Women+&+Child+Raising



=1991 Describe and analyze the ways in which Marxism, Freudianism and the women’s movement challenged the traditional European beliefs before the First World War. = Following the French Revolution (1789), Europe became extremely conservative in its beliefs. However, before World War I, new, more liberal ideas and ideologies began to take hold in Europe, which challenged the traditional European society's core beliefs. The ideas and ideologies that best demonstrate this challenge are Marxism, Freudianism, and the women's movement. These movements, through their liberal ideology (Marxism and the women's movement) and attack on rationalism (Freudianism), forever changed the face of Europe.

The late 1800s saw dramatic changes in typical European society. Average individuals were buffeted with new theories and practices that would completely revolutionize the public if they were to take a strong enough hold. Some of the innovative notions that found a significant place throughout Europe included Karl Marx’s promulgation of a communist regime, Sigmund Freud’s new ideas toward the human mind, and radical feminists’ beliefs in a realm where men and women were treated as equals. These concepts would challenge and later shape European government and society.

**Marxism** **Freudianism ** -According to this model, the mind is an arena of struggle and conflict among three entities: the //id// (which is amoral, irrational, driving instincts for sexual gratification, aggression, and general physical and sensual pleasures), the //superego// (which embodies the external moral imperatives and expectations imposed on the personality by society and culture), and the //ego// (which mediates between the impulses of the id and the asceticism of the superego) -Due to this, everyday behavior displayed the activity of the personality as its inner drives were partially repressed through the ego’s coping with the external moral expectations as interpreted by the superego -His works challenged traditional European beliefs about rationalism, the role of society, and human nature in itself -Human beings were seen as attain rationality rather than merely exercising it -Civilization itself came to be regarded as a product of repressed or sublimated aggressions and sexual drive -He saw the personalities of human beings as being determined by finite physical and mental forces in a finite world -This attacked the faith of many Christian Europeans, as it showed that God did not in fact craft human behavior, but instead, it was a product of civilization. As such, many Calvinist’s belief in predestination was called into question, as humans were just proven to control their own destiny, as they control their own morality (and choices), thus the doctrine of Predestination was called into question. -He also showed the irrationality of human behavior, which drew into question the rationalism of pre-World War I Europe
 * Marx promulgated the idea of the bourgeoisie-proletariat struggle, which was a struggle in which the Proletariat (working class) would eventually revolt (and overthrow) the Bourgeoisie (Middle-Class)
 * He also said that this conflict had provided the engine for historical development; and was not an accidental by-product of mismanagement or bad intentions
 * He said this revolution was inevitable, due to the harsh treatment of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie
 * In this revolution, the proletariat would overthrow the means of production, and then set up a dictatorship of the proletariat, which would in turn lead to a classless communist society
 * Thus, Marx blamed the problem of the proletariat on capitalism itself
 * This was a direct challenge to the traditional, capitalist, European economy, as it blatantly said that the economy was harming others, and would also not work.
 * Additionally, Marx challenged the middle class’s value system and the middle class in itself by promulgating his theories, as Marx said that they would be overthrown, and additionally questioned the ethics driving the middle class’s capitalistic economy
 * Additionally, by Marx saying that the proletariat would eventually be in power, he is questioning the traditional, European social hierarchy, as he is saying that the proletariat (who were formerly on the bottom of the social hierarchy) would then rule, directly questioning the social system of pre-World War I Europe.
 * Additionally, with Marx’s prediction of the dictatorship of the proletariat, he is questioning democracy, monarchism, and absolutism, as he said all of those governments would be rendered useless, as after the revolution, in his mind, there would no longer be a need for government
 * -Freud studied the human subconscious, and while doing this, he developed a new model of the internal organization of the mind, which revolutionized the understanding of human nature **
 * Women's Movement**


 * The women’s movement challenged Europe’s conservative views on women
 * Women started to work in factories more, and left their (traditional) domestic role behind
 * Women demanded the double standard of sexual freedom (men were allowed to cheat, whereas women could not) to be taken away, and wider sexual freedom should be provided for women
 * Women wanted more intellectual freedom
 * Virginia Woolf furthered this when writing, in //A Room of One’s Own//, that for women to ever achieve the intellectual status, they needed a space not dominated by male institutions
 * The feminist movement had become associated in the popular imagination with challenges to traditional gender roles and sexual morality
 * Thus, the feminist movement directly challenged Europe’s traditional conservative outlook towards women

Sigmund Freud’s concepts challenged traditional beliefs of psychology and human mind - Mid 1890s- Freud abandoned traditional method of psychoanalysis (hypnosis) and allowed his patients to talk freely and spontaneously about themselves - Found patients associated particular neurotic symptoms with experiences related to earlier experiences - Formulated theory of infantile sexuality- sexual drives and energy already exist in infants and do not simply emerge at puberty - Radically questioned concept of childhood innocence - Portrayed sexuality as a basis of metal order or disorder - Dreams allow unconscious wishes excluded from conscious life to be reality in the mind - Argued unconscious drives contribute to conscious behavior - The Interpretation of Dreams - New model of internal organization of the mind- area of struggle among the id (amoral + irrational instincts for physical + sensual pleasure), the superego (external moral imperatives imposed by society), and ego (mediates between the two) - Revolutionized understanding of human nature- human beings seen as attaining rationality + civilization came to be regarded as a product of repressed aggressions - Became and international movement by 1910 but received popular attention after 1918 - Some interpreted Freud to say first requirement for mental health is uninhibited sexual life - Undermined old, easy optimism about rational and progressive nature of the mind

Marx’s theories advocated a communist style of government, which would have a significant hold in Eastern Europe toward the end of WWI - Marxism held claims of scientific accuracy, rejection of reform, and call for revolution - Communist Manifesto- history is the record of human kind’s coming to grips with nature to produce the goods necessary for survival - Socialist parties (generally Marxist) took hold in nationalist movements before 1914 - Piece by piece reform cannot eliminate social + economic evils inherent at the structures of production (conflict between the classes who owned the means of production and those who worked for them) - Marx believed class conflict characterized by western history was between bourgeoisie and the proletariat - Capitalist production and competition would steadily increase size of proletariatà growing pressures would create an even lower class - Believed with so much suppression workers would unite and overthrow the means of production through a proletariat dictatorship - Would give way to no private property and a classless communist society - Victorious proletariat class could not be a new oppressor class - For the first time in human history, one class would not be oppressing another - Advocated a classless, propertyless society where there would be no struggle between the classes through radical revolution- completely innovative idea

Feminism of the late 1800s questioned customary gender roles and strongly encouraged greater women’s rights - Middle-class women began to challenge double standard of sexual morality and the traditional male dominated family - Contagious Disease Acts- protected men from prostitutes with diseases- angered English middle-class women (believed conditions and poverty imposed on women caused the diseases) - Ladies’ National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Disease Acts- led by Josephine Butler achieved suspension in 1883 and repeal in 1886 - Vienna Austria- General Austrian Women’s Association led by Auguste Flicke- combated legally regulated prostitution - Challenged traditional relationship of men and women in a marriage- marriage should be a free union of equals with mean and women sharing responsibility for their children - Germany- Mothers’ Protection League- married and unmarried mothers required help of the state - Sweden- Ellen Key maintained that motherhood was one of women’s chief roles and was so crucial to society that the government should support mothers - Feminists would concentrate on freeing and developing women’s personalities through better education and government support - Virginia Woolf- spoke of difficulties women brilliant women faced in a male dominated world and concluded that a women writer required a non-male public and adequate income - Feminism associated with challenges to traditional gender roles and sexual morality and with socialism or political radicalism

Harrison Marx

= = =1994 Between 1450 and 1800, many women gained power as rulers, some as reigning queens, others as regents. Identify two such powerful women and discuss how issues of gender, such as marriage and reproduction, influenced their ability to obtain and exercise power. = Throughout the history of European rule, family lineage, marriage, and other factors allowed for the reign of female rulers. Two important European rulers were Queen Elizabeth I of England and Marie Antoinette, queen of France. Their contribution to their respective thrones allowed them to rule almost absolutely

Elizabeth I
- Ruled from 1558–1603 - Established tolerant religious settlement

- Never married - Had always ruled alone, with few advisors - Believed that marrying would decrease her influence and power over England - Began to use marriage as a diplomatic ploy rather than personal idea - Was asked to marry in 1563 by Parliament but refused - //**Dudley Affair**//- Robert Dudley, Elizabeth I's favorite and Master of the Horse, thought to have killed wife in order to marry Elizabeth - Such a scandal prevented the two from being married
 * Marriage:**

- Was thought to have been infertile - Looked for several potential mates but never gave birth - Having no children inspired a cult of virginity for years after her rule in England - Known as the virgin queen, though likely to have had relations with Robert Dudley
 * Reproduction:**

=Marie Antoinette=

- Ruled from 1774-1792 - Killed at the guillotine during Robespierre's Reign of Terror in 1793 - Held little executive power but in general lived a very easy and benefiting life

- Married to King Louis XVI of France - Last of Austrian princess who could marry - Marriage was used as a diplomatic ploy to help severed relations between Austria and Franc**e** - Unpopular in the court due to anti-Austrian tensions in France - On January 21, 1793, executed during height of the French Revolution
 * Marriage:**

- Was rumored to have had difficulty with childbirth during marriage to Louis - French population became restless and angry, wishing for an heir to their monarchs' throne - Eventually gave birth to Louis Charles and Madame Royale - Louis Charles was declared king after Louis XVI's death - Louis Charles became King Louis XVII, but soon thereafter died of tuberculosis from being kept in his prison cell
 * Reproduction:**

//**by Steven Saltz**//
= = =1995 Compare and contrast the extent to which Catherine the Great and Joseph Stalin were “Westernizers.” = Throughout Russian history, many rulers attempted to westernize the nation in hopes of making it a power along the other European countries. Two of these were Catherine the Great and Joseph Stalin. Although Catherine had no intentions of departing for absolute rule, she did attempt to expand Russia and rule based on her knowledge of the enlightenment. Stalin’s regime surpassed any of his predecessors as he sought to rapidly industrialize Russia in hopes of making it a major European power.

1.Catherine foments the growth of Russia but limits the enlightened portion of her reign -understood only too well the fragility of the Romanov dynasty’s base of power -Murdered Peter, making herself empress -Summoned legislative commission to advise her on revisions in law -had no intention of departing from absolutism, but making Russia more westernized -proceeded to carrying out limited reforms of her own -continued the economic developed begun under Peter the Great -attempted to suppress internal barriers to trade -favored expansion of the small Russian urban middle class that was vital to trade -tried to maintain friendship with philosophes -Continued Russian drive for warm water ports -1769 to 1770-fleet sailed all the way from Baltic Sea into Eastern Mediterranean -Conflict closed in 1774 with Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji -Province of Crimea became an independent state which Catherine annexed
 * gave strong support to rights of local nobility
 * 1777-reorganized local govt. to solve problems brought to light by the legislative commission
 * 1785-issued “Charter of Nobility” that guaranteed many noble rights and privileges
 * this required warfare with the Turks
 * 1769-Ottoman Empire Declared War on Russia
 * Russians responded with pleasingly successful military moves
 * Russian army won several major victories that by 1771 gave Russia control of the Ottoman provinces of Danube River and the Crimean Coast of the Black Sea
 * gave Russia direct outlet on the Black Sea
 * free navigation
 * rights in its waters
 * free access through the Bosporous

2. Stalin exceeds his predecessors industrializing Russia for hopes of turning it into a major power

-Stalin’s organizational vehicle for industrialization was a series of 5 year plans starting in 1928 -The government and Communist Party undertook a vast program of propaganda to sell the 5 year plan to the Russian people and to elicit corporation -By the close of the 1930s, the results of the three 5 year plans were truly impressive and probably allowed the Soviet Union to survive German invasions -Large new industrial cities had been built and were now populated by 100s of 1000s of people -Stalin came to a momentous decision during the period of food shortages: agriculture must be collectivized to produce enough grain for food and export, to achieve control over the farm sector of the economy, and to free peasant labor for the factories in the expanding industrial sector -1929-Stalin ordered party agents into the countryside to confiscate any hoarded wheat -As part of the general plan to erase the private ownership of land and to collectivize farming, the govt. decided to eliminate kulaks as a class. -Collectivization changed Russian farming drastically -Russian economy grew more rapidly than that of any other nation in the Western world during any similar time period -Soviet industrial production rose about 400% between 1928 and 1940 -The production of iron, steel, coal, electrical power, tractors, combines, railway cars, and other heavt machinery was emphasized. -The labor for this development was supplied internally -Capital was raised from the export of grain even at the cost of internal shortages -Technology was generally borrowed from already industrialized nations Nbaa Masood
 * set goals for production and organized the economy to meet them
 * kulaks were blamed for the grain shortages
 * In 1928 about 98% of Russian farmland consisted of small peasant holdings.
 * ten years later, despite all opposition, more than 90% of the land had been collectivized, and the quantity of farm produce directly handled by the govt. had risen by 40%
 * govt. now controlled the food supply

=1996 Compare and contrast the women’s suffrage movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with the European feminist movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s. = The women’s suffrage movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the European feminist movements of the 1960’s and 1970's had similar social and political goals. These goals focused on issues arising out of women’s sexual roles and sought the reform of laws affecting women. The tactics used by the movements differed in that members of the early suffrage movements were more radical and aligned with outside political forces such as socialists, while the movements of the 1960's and 1970's were not as radical in their tactics.

__**Social Goals**__ The social goals of both movements focused on issues arising out of women’s gender roles and sexual morality such as prostitution laws and the role of women in marriage. Early movement sought to change laws that held women responsible as criminals for prostitution but not men Contagious Diseases Act in England allowed the arrest of prostitutes to be tested for venereal disease, but no action was taken against men. Women’s movement fought against this Vienna: General Austrian Women’s Association led by Auguste Ficke was against legal regulation of prostitution that would have put women under control of police Germany: Women’s groups divided between those who thought of prostitutes as criminals and those who saw them as victims Germany: Mothers Protection League: emphasized need to rethink ideas of sexual morality Movement to allow birth control was influenced by Social Darwinism; idea was to limit number of children to have smarter and healthier children Early movement sought to transform society from male dominated to one where women could control their own destinies Legal and social equality sought to transform society from male dominated to one where women could control their own destinies 1960-1970's movement also focused on gender roles Simone de Beauvoir wrote __The Second Sex__ which argued that at all levels European women experienced social and economic disadvantages; spousal abuse, unfairness in divorce courts 1970's publications: emphasis on women controlling their own lives. Personal independence and issues that only affect women

The political goals of the early movement focused not only on the right to vote, but also on laws affecting women in marriage. The later feminist movement also sought reforms in laws affecting women such as equal labor laws and legalization of abortion. Married Women’s Property Act was passed in 1882 in England. It recognized a woman’s right to own property and to spend their own money as they pleased. Union of German Women’s Organizations: broadly concerned with allowing women into political activities Sweden: Ellen Key: In __The Century of the Child__ and __The Renaissance of Motherhood__ said that motherhood was so important to society that laws should be passed to support mothers and children 1960-1970's Simone de Beauvoir __The Second Sex__ also focused on certain political issues such as unfairness in divorce courts Betty Friedan wrote __The Feminist Mystique__ which said that women faced sexism Women fought for the passage of laws against workplace discrimination and for equal pay, maternity leave, day care, legalized abortion.
 * Political Goals**

Early movement used more radical means, outside of the established political system. Also aligned with outside political groups such as socialists. Later movement worked within political system. No violent tactics, but with peaceful independent groups. Emmeline Pankhurst: radical British feminist founded the Women’s Social and Political Union: the "suffragettes" a radical group seeking the vote Tactics included hunger strikes, violent tactics of arson, window breaking and sabotage of postal boxes. In Britain, there were marches en masse onto Partliament. Early movement worked with outside political parties such as socialism and became associated with socialism or political radicalism Movement in the 1960's-1970's focused on publications and conferences advancing women’s rights 1966 Friedan founded NOW to fight for women’s rights. Independent political organization political organization 1960-70's feminists no longer aligned with socialists, which are seen as a failed group. Became aligned with more mainstream groups such as environmentalists
 * Tactics**

Jon Schwartz

=1998 Compare and contrast the roles of British working women in the pre-industrial economy (before 1750) with their roles in the era 1850 to 1920. = The Roles of British working women in the economic fabric of the nation prior to the first industrial revolution had been virtually identical to that of women through out Western Europe, they were limited almost excusively to work within the domestic sphere .After The Industrial revoulution and its accompanying changes on british society the role of british working women became increasingly centered on low skilled jobs in newly formed industries outside of the home, however a majority still spent a great deal of thier time tending to domestic tasks.

=Role in the preindustrial subsistence economy=

a. women's life experience largely a function of her capacity to raise and maintain a household a.Women began to function as productive laborers within this family economy at the age of six or seven (sometimes earlier) b. Women's labor valued little and women often left home young to work as servants in another home c.Much of the effort went into raising food and other agricultual foods that could be traded for food d.Women often did the farm work. e. Marriage an economic necessity to maintain a funcitoninh households f.A women's chief goal was to accumulate enought capital for a dowry, often took 10 years or more to make a dowry g.Domestic duties, childbearing and childrearing were suborditnate to economic concerns, h. women helped along thier husbands duties in larger peasant households wheras in smaller ones, women had to do seperate tasks i. Very few women were economically independent with the exception of members of religious orders and aristocrats j. Wet nurses used to take care of young children so mother's could carry on with thier economic goals i. Women were shunned from jobs that were dominated by males k. Women goiven very little education compared to men and paid lowe wages for the same work

Increased Outside Employment and changes in societal roles a.Women still faced economic and legal disablities in property rights, family law and education b.economic freedom marred by property laws, slowly changed by passing of new laws ( 1882, Women's property act, britain, 1900, germany) c. Still mainly maintained low class jobs due to educational barriers, many women only educated for domestic careers they were expected to follow d. First, university of zurich opened its doors to women in the 1860's followed by univerisity of london in 1878 e.Absence of a system of private or public secondary education for omen prevented most of the mfrom gaining the qualifications they needed for enterin universities f. Significant expansion in the variet of jobs available outside the better-paying learned professions. The Second was a significant withraal of married women from the workforce g. Expansion of governmental beauracracies and large buisnesses caused expansion in employment oppurtunites, technological inventions such as the type writer and the telephone fostered employment h. Many of these jobs requird low skill and minimal training, filled up neccesities in new fields i. Employers paid women low wages, due to the belief that hsuabnds were thee to support them j. Textile industry continued to employ large numbers of women, in complex manufacturing systems, In berlin in 1896 more than 80000 women were employed k. Demand for jobs shifted between seasons and many were subject to layoffs l. Many working women did not have anyone supplementing thier income causing large rates of proverty and large numbers of prostitutes who served working class men. m.Working class women could not take part in the vast consumerism and domestic comfort thier middle class counterparts did =. = =2000 Man for the field and woman for the hearth: = =Man for the sword and for the needle she: = =Man with the head and women from the heart: = =Man to command and woman to obey: = =How accurately do the lines of poetry above reflect the gender roles of European men and women in the late nineteenth century? = A careful analysis of European society in the late nineteenth century would show that the poem was neither completely accurate nor completely inaccurate in describing the gender roles of men and women. For all the advancements in employment, education, and politics there were always large obstacles. The Cult of Domesticity proved responsible for delaying large-scale improvements for women. 1- Advances and Setbacks in Employment and Economic Exploitation 2- Gains in Education and the Rise of Feminism 3- Cult of Domesticity Derek Sekuler = = =2003 To what extent and in what ways did women participate in the Renaissance? = Thesis: Most women, especially those of the lower-class, generally didn’t contribute to the Renaissance to the extent men during their time did; they fulfilled their designated roles of a “Renaissance women,” or one who married well, was loyal to her husband and gave birth to boys. On the contrary, a few upper class women, such as Catherine de Medici and Isabella d'Este, with their greater exposure to education, broke away from gender stereotypes and excelled in the areas of politics, art, and literature.
 * In the early nineteenth century, women who worked outside the home were mainly employed as textile workers
 * During the Second Industrial Revolution, there was a significant increase in the number of jobs available to women
 * Expanding government bureaucracies and the emergence of businesses provided new opportunities for employment.
 * As governments began to enact legislation making elementary education a requirement, many women became schoolteachers
 * Inventions such as the typewriter and telephone provided areas for female employment. Thousands of women became secretaries and clerks for governments and businesses. Many more became shop assistants.
 * However, most jobs were low-skill and required little training. There were still a small number of women working in the professions.
 * Women were paid significantly less than men because employers assumed that a father or husband would support them
 * Mainly unmarried women were employed because of fear that household duties would get in the way of work.
 * Since women were paid less, it was very hard for them to support themselves independently. Prostitution was an answer for many working class and peasant women.
 * Even though women had faced educational barriers for most of the century, weren’t educated beyond their careers, and had lower literacy rates than men, they began to achieve rights to university education later in the century
 * The University of Zurich allowed women in 1860, The University of London in 1878, Women’s colleges were founded in Cambridge, women could attend the Sorbonne in 1880, they slowly gained access to universities and medical institutions in the Austrian empire at the end of the century, and women could attend university in Italy.
 * John Stuart Mill’s //The Subjection of Women// called for equality between the sexes in 1869.
 * Socialists who challenged capitalism looked down upon the roles given to women in a capitalist society.
 * The most advanced feminist movements of the late nineteenth century were in Great Britain.
 * Millicent Fawcett led the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies while Emmeline Pankhurt led the Women’s Social and Political Union.
 * In France, Hubertine Auclert called for the vote in the 1880s and 1890s. Smaller women groups were founded in France and Germany.
 * However, many factors kept average women from supporting feminist causes. Women would not be granted the vote until the twentieth century.
 * Most middle-class women did not work and of those that did, most of the work was in the home.
 * Domestic duties such as motherhood and being a wife were glorified.
 * Women became less involved with the businesses and finances of their husbands.
 * Many girls were trained to become dutiful daughters, wives, and mothers.
 * Women were expected to fully support their husbands in all manners.
 * Talent, ambition, and intuition were taken away from women who stayed at the home.
 * Women became symbols of their father’s and husband’s success. The less work that a woman did outside the home, the more successful the family was considered.
 * Women were assigned religious and charity roles
 * This family model was the target for much of society.

-Women of the lower-class generally didn’t contribute to the Renaissance to the extent men during their time did; they fulfilled their designated roles of a “Renaissance women,” or one who married well, was loyal to her husband and gave birth to boys. -Designated Roles -Alberti’s “On the Family” stressed that a wife’s role should be restricted to the orderliness of the household, food and the serving of means, the education of children, and the supervision of servants. -Vives’s “Instruction of the Christian Woman” held that a woman’s sphere should be the home, not the public arena, where she might compete with men. -Smith’s “The English Commonwealth”- women were “those whom nature hath made to keepe home and to nourish the familie and children, and not to meddle with affairs abroad” -Some paintings portray Florentine women doing needlework, spinning and weaving… these activities took up much of a woman’s time and contributed to the elegance of dress of their time -What women did do… -The lady of a Florentine of Venetian house had to make sure that all the servants were adequately fed and clothed, to maintain harmony among them, to tend to anyone that fell ill -Helped husbands sell food, cloth, handmade jewelry, trinkets, and other merchandise in town markets -Peasant women worked in the field alongside their husbands and ran the home. -The wives of middle class shop owners and merchants often helped run their husbands' businesses as well -By living up to their ideal position in society, females became the best “Renaissance woman” they could be.

-On the contrary, upper class women, such as Catherine de Medici and Isabella d'Este, with a greater exposure to education, dominated in politics and other non-household spheres. -Most importantly, they (de Medici and d’Este) were great patrons of the arts, and helped the renaissance flourish in their areas of influence. -Catherine de Medici -Well-educated- filled her library with numerous rare manuscripts -Believed in the humanist ideal of the learned Renaissance prince whose authority depended on letters as well as arms. -Great interest in architecture - authority over the building of the new wing of the Louvre Museum, the construction of the Tuilleries Gardens, and the building of the Chateau Monceau -Major force in French politics, especially during the thirty years of the Roman Catholic-Huguenot wars. She ruled as a regent to her son and when he reached majority in 1563, Catherine dominated him -Although towards the end of her regency [of Charles IX] she caused internal turmoil, she at first used policies of peace and negotiation (in religion especially) to bring France to a stable state of being -Isabella d’Este -Received a royal schooling- studied Roman history, and rapidly learned to translate Greek and Latin. -First female head of an Italian city state after her husband was captured in war -Founded a school for young women where they had to observe a strict code of morals -Wrote many letters and commentaries on everything from art to politics -Played a lead role in 1509 when she became Chief of State in Mantua- took command of the city's armies and successfully held off the enemy hosts -“First Ladt of the Renaissance” title pushed women to search outside their assigned domains -Christine de Pisan -Received a fine education -Widowed at age 23, turned to writing poetry to support herself -Soon become a women of well-known letters -“The City of Ladies” is a chronicle of accomplishments of the great women of history

-Karishma Sabhnani



=<span style="display: block; color: rgb(136,70,195); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;"> = =<span style="display: block; color: rgb(255,51,204); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">2004 Analyze the participation of European women in the economy and in politics from 1914 to 1939. Use examples from at least TWO countries. = The women's role in European economies was very powerful, as they served to fill many jobs and provide vital support for a nation's economy, with famous examples in Russia and Germany. The women's role in politics, however, was not as strong, as women only truly contributed with their newly-gained franchise, soleley affecting legislation and election, both of which were still not extremely affected by the women's vote.

__**Women's Participation in Politics**__


 * Women in many countries gained the right to vote during this time period. For example, on May 31, 1929, Britain elected Ramsay MacDonald and his Labour Ministry. This election was known as the "Flapper Election" as it was the first time women under 30 years of age could vote in Britain.
 * This was one of the many instances in Europe where women attained the right to vote. Sweden, Norway, Portugal, and some parts of Poland all gave women the right to vote.
 * Eleanor Rathbone of Scotland was also a major suffragette, and she wielded the power given to those with majority in the British parliament.
 * Through all these countries allowing women to vote, the government and its decisions started to reflect more and more the thoughts and ideas of the populace, not just the men.
 * In Germany, Hitler charged women with the major burden of maintaining German racial superiority. He also commended them for producing as many children as possible, even rewarding medals to those who did. Through cooking, dress, music, and stories, mothers were to instill a love for the nation into their children.
 * Female suffragettes like Emeline Pankhurst made many efforts to gain more rights for women so that they may participate in the government. Pankhurst met with Alexander Kerensky in August of 1917, disagreeing heavily with his class-based society. She then went on to convince many governments all over Europe that Russia's current government was capable of "Destroying civilisations," leading to some subtle hate of the country.
 * Women were not major participators in the politics of many countries excepting their voting for representative and legislation, but they were still major contributors to the economy and its functioning.

__**Women's Participation in the Economy**__


 * In Germany, wartime forced the Nazi government to recruit women into the workforce. Women were encouraged to take up more "domestic" jobs, however, like that of a teacher. In that role, women were regarded as the special protectors of German cultural values, teaching the children to support Germany's effort in any way possible.
 * The Nazis seemed to have achieved female political support because the party assigned to women roles in which most German women actually found themselves.
 * In 1939, thirty-seven percent of women were employed, the same as in 1928. Thereafter, the war effort forced the government to recruit women into the German work force.
 * In Germany, as consumers for the home, women were to support German-owned shops, to buy german-produced goods, and to boycott Jewish merchants.
 * Russian women participated to a great extent in the country's workforce.
 * Peasant women had long contributed to the agricultural industry in Russia, doing approximately as much as work (and as difficult) as the men of Russia.
 * With the advent of the Five-Year Plans, millions of women also toiled in factories and in heavy contruction, building dams, roads, and steel mills, contributing as a major part of Russia's infrastructure.
 * Determined Russian women pursued their studies and entered the ranks of better-paid specialists of science and industry. Medicine practically became a women's profession.
 * The massive mobilization of women in the period between World Wars was an important characteristic of ths Soviet Statee
 * Due to women filling many jobs in the Soviet union, the country's output in everything from agriculture to industry dramtically increased, and it allowed for more men to participate in the war effort.

=<span style="display: block; color: rgb(136,70,195); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;"> = =<span style="display: block; color: rgb(136,70,195); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">2007 Analyze the impact of the rise of militarism and the Second World War on the lives of European women. In your answer consider the period 1930 to 1950. = Mobilization for the Second World War and the war itself led to new opportunities and roles for women. Even if certain countries strongly advocated separate spheres for men and women, women were needed to help in the war effort. Mussolini kept women in fascist Italy in separate spheres and their attitudes didn’t significantly change. German women were recruited into the work force and some even served the SS in concentration camps. Women in the Soviet Union were told that they had to be equal to men and most doctors were women by 1950. British, Finnish, and Polish women took on auxiliary roles, however, some volunteered to go into combat. The lives of European women drastically changed because they now had to take on responsibilities outside of the home and help win a global war. **1. German Women are Recruited into the Work Force to Help in the War Effort**

- Nazi ideology encouraged women to favor traditional domestic roles over employment in the workplace and to bear many children. - The onset of the war forced the government to recruit women workers. - The Nazis shared with the Italian fascists the stereotypic view of women as housewives and mothers. - Only under the pressure of war did they reluctantly mobilize large numbers of German women for work in offices and factories. - Women also served in auxiliary units in the navy, air force, and army. - Hundreds of women served for the SS in camps. - Hitler told women to produce more pure Aryan children to fight in future wars.


 * 2. Mussolini Keeps Women in Fascist Italy in a Separate Sphere**

- Mussolini abolished divorce and told women to stay at home and produce children. - He decreed a special tax on bachelors in 1934. - In 1938 women were limited by law to a maximum of 10 percent of the better-paying jobs in industry and government. - Attitudes and behavior didn’t change in any significant way under fascist rule.


 * 3. Women in the Soviet Union Become Equal to Men**

- The radial transformation of Soviet society had a profound impact on women’s lives. - Young women were constantly told that they had to be fully equal to men. - With the advent of the five-year plans, millions of women also toiled in factories and in heavy construction, building dams, roads, and steel mills during the summer and winter. - Medicine practically became a women’s profession. - By 1950, 75 percent of all doctors in the Soviet Union were women. - Women during the Second World War served as pilots, snipers, machine gunners, tank crew members and partisans, as well as in auxiliary roles.


 * 4. Women in Britain, Finland, and Poland Take Part in Mainly Auxiliary Roles During the War**

- In Britain, women were crucial to the war effort in both military and civilian roles. - Women were assigned jobs by the government including non-combat jobs in the military, the navy, and auxiliary services. - British women could volunteer for combat duty in anti-aircraft units, which shot down German planes. - Civilian British women were used in high-danger roles as secret agents and underground radio operators in Nazi occupied Europe. - Like in Britain, the Finnish women took part in nursing, air raid signaling, and rationing and hospitalization of the wounded. - Lotta Svard – Voluntary women took part in auxiliary work of the armed forces. - Lotta Svard was probably the largest voluntary group in World War Two. - Women in Finland helped hold off Soviet Forces. - In Poland, women played a main role in the resistance movement. - Their most important role was a couriers carrying messages between cells of the resistance movement and distributing news and operating clandestine printing presses. - During the Warsaw Rising of 1944, many women carried weapons and took part in the fighting.

Alex Schnapp
=<span style="display: block; color: rgb(136,70,195); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;"> = =<span style="display: block; color: rgb(136,70,195); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">2008 European women's lives changed in the course of the nineteenth century politically, economically, and socially. Identify and explain the reasons for those changes. = **__Thesis:__** The conditions of women improved drastically throughout the nineteenth century, directly impacted by the spirit of the Enlightenment and the ideals of the French Revolution, which occurred during the previous century. The liberal reform and political feminism that emerged, in addition to the effects of the industrial revolutions, resulted in dramatic changes to their economic conditions, status in society, and voice in government. **__Outline:__**
 * 1. Political Feminism**
 * National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) (Britain)
 * Led by Millicent Fawcett, created in 1887.
 * Her husband was a former Liberal Party cabinet minister and economist.
 * Her tactics were those of English liberals.
 * Moderate.
 * Believed Parliament would grant women the vote only when convinced they would be respectable and responsible in their political activity.
 * Had almost 500,000 women in London in 1908.
 * Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) (Britain)
 * Known as “suffragettes”.
 * Established in 1903, created by former members of the NUWSS.
 * Led by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, Christabel and Sylvia.
 * Active in both labor and Irish nationalist politics.
 * Lobbied both publicly and privately for the extension of the vote to women.
 * Very radical.
 * Turned to violent acts of arson, window breaking, and sabotage of postal boxes.
 * Marched en masse on Parliament.
 * Many went on hunger strikes in jail when imprisoned.
 * Hubertine Auclert (France)
 * Began campaigning for the vote in the 1880s, but had few supporters.
 * Encouraged by women’s movements in Britain and by Auclert, many other organizations emerged during the 1890s and early 1900s in France.
 * The National Council of French Women (CNFF).
 * Established in 1901 by upper-middle-class women.
 * Did not initially support the vote for women.
 * French Roman Catholic feminists, such as Marie Mauguet, supported the franchise.
 * Almost all French feminists rejected violence.
 * Never able to organize mass rallies.
 * Believed the vote could be achieved through careful legalism.
 * German women were very far behind other European countries in achieving political equality for women.
 * The law actually forbade women from political activity.
 * Feminism was underdeveloped.
 * Union of German Women’s Organizations (BDFK) (Germany)
 * Established in 1894.
 * Called for women’s right to vote.
 * Tried to get women admitted into political activity on the municipal level.
 * The German Social Democratic Party also supported women’s suffrage.
 * The tactics used and success achieved by the movements and organizations varied in each country.
 * In most countries, women improved their position politically, but most did not receive the right to vote until after World War I.
 * 2. Industrial Revolutions**
 * Higher education not required for those working in factories.
 * Women became part of the proletariat work force.
 * Significant expansion in the variety of jobs available outside the better-paying learned professions.
 * Elementary school teachers, secretaries, clerks, typists, shop assistants, and nurses.
 * Jobs were occupied mostly by unmarried women or widows.
 * Women were generally paid less than men.
 * It was assumed that they received financial aid from their husband or father, which was often true.
 * As a result, those women that did need to support themselves found it very difficult to find a job providing adequate income.
 * The nineteenth century saw a significant withdrawal of married women from the workforce.
 * Especially once they had their first child.
 * The jobs women occupied were growing smaller, and young married women were more likely to be chosen because family obligations were less likely to interfere with their work.
 * Real wages of men increased, so less need for a second income.
 * Smaller family size contributed as well.
 * In addition, the less work a woman did, the more prosperous a family seemed.
 * Poverty, lack of education, and the need for a job led to increased prostitution.
 * Prostitution was not new; it was a way for very poor women to receive some income.
 * Increased rates were related the conditions of the nineteenth century because the overcrowded female labor force made it even more difficult to find a job, thus forcing many women to resort to prostitution.
 * Prostitution was legal, but it was discouraged strongly for moral reasons.
 * Economic conditions were unstable, especially in Germany.
 * Putting-out system was still commonly used in the clothing-making trades.
 * Did well when times were good, but were idle when business was bad.
 * Some worked in factories but were subject to layoffs as well.
 * In general, women definitely were more accepted into the work force, but their lack of education and social position kept them from becoming skilled workers or professionals.
 * Women still did not have equality to male workers, and they were paid less, but their status was slowly improving.
 * Their efforts later during World War I earned them greater rights and privileges in industry.
 * 3. Liberal Reforms**
 * 1882, Great Britain passed the Married Woman’s Property Act.
 * Allowed married women to own property in their own right.
 * In France, it was not until 1895 that a married woman could open a savings account in her own name.
 * Only in 1907 were they granted possession of their own wages.
 * In 1900, Germany allowed women to take jobs without their husband’s permission, but the husband still controlled most of her property, excluding her wages.
 * Most European countries had similar laws.
 * Divorce laws
 * Up until 1857, an act of Parliament was required to get a divorce.
 * Thereafter it could be achieved through the Court of Matrimonial Causes, but it was very difficult still.
 * In France, it was difficult as well, illegal between 1816 and 1884.
 * In most countries, women needed to provide proof of their husband’s adultery or wrongdoing to get a divorce, which was not easy.
 * Also, the husband kept custody of the children after a divorce, making it less desirable for women.
 * However, mistreatment of the wife as cause for divorce did reduce abuse to a certain degree.
 * Birth control
 * Contraception and abortion were illegal.
 * Laws regarding rape worked to the disadvantage of women.
 * Birth control was advocated during the nineteenth century, starting after the 1860s.
 * Women had greater control over their bodies.
 * Marie Stopes was a major leader in this area, opening the first birth control clinic in London in 1921.
 * Margaret Sanger was another major advocate of birth control, opening a birth control clinic in the United States.
 * The middle-class often used birth control to limit the family size.
 * Fewer children allowed the family to maintain a relatively high level of material consumption.
 * University and professional education was opened to women during the late nineteenth century.
 * University of Zurich allowed them in the 1860s.
 * University of London admitted them in 1878.
 * Some women’s colleges were created.
 * Many professional men opposed this however, because they feared they professions would be overcrowded if they admitted women.
 * Most became school teachers.
 * Much advancement in women’s rights and opportunities challenged the traditional gender roles and separate spheres.
 * The “Cult of Domesticity” remained, however.
 * Middle-class women, if possible, did not work.
 * Middle-class women were even more limited to the roles of wife and mother.
 * Domestic luxury and comfort, but little room for ambition, improvement, or applying intelligence.
 * Early marriage was encouraged, with children produced soon afterward.
 * Women were in charge of the home as the chief unit of consumption, so advertisement was directed directly towards them.
 * Women were to symbolize their father’s then their husband’s worldly success.
 * Cult of Domesticity favored women being strongly associated with religion and the Church.
 * Middle-class women had the role of administering charity.
 * Despite these setbacks and conservative attitudes, women gained more rights and freedoms to deviate from past restrictions.


 * Brett Teplitz **