Woman and Gender

History
Presented by
Mary Claire D. Pena
Woman
•A woman is an adult human female.
•The definition of "woman" is
multifaceted and can vary across
cultures and individuals.
Gender
• Refers to the social and cultural
roles, expectations, and identities
associated with being male or
female within a particular historical
context.
OLIVE SCHREINER(1855-1920)
• a South African writer,
feminist, and social reformer
who made significant
contributions to women's
rights and gender history.
OLIVE SCHREINER(1855-1920)
• Feminist Literature: Schreiner's most famous
work is the novel "The Story of an African Farm"
(1883).
• Women's Rights Advocate
• Progressive Views on Marriage and Relationships
• Social Reformer
• Influence on Feminist Movement
The history of woman and gender history:

1. Pre-1970s, women are ‘hidden from history’

2. Second-wave feminism & the emergence of
‘women’s history’
3.The move towards gender as a category of
historical analysis
4. Masculinity
1. Pre-1970s, women are ‘hidden from
history’
•Women's experiences, contributions, and
perspectives were often overlooked or
marginalized in historical narratives,
leading to the perception that women
were "hidden from history."
Pre-1970s, women are ‘hidden from history’

•In the pre-1970s era, societal

expectations and gender norms
often confined women to
domestic roles and limited their
participation in public life.
Pre-1970s, women are ‘hidden from history’

•‘The labour historian has ignored women as

workers on the labour market and within the
household… In every respect women’s
participation in history has been marginalized.’
Sally Alexander, ‘Women’s Work in Nineteenth-Century London. A Study of the Years s.’ First
published in 1974, in Becoming a Woman and Other Essays in 19th and 20th Century Feminist
History (1994), p. 3
2. Second-wave feminism & the emergence
of ‘women’s history’
•Second-wave feminism emerged in the late 1960s
and continued into the 1970s.
•"women's history"
1. gender equality
2. challenging societal norms, and
3. advocating for women's rights in various
spheres of life
3. The move towards gender as a category of
historical analysis
‘The subject of women has either been
grafted on to other traditions or studied in
isolation from them’
Joan W Scott ‘Towards a Feminist History’ in Gender and the
Politics of History (1988), p. 16
Scott’s observation
• Runs risk of intellectualizing and abstracting inequalities
• Material realities of women’s lives (and why they were as they
were) don’t get attention
• Women ignored as historical agents of change, resisting inequalities
• De-radicalizes – denies feminists the opportunity to discuss women
as a political group
• Encourages ‘men’s’ studies – the ‘male’ view already has a forum
• It is theoretical, not empirical
“Gender becomes less a ‘category of analysis’ and more a ‘category
of paralysis.’”
4. Masculinity

•Hegemonic masculinity-refers to
a dominant and culturally valued
form of masculinity that is
privileged and upheld as the
ideal within a given society.
The concept of hegemonic masculinity
involves:
• The subordination of women by men AND men by other men
• Power is based on the culturally normative ideal/s of male behaviour
• Society, culture, institutions etc., encourage men to embody this type
of masculinity
• Masculinity is open to historical change (Connell and Messerschmidt
2005)
• Hegemonic masculinity ‘appropriates’ what is needed for continued
domination.
• Women are central. Complicit(Connell and Messerschmidt 2005)