Defining Gender, 1450-1910

Defining Gender, 1450-1910

Editorial Board:

Professor Martyn Bennett, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, Nottingham Trent University
Dr Rosemary Betterton, Institute for Women's Studies, Lancaster University
Professor Jeremy Black, Department of History, University of Exeter
Professor Toni Bowers, Department of English, University of Pennsylvania
Dr Elizabeth Harvey, Department of English, University of Toronto
Dr Vivien Jones, School of English, University of Leeds
Professor Christopher Kent, Department of History, University of Saskatchewan
Dr Jane Long, Head of Women’s Studies, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Western Australia
Dr Cathy McClive, Northern Centre for the History of Medicine, Durham University
Dr Sara Mendelson, Arts and Social Programme, McMaster University
Dr Lisa O’Connell, Department of English, Johns Hopkins University
Professor Jeanne Peterson, Department of History & Gender Studies Program, Indiana University
Professor Erika Rappaport, Department of History, University of California at Santa Barbara
Dr Ainslie Robinson, Faculty of Arts, University of Western Australia
Dr David Turner, Department of History, University of Wales Swansea
Dr Claire Walsh, The Open University
Dr Sarah Winter, Department of English, University of Connecticut, Storrs

Source Libraries:

Bedfordshire & Luton Archives and Records Service
Birmingham Central Libraries
University of Birmingham Library
The Bodleian Library, Oxford
The British Library, London
Brynmor Jones Library, University of Hull
Cambridge University Library
Clark Library, Los Angeles
Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies
Leeds University Library
The London Library
Marlborough College, Wiltshire
St Hilda’s College Archive, University of Oxford
Somerville College Archive, University of Oxford

Nature of the Material:

A wide range of original sources including ephemera, pamphlets, commonplace books, diaries, periodicals, letters, ledgers, manuscript journals, poetry, receipt books and conduct and advice literature. All of the material has been indexed to provide ready accessibility for students by person and subject.

The majority of the material included has not been published by us before and is featured here for the first time.

We have tried to ensure that there is minimal overlap with other published collections such as EEBO, ECCO, the History of Women and the Shaw-Shoemaker collection. For instance, less than 3% of the material can be found in the Gerritsen Collection.

We have drawn upon several of our existing microfilm collections including ‘Women Advising Women’, ‘Women and Victorian Values’, ‘Masculinity’, and ‘Sex and Sexuality’ – but we have not reproduced more than 10% of any of these collections. In fact, Defining Gender is designed to encourage the use of these original microfilm collections by pointing at avenues for further research.

Scope of the Collection:

Defining Gender is structured in five sections, each containing a substantial body of original source material, together with thematic essays by leading scholars in the field.

The thematic essays introduce students to the material, suggest possible approaches, and place the documents within a broad historical, literary and cultural context. The sources all have distinct URLs and can be readily integrated into course packs or projected in the classroom.

All of the sources have been indexed by person, place, subject and date and searches can be carried out over all five sections.

The study and analysis of gender, leisure and consumer culture has now become one of the most vibrant areas of social, cultural and intellectual research, transcending the disciplinary boundaries of history, literature, sociology, education and gender studies. This publication will provide resources for many new projects and conference papers, as well as for graduate seminars and undergraduate teaching.

SECTION I: CONDUCT AND POLITENESS

There has never been any shortage of advice given to women. How should they behave? How can they fulfil themselves? What counts as fulfilment? The assumptions and goals of conduct literature change over the five centuries covered by this collection. To what extent do these changes inform theories of separate spheres? To what extent do these challenge conventional notions of the development of women during this period? When did notions of modesty, politeness and submissiveness begin? To what extent were these derived from male chivalric codes? What were the expectations placed on young men in terms of civility, gallantry and manners, and to what extent were these fulfilled? The essays and texts featured here explore all of these issues and more. They deal with the behaviour of young women seeking to attract suitors, and differing gender roles in the marriage market. They look at personal conduct as a means of engineering social stability. They look at consumption, sexuality and excess as evils, often associated with the aristocracy, to be overcome.

SECTION II: DOMESTICITY AND THE FAMILY

Section II frames gendered behaviour within the context of the family. How did households evolve over five centuries? Where did the power lie? Was the patriarchal head of the household always in place? The essays and texts explore the position of men within the family. They also look at relations between siblings and the role of women. They look at household management and the control of family budgets. They emphasise the importance of defined roles for all family members, which were all the time being subverted.

SECTION III: CONSUMPTION AND LEISURE

Section III provides primary source documents to facilitate a gendered approach to topics such as consumption, consumer culture, advertising, leisure, sport and entertainment. To provide contextual help with this complex, but intriguing area, we feature three essays on Gender, Consumer Culture and Behaviour. The other essays cover sport in a domestic and imperial context, and offer a critical examination of gender attitudes to leisure pursuits. There is also material from the John Johnson Collection of ephemera from the Bodleian Library Oxford, which provides insights into many leisure pursuits, such as Cinema, Theatre, Circus, Music Hall, Sport, Tourism, Fairs and Festivals 1750-1910.

These sources will encourage students to explore issues such as: How did male behaviour and perceptions of masculinity influence these social activities? How did gender orientation influence consumer and leisure preferences? What were men and women most interested in? How did public opinion and advertising affect behaviour? What were separate activities for men and women? What tasks were pursued jointly or in consultation? What were the differences in activities for unmarried and married men and women?

SECTION IV: EDUCATION AND SENSIBILITY

The education of women was always a contentious issue and was linked with the prospect of women gaining employment and independence as a result. There is much on the dangers of reading the ‘wrong sort’ of literature. Rousseau, Wollstonecraft and Edgeworth all advocated a more progressive attitude. Hannah More put her ideas into practice - establishing a school for girls. The education of men is also explored. There are worries that certain teachings will feminize and weaken them. There are also texts exploring the teaching of young men in order to create servants of Empire. The role of sport and physical exercise is seen as being as important as the need to inculcate discipline and respect for order.

A key ingredient to Section IV are substantial groups of material from Marlborough College in Wiltshire, St Hilda’s College in Oxford and Somerville College, Oxford, which will enable detailed project work on topics such as control and discipline in boy’s schools, the granting of degrees to women and the development of the curriculum in schools.

SECTION V: THE BODY

The four contextual essays help us evaluate gendered perceptions of the body and allow comparisons within, and between, different time periods. We include evidence from Various medical writings, including a strong core of works on anatomy and midwifery with hundreds of illustrations, Government papers from the Home Office and Metropolitan Police, images of original art, including engravings and portraits, travel writing, medical and other periodicals, receipt books, works relating to sexuality, fiction and verse, works on the concept of beauty, literary manuscripts, diaries and conduct books. All the documents included in this section enable researchers to study changing views and ideas about the body in literature and history. How did attitudes, behaviour, concerns, discussions, actions and writings on this topic alter over time? This material looks at gender issues in relation to medicine and anatomy, midwifery, different parts of the body, beauty, sexuality, prostitution, appearance and fashion. It also touches upon ground which is of strong interest to people working in a wide range of different academic disciplines, from history, sociology, literature and gender studies to the social history of medicine, psychology, philosophy, religious and cultural studies.

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