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History Notes Approaches to History Notes

Approaches Gender War Revolution Notes

Updated Approaches Gender War Revolution Notes

Approaches to History Notes

Approaches to History

Approximately 45 pages

These notes provide comprehensive cover of the Approaches to History topics of Gender and Sociology. They were the sole resource that I used for my preliminary examination revision, in which I achieved a mark of 67%. They include a wealth of examples spanning across a wide range of time periods (from medieval to modern), as well as discussion of a broad range of historiography, making them a complete resource for studying for the Approaches prelim, if you are taking the Gender or Sociology option...

The following is a more accessible plain text extract of the PDF sample above, taken from our Approaches to History Notes. Due to the challenges of extracting text from PDFs, it will have odd formatting:

Approaches Revision Notes:

GENDER:

War/Revolution:

1. In what ways do questions of gender identity come forward in periods of war/revolution?

  • Legal changes:

  • E.g. Post-WW2 France women given right to vote (22nd march 1944) and run for office.

  • E.g. Post-WW2 France: Const of Fourth Rep enshrined right to work (‘the law shall guarantee to women rights equal to those of men’ [preamble]).

  • E.g. Post-WW2 France, June 20th, 1946: equal pay for equal work est.

  • E.g. Brit, WW1: Women who turned down domestic service refused unemployment benefit.

  • Changes in politicians’ views.

  • Highlighted by diff reactions of politicians to certain situations (see below).

  • Through imagery and symbolism – propaganda stronger in times of war/Rev.

  • Through practical actions that come from necessity.

  • E.g. women’s war work.

  • Through stereotypes about expected behaviour.

2. Why does war/Revolution bring forward questions of gender identity?

  • Ultimately, both = disruptive.

  • “The First WW disrupted almost every facet of life in Britain” (Lucy Noakes).

  • In such a big and frightening upheaval, it is natural that all aspects of life will be called upon to help. E.g. in Germany, WW1, national unified welfare system created to take care of children.

  • Practical needs (esp in times of war).

  • Young-Sun Hong argues that this was the case in Germany – gender diffs’ “presumed naturalness [was]… demystified”.

  • E.g. women having to take men’s jobs could challenge stereotypes.

  • E.g. women taking part in political movements as result of upheaval.

  • E.g. Post-WW2 France: The Resistance (and women’s role in it) was seen by some (like Communist rep for Algiers, Fernand Grenier) as proof that they should be full equal citizens.

  • E.g. Women’s Armed Auxiliary Corps set up 1917 in Britain. Women wore military uniform – challenged trad ideas of men = military, women = helpless (could cause backlash: “both disturbing and offensive” [Jenny Gould]).

  • Concern that everyone couldn’t fully fulfil their social role could stimulate women being helped/their role being more fully recognised.

  • E.g. Post-WW1 Germany: Formation of women’s social education schools (e.g. Social Women’s School, Mannheim, Marie Bernays and Elisabeth Altmann-Gottheimer) for educating women in law, politics, economics, pedagogy, social ethics.

  • Can at the same time act to reinforce stereotypes through backlash (Lucy Noakes).

  • See above.

  • E.g. 1919 Sheffield Daily Telegraph said ‘girls… show a tendency to avoid the home’. 6 months earlier had spoken favourably of women’s war work.

  • Atmosphere of renewal and nationalism.

  • E.g. changes in Post-WW2 France: “The war seemed to clear the way for nat renewal” (Jane Jenson).

  • However, this idealistic mindframe could also entrench existing values as creating an ‘ideal women’ was a central part of it.

  • Temma Kaplan argues that nationalism is “ultimately destructive of rev’nry goals”.

  • Desire for stability/security: the family (and as a result, gender roles) had a central part to play in this.

  • War especially can make pre-war peace seem very desirable, hence ^conservative attitudes.

  • E.g. Post-WW2 France: Vichy regime saw breakdown of family as one reason for German victory.

  • E.g. Post-Rev France: The preamble to the Const of Year III said ‘no one is a good citizen if he isn’t a good son, good father, good friend, good spouse’.

  • E.g. Brit, Post-WW1: Women’s Reserve Sub-C’ttee discussed need to balance between need for women’s war labour and ‘desire to preserve the domestic order’.

  • E.g. 1915 meeting of German Commission for Welfare of Small Children, Wilhelm Polligkeit spoke of ‘the collapse of the fam’.

  • E.g. French invasion of Algeria, June 1830. Tried to dismantle Islam, which in turn became a sanctuary from the French.

  • V Moghadam argues that this was strongly the case in Post-Rev France – decline of old institutions like the Church led to a “revalorisation of family life”.

  • Temma Kaplan: “most revolutions use gender to legitimate the new social order”.

  • Different politicians could see the situ in different ways.

  • E.g. Post-WW2 France – Jane Jenson argues that this was at work. Policies regarding work saw them as more equal, those relating to family did not (married women remained legally subordinate until the 1960s, Oct 1940 women’s access to state employment ltd).

  • Need for/creation of powerful imagery – challenging gender roles could be effective here.

  • E.g. WW1 in Germany had emasculating, dehumanising effect on men (Sandra Gilbert).

  • Had big impact upon men – military/powerful stereotypes and images are an important part of masculinity.

  • E.g. Old Regime assoc with effeminacy in post-Rev France (J B Landes).

  • Paintings like ‘Devotion to the Fatherland’ (men bowing to la patrie and vowing to die on her behalf, woman offering son up; 1723) and ‘The Fatherland in Danger’ (1799) highlight this in Rev France.

  • E.g. Sandra McGee Deutsch argues that Mexican Rev created the machismo that is often assoc with Mexican nat character.
    (E.g. Peasant Emilio Zapata’s virility emphasised.)

  • E.g. Post-Rev France = great example. Nationalism v important.

  • Marianne.

  • Comes from “the mutual incitement of love and country” (Doris Sommer). Same sort of passion, feeling of belonging.

  • Bare breasts in paintings highlight “the nation’s nurturance of its citizenry” (J B Landes).

  • E.g. in paintings like Pierre-Nicolas Beauvallet’s ‘Allegorie de la Liberte’.

  • J B Landes: “the fatherland is as a mother to its citizens”.

  • Jacobin contemporary Patrice Higonnet spoke of ‘La patri… la mere commune’.

  • Caused political upheaval –

  • Was the very aim of Revolutions (V Moghadam).

  • Inextricably linked to issue of gender: “questions of gender and family served as a prism which focused and refracted… political struggles” (Young-Sun Hong) in WW1 Germany.

  • “Almost always, the family was redefined” (Moghadam) – do I agree with this? Prev entrenched ideas stronger.

  • Need for wider support base could draw attention to...

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