Historiographical Trends from the 1960s Onwards and How It Affected the Ways in Which Historians Write about Women in the Past - Term Paper Example

Historiographical trends from the 1960s onwards and how it affected the ways in which historians write about women in the past In early years women though not recognised, played vital role in shaping women history in all history phases. Women writings were contributed largely by the urge to liberate themselves from various oppression being political, economical and socially. Through feminism movements women emerged in their writings challenging male-dominated societies. Though most of women writing emerged in 18th century, but looking into history writings, women movements originated, though the cry for the liberations started in 1800s, it picked it pace in early 19th century, which contributed much by women suffrage. African American women were not the only one denied the right to vote, most of areas like England, France, South Africa to mention a few were denied the right to vote not to mention the right in participating in politics. In America, during the reconstruction era, a lot of rights were violated including women's segregation. However, feminism movement was not due to the suffrage only, women's image to the society as mothers, daughters and wives were challenged by women activists. "Gender conflict was as deeper as ever both before and after World War I, and the vote finally granted in 1918, proved a weak tool for a change" (Copelman, 1990). Women suffragists sparked the fire for the feminism movements around the world, with feminism movement expanding into other areas in women liberations. A lot have been documented in various historical journals women's struggle; this history representation has helped a lot in shaping the contemporary history and making historians have critical look at how women were represented in past in history writings. Historiography of women's history has played a vital role in shaping women's history or new history with historians arguing for new historical analysis on how gender has constituted to the social changes and relationships. For Dina Copelman in reviewing article 'Liberal Ideology, Sexuality difference and the Lives of Women: Recent Works in British History' in Edwardian and Victorian political life, there had been complex role of women which could have hard time with liberal natural rights tradition and theories of sexual difference. The study according to Copelman, allows historians to see the relative value of different modes of interpretation in the historical analysis of women and gender. Nevertheless, a lot have been written about women involvement and how women started themselves writing books, biographies, poems and ballads to mention a few. More and more have been written but most historians especially women historians have given detailed account of women presentations or involvement in history and how they had been presented by previous historians. "The history of historiography made remarkable presentation how historians portrayed women in the history writings, she pointed out that women were presented as wives, daughters and mothers and being denied participations in other areas as politics, economic activities and leadership positions." (Copelman, 1990). Like Copelman, other historians reviewed women presentations in history writings with the emergence of gender and feminism movements which picked up in 1960s. Historians in searching of women participations in various activities discovered that very little was written about women as many historians in that time were men, whose focus were on masculinity. "Women were ignored in history writing due to the fact that male historians decided what was historically significant to be written and what wasn't, with war, and politics being in their top lists and ignoring that fact family, social relationships and marriage mattered, the area where women were much involved in, hence being left out of male historian writings." (Millions, European Women and Historical Writing 1400-1800). Many male historians portrayed women as objects in their writings and not as subjects, the inclination which has largely contributed to the shaping of women historians in writing about women involvements in their early societies. Female historians took the stand of revealing what other important social responsibilities women had and what they did in balancing their femininity and their public positions, as male were the ones mainly depicted as public figures due to their involvement in war and politics. Taking a few examples around the globe, starting with Nordic countries, "two highly gendered figures are associated with the history of the Scandinavian countries. The image of the free and independent peasant is, as mentioned above, a construct of the 19th century. The image of the strong and equal peasant woman is probably a later construct. It seems to be used less frequently than the male counterpart in the early 20th century." (stman, Ann-Catrin, 2005). Despite rich history America has women history documentation of women struggle and these records have been recorded in accordance with the availability of letters and papers. Be part of the cause of contemporary women's history, women struggle in America mainly was centred at the African American struggle in freeing themselves from economic and political oppressions. This field of women history which began in the late 1960s and early 1970s has to the large extent contributed to the changing of women history writings of today. "Many of women in America were less involved in reform crusades than in the daily struggle of existing in a society that devalued their contributions and restricted their activities. Nineteenth-century African American women who had been enslaved did not leave primary sources such as diaries and letters. Therefore records from the federal government have been invaluable in writing about these women." (Frankel, 1997). The picture took different outlook in Europe particularly England; British women had valuable records which helped most of historians in writing women involvement in history and other feminism activities though at first they were ignored by male historians. With the establishment of English Woman's Journal in 1860s it became a starting point in bringing awareness to the public about women's rights. "The assembled documents reveal that in mid and late Victorian England liberal ideology exerted great force among activists for women's rights." (Copelman, 1990). Though Copelman criticised the way these documents are organised, as they do not provide well detailed historical background, the collection is still valuable resources in British feminism development. Despite the fact British women were overlooked by historians in their writings, there are still valuable documents that have been researched back by modern historians who have managed to give the clear picture of women's lives in early days. Bessie Rayner pointed out that the need to reform the position of women was closely connected with the growth of middle class. The perception that is supported by Copelman that women of the middle classes, belonging to professional or commercial families should heartily accept the life of those classes instead of imitating the life of aristocracy. However, in her review continue to give the status of women's lives in demographic and economic prospects whereas women in the middle class were bleak. Historians here argue that women in the middle classes then opted in finding work in which they would be able to support themselves. This was the emerging of education which was seen as a key to successful liberation of women. In Scandinavia countries the similar occurrence took place as how historians portrayed women in agrarian states of Finland. For Ann-Catrin stman, the connection between the understanding of peasantry and masculine ideals which has emerged around the turn of century has played a vital role in changing history writing in Finland but one thing that has to be taken into account is the rapid expansion of both male and female citizenship, whereby masculinity was strongly portrayed in most of history writings. South African women struggle during the apartheid and capitalism have contributed much to the women history researches. These were written by various feminists like Belinda Bozzoli and others in bringing awareness and criticising the government in suppressing women. Historians have managed to give an account on how women were suppressed and their feminism movement. "Much of the work focusing on women's economic and political subordination in the 1970s was concerned primarily on how women were oppressed under capitalism and racism. The trend was to record how particular women bore the brunt of an economically and politically unjust system, rather than to explore why this was the case, by analysing gender dynamics in relation to racism and capitalism." (Hiralal Kalpana, 2005). Many writer and scholars on South African women developed their research during the peak of racism in late 1970s and early 1980s where women were oppressed and due to the political, economical and social subordination, more researches and writing were feminist - oriented which depicted directly how Black women were oppressed. Work on women studies in South Africa in the 1970s fell into two categories. One was empiricist and largely pre-feminist tradition within the academy. The other primarily activist tradition located beyond the academy, although many who worked within this tradition had some form of academic affiliation, (Hiralal Kalpana, 2005). Women historiography in South Africa was largely transformed in 1970s due to neo-Marxist historians who undermines the liberal interpretations of South Africa in the past particularly women. Belinda Bozzoli in looking at the interactions of activists said that most of historians have been influenced by outside ideologies. Other academic publications disseminated information about black women's experiences of oppression and exploitation, focused largely on women factory workers, domestic workers and farm workers or women in informal settlements. This collapsing of female oppression into the capitalist mode of production has been the dominant tendency in analyses of women in South Africa to-day. It is a tendency, which has suited the indigenous left, reluctant, as it is to consider the implications of its own internal sexism. It appears to be far more comfortable for the left to absorb feminist struggles, or indeed subordinate them, into the general struggle against capitalism, than to begin to consider the vast implications of admitting the relative autonomy of women's oppression, (Bozzoli, 1983). Central America also has its experience in women's struggle in fighting for liberations and since late 1980s; women and gender issues took charge in changing women history of the region. "This is evident in the increasing volume and diversity of publications in a sample we were able to locate, as well as in the studies included in the Catlogo Centroamericano." (Saenz, 2005). Latin American women history which according to Asuncion Lavrin that though more women studies depict more of present women rather than the past but it has remarkable historical records. Women's distinctive role in the society is vividly marked in the first stage of history where they were mainly attributed to men were politics, education, culture and religion. In Central America some women took outstanding roles in these areas with men. There are studies which have documented the work of women performance in colonial era. Women in Costa Rica for instance, were subjected into violence or sexual abuse like other places where women were mistreated. "Addressing these topics is essential to clarify the way perceptions towards these problems have been historically and socio-culturally built and transformed. Likewise, further research is needed to probe other aspects related to childhood and adolescence, such as perceptions on rape and incest against Costa Rican women during the first half of the XIX century." (Saenz, 1994) Women pioneer in Central America have worked hard in bringing awareness to other parts of the world about the struggle their counterparts took during the colonial era by documenting their records. These include Bertilda Portocarrero (1962), Margarita Lpez (1988) on the influence that the Nicaraguan educator Josefa Toledo de Aguerri had. Other books that study the role of outstanding women in colonial times in the late XIX and early XX centuries are those by Rafael Jerez (1957) and Lucila Rodas (1965) on the condition and education of women in Honduras, that on the conditions of Salvadoran women by Liliam Jimnez (1962), the two volumes by Angela Acua (1969) on Costa Rican women throughout four centuries. In all the struggles that have been documented, Europe and America (USA) have been well documented and well organized in their effort in analysing women struggle in the past. Most historians were interested in writing masculine image activities in the society such as politics, war and economy, leaving out women involvement in family, marriage and social relationships issues. Despite the inclination of being left out, most of records show how women struggled in getting equal chance of education, as most of women in middle classes of working class were illiterate and in liberating these women, education was the key. Feminism movements around the world focused in liberating women educationally, the movement which saw more women granted education opportunities in various countries with the start of co-education schools. In The Education Papers, edited by Dale Spencer, improvements of women's education were presented not as just necessary preparations for women who might not marry but also for as great benefit for women who might want to be intelligent wives and mothers. The perception which was largely used in fighting for women equal right to access to education opportunities. "Looking to American common schools and new colleges such as Oberlin, Cornell and Michigan, Mary Beedy considered co-educational schools positive because they would not only break down intellectual inequalities between the sexes but also perhaps serve to break down sexual distinction per se." (Copelman, 1990). Women liberation apart from education, politics and economic, sexual abuse turned historians in looking at the voluminous journals which gave details on women's struggle from sexual abuse. "Though some women were involved in late nineteenth century in sex reforms movements, these reforms were in the end hostile to feminism, women independence and self-determination." (Copelman, 1990). While The Sexual Debate exposes women's effort to change their explicitly sexual conditions, Susan Kent's Sexual Suffrage in Britain 1860 - 1914 provide broader intellectual context in which to place those struggle, by focusing on suffrage campaigns. More and more female historians have taken interest in revisiting women history of the past in assessing the trend of writings women were given by male historians, which was undoubtedly poor, female historians also were not acknowledged much of their work though they had valuable writings. Some women in history wrote valuable history of women for example Catherine Macaulay's (1731 - 1791) writing was tied to the political tides of her time. Her crusade was republican reform of the English government system and in her writing she wrote History of England from the Accession of James (8 volumes). Her history writings which was mainly in objecting the monarchy as she believes that the only way of improving the English society was to reform the power distribution among the people and the government, her work made her famous in America where they used it as role model of virtue struggle. "She also passionately believed that knowledge of the past, and especially of the seventeenth century, was key to understanding the state of eighteenth-century England and promoting reforms. Consequently, Macaulay's History was the first republican history ever published. Her objectives were clear to contemporaries, and she was recognized as a republican historian. (Millions, European Women and Historical Writing 1400-1800.) Another remarkable woman who was recognised for her outstanding work was French biographer Christine De Pisan (1364 - 1430) who wrote poems, books, ballads and advice and manner literature, she was the first woman declared as professional writer in Europe. Although De Pisan was not recognized by most scholars as a legitimate historian for centuries, mostly in her writings she challenged the male dominated territory of the arts. Her writings have been used extensively by scholars as she skilfully showed how women can counteract misogynists through persuasive dialogue. "Though she had encountered difficulties in being accepted as historian, the inclination might have discouraged other women to follow her footsteps, as she was the last woman to write that kind of history for centuries." (Millions, European Women and Historical Writing, 1400-1800) More and more women took interest in writing history during the early nineteenth century and in British history the name Sheila Rowbotham, familiar with her extraordinary work in writing women's history. "Her personal history and memory contribute significant details to the political analyses she offers, especially of grassroots movements." (Bahl Vinay, 1999). She has written fifteen books, innumerable articles, introductions, essays, poems, films, record jackets, reports, reviews and interviews. Her first book, Women, Resistance and Revolution: A History of Women and Revolution in the Modern World (New York: Pantheon), created a major stir when first published in 1972. Female historians have been treated in a similar manner as women were in the history writings by male historians. Due to their gender, the types of histories they wrote, and the way they wrote them, historians of historiography have largely ignored women authors. "Until quite recently, researchers paid little attention to the ways that gender bias has affected historical consciousness and as a result, historical writing and female historians." (Millions, European Women and Historical Writing 1400-1800). Bonnie Smith observes in her article "The Contributions of Women to Modern Historiography in Great Britain, France and the United States, 1750 - 1940" that history written by women developed from historical and antiquarian topics that were often neglected by male authors. The historical events that were mostly wrote by male historians or regarded as significant historical events most of the time did not have match with what female considered significant to be put in historical writings. Male historians focused on the war, politics and economic issues while female apart from those issues also included their involvement in social relationships, marriages and family issues. European women both long before and long after Catherine Macaulay faced many obstacles to writing history. Before the nineteenth century, though, lack of education, social prejudices, and inability to access sources made it difficult for women to produce historical writings, (Millions, European Women and Historical Writing 1400-1800). In conclusion, though there have been many difficulties for historians in writing women of the past due to somehow unavailability of distinctive documentations on women involvement in history, records that is available have played a significant role in shaping the modern historians in writing women of the past, and their emancipation economically, socially and politically. Bibliography Dina M. Copelman (1990), The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 62, No. 2, pp. 315-345. Ann-Catrin stman, (2005), Gender and Finnish Traditions of Agrarian Historiography Eugenia Rodrguez Senz, (2005), WOMEN'S HISTORY AND GENDER HISTORY IN CENTRAL AMERICA Hiralal Kalpana, (2005), Women and Work in South Africa: A Historiographical Perspective Vinay Bahl, (1999), Monthly Review: Reflections on the Recent Work of Sheila Rowbotham: Women's Movements and Building Bridges, Vol. 48, No. 6 Women's History, Library Congress Frankel Noralee, (1997), From Slave Women to Free Women: Federal Records and African American History, Vol. 29, No. 2 Bozzoli Belinda, (1983), Marxism, Feminism and South African Studies Millions Erin, European Women and Historical Writing 1400-1800, www. grad.usask.ca/gateway/archive24.htm - 224k Sheila Rowbotham, (1973) Hidden From History: Rediscovering Women in History from the Seventeenth Century to the Present AJ Kidd, D Nicholls (1999) Gender, Civic Culture and Consumerism: Middle-Class Identity in Britain, 1800-1940 Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, (1982) 'Placing Women's History in History', New Left Review, pp. 5-29 Penelope J. Corfield, (1997) 'History and the Challenge of Gender History', Rethinking History Catherine Hall, (1992) White, Male and Middle Class: Explorations in Feminism and History Judith Bennett, (1989) 'Feminism and History', Gender and History Barbara Melosh (ed.), (1993), Gender and American History Since 1890 Read More