting essentialist assumptions; and (6) confronting the contested meaning of substantive representation of women in theory and practice, while simultaneously accommodating the realities women face as actors within institutions with norms and values beyond their control. These strategies in the long term may help determine whether any compromises women make as ‘team players’ will contribute to the regendering of this political institution or simply mean more political jobs for women who reinforce long established norms, and whether ultimately we can expect ‘regendering’ within Congress to transform the nature of partisan political debate or simply reinforce the divisions of contemporary partisan politics.Less
By going beyond the simple question ‘Do women make a difference?’ and delving into the meaning of elected women’s sense of connection of women using this dynamic framework, the results provide insight into factors that encourage substantive representation of women and shape the meaning of gender. They suggest that women may not only transform institutions, but be transformed by them and the larger political environment. To that end, the conclusion suggests six strategies likely to further substantive representation of women at any given level of descriptive representation: (1) strengthening the voices of women on the outside to encourage those on the inside to challenge masculinist values and amass the majorities they need to effect change; (2) electing men who see women as a political group with legitimate needs and interests; (3) strengthening the recruitment of gender conscious women, while nurturing gender consciousness among women inside and outside the institution; (4) increasing the legitimacy of substantive representation of women by casting achievement of such goals in terms consistent with institutional norms; (5) confronting the legitimacy of women’s claims to act for women by rejecting essentialist assumptions; and (6) confronting the contested meaning of substantive representation of women in theory and practice, while simultaneously accommodating the realities women face as actors within institutions with norms and values beyond their control. These strategies in the long term may help determine whether any compromises women make as ‘team players’ will contribute to the regendering of this political institution or simply mean more political jobs for women who reinforce long established norms, and whether ultimately we can expect ‘regendering’ within Congress to transform the nature of partisan political debate or simply reinforce the divisions of contemporary partisan politics.
Colleen Duggan and Adila M. Abusharaf
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199291922
- eISBN:
- 9780191603716
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199291926.003.0019
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Feminists continue to point out that democratic transitions continue to fail to do justice to the victims of gender-based violence despite notable advancements in international law. The gendered ...
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Feminists continue to point out that democratic transitions continue to fail to do justice to the victims of gender-based violence despite notable advancements in international law. The gendered nature of sexual violence and its ongoing economic, social, and psychological impacts express and reinforce discriminatory public attitudes and gender inequality beyond moments of democratic transition. For this reason, sexual violence against women should figure as a special category under State-sponsored programs for reparation. However, different forms of gender bias can throw up normative and practical barriers that prevent women from accessing the benefits that reparations programs make available. Reparations programs, nevertheless, like many public policies for recovery and redress continue to be largely gender-blind. This paper explores the challenge of repairing sexual violence against women and how national reparations programs might provide short-term redress while contributing to the achievement of longer-term goals for gender justice.Less
Feminists continue to point out that democratic transitions continue to fail to do justice to the victims of gender-based violence despite notable advancements in international law. The gendered nature of sexual violence and its ongoing economic, social, and psychological impacts express and reinforce discriminatory public attitudes and gender inequality beyond moments of democratic transition. For this reason, sexual violence against women should figure as a special category under State-sponsored programs for reparation. However, different forms of gender bias can throw up normative and practical barriers that prevent women from accessing the benefits that reparations programs make available. Reparations programs, nevertheless, like many public policies for recovery and redress continue to be largely gender-blind. This paper explores the challenge of repairing sexual violence against women and how national reparations programs might provide short-term redress while contributing to the achievement of longer-term goals for gender justice.
