HIST 555: Women in Modern Europe
MWF, 2:10-3:25 PM
(January 23 to April 5, 2008)
Jennifer Popiel
Office Hours by appointment
Office Location: Humanities 314
Office Phone: 977-3229
Home Phone: 752-5206 (except Sundays)
Email: popieljj@gmail.com
**Email is generally the best way to reach me.**
Course Description:
In the late nineteenth century, the French printer and patriot P. J. Proudhon claimed that there
were two possible roles for women, “harlot and housewife, no other choice.” Proudhon found no
shortage of supporters for this view in France. Across the Channel and even the Atlantic, there were also
plenty of people of both sexes who believed that women only belonged in the home, raising children and
staying out of public view.
This course will examine the development of domestic ideology and gender ideals in France, Great
Britain, and the United States in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It will also explore changes and
challenges to these ideas in the twentieth century. Central issues will involve: the relationship between
political, religious, and domestic ideologies, the difference between the domestic experiences of the
bourgeoisie and the working class, and women's responses (both as individuals and in groups) to
household ideology. Topics for examination include gender and sexuality, the structure of families and
households, women's participation in the labor force, and the familial impact of democracy, changing
marriage patterns, and the welfare state. We will use these varied depictions to determine what family
ideals mean for the social enunciation of gender roles.
Course Reading:
Berenson, Trial of Madame Caillaux.
Cott, The Bonds of Womanhood: "Woman's Sphere" in New England, 1780-1835.
May, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era.
Pederson, Family, Dependence, and the Origins of the Welfare State.
Stone, The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800.
Ulrich, Good Wives : Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750.
***article pack/reserve articles***
Structure of the Course:
This seminar-style class will meet three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) for an
hour and 15 minutes each session. This is an accelerated format; instead of a traditional 15 week course,
all material will be completed in 10 weeks.
Course Requirements/Grading (Graduate Option):
•
3 “five” page essays
10% each
•
1 final paper (15-20 pages)
30%
•
3x Leading Discussion
15%
•
Participation/Preparation
25%
In addition to attendance and participation, requirements for the course include three “five” pages
essays (topic to be determined by you) and a final paper (topic to be determined in conjunction with the
instructor). Your final paper will certainly involve some research beyond the course readings; how much
research will depend on the paper topic. All essays must be turned in by hard copy and electronically to
popieljj@gmail.com. All essays must have one inch margins and be typed and double-spaced, in a 12 point
proportional font (such as Times New Roman). You will also be required to lead discussion in class three
times.
Discussion Topics and Reading List
Section One: Overview of the Problem
January 23 – Overview of Domesticity
January 25 – The Classic View: Public and Private Women.
On Blackboard, read: Welter, “Cult of True Womanhood,” and “Kerber, “Separate
Spheres, Female Worlds,” and Pateman, “Sex and Power.” On eReserve, read
Landes, “Introduction,” and “Rousseau’s Reply.”
January 28 – Challenges to the Classic View.
On Blackboard, read Lasser, “Beyond Separate Spheres,” Hunt, “Reading the French
Revolution,” and Desan, “War Between Brothers and Sisters.” Borrow Heuer,
Family and Nation in order to read the Introduction.
Section Two: The Advent of Domesticity: Religion, Work, Sex, and Family Life
January 30 – Colonial Life, Domesticity, and Huswifery.
Read Ulrich, Good Wives, first half (through Chapter Six, Consort).
February 1 – Colonial Life, cont.
Read Ulrich, Good Wives, second half, to end.
February 4 – The Affectionate Family , Economic Change, and Sexual Liberation in Great
Britain.
Read Stone, The Family, Sex and Marriage in England, Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 5.
February 6 – The Affectionate Family , cont.
Read Stone, The Family, Sex and Marriage in England, Chapters 6 - 9.
February 8 – The Affectionate Family , cont.
Read Stone, The Family, Sex and Marriage in England, Chapter 13. On Blackboard, read
McCall, “Reign of Brute Force,” and Shammas, “Domestic Environment.”
February 11 – Domesticity, Civisme, and the Feminine Ideal in France.
Get a complete copy of Popiel, Rousseau’s Daughters from Dr. Popiel. Read
Introduction through end of Chapter Two.
February 13 – Domesticity, cont..
Read Popiel, Rousseau’s Daughters, through end of Conclusion.
February 15 – First Essay Due to History Department by 2 pm (no class held).
Section Three: Internalizing Domesticity: Economics, Religion, and “Private” Behavior
2
February 18 – The Market Revolution and the Cult of Domesticity in New England.
Read Cott, The Bonds of Womanhood, through page 101 (Chapter 3, Education).
February 20 – The Market Revolution, cont.
Read Cott, The Bonds of Womanhood, to end.
February 22 – The Cult of Domesticity expands.
On Blackboard, read Darrow, “French Noblewomen,” Clark, “Chartist
Domesticity,” and Zlotnick, “Thousand Times,” and Wahrman, “Middle-Class
Domesticity.”
February 25 – Private Behavior, etc., cont.
On eReserve, read Davidoff and Hall, all. Borrow Bonnie Smith, Ladies of the Leisure
Class from Dr. Popiel and read Introduction, Chapters 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9.
February 27 – Private Behavior, etc., cont.
On Blackboard, Read Ford, “Private Lives, Public Order,” Rappaport, “Halls of
Temptation,” and Tosh, “Masculinities.”
February 29 – Second Essay Due to History Department by 2 pm (no class held).
Section Four: Moving Beyond Family, Past Domesticity?
March 3 – Domesticity, Passion, and the Ideal Woman.
Read: Berenson, Trial of Madame Caillaux, Prologue and Chapters 1 and 2.
March 5 – Domesticity, Passion, and the Ideal Woman.
Read: Berenson, Trial of Madame Caillaux, Chapters 3 and 4.
March 7 – Domesticity, Passion, and the Ideal Woman.
Read: Berenson, Trial of Madame Caillaux, Chapters 5 and 6 and Epilogue and on
Blackboard, read Nye, “ Fencing.”
March 10 – Maternity and the Government.
Read Pederson, Family, Dependence, and the Origins of the Welfare State : Britain and France,
1914-1945, Chapters 1 and 2.
March 12 – Maternity and the Government.
Read Pederson, Chapters 3 and 5.
March 14 – Maternity and the Government.
Read Pederson, Chapters 6, 7, and Conclusion..
March 26 – The Cold War and the Family.
Read May, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era, Introduction
through end of Chapter 5.
March 28 – Cold War, cont.
Read May, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era, Chapter 6 to end.
March 31 – Third Essay Due to History Department by 2 pm (no class held).
April 2 – Beyond Domesticity, I.
On Blackboard, read Scott, “Gender: A Useful Category of Analysis,” Harrison and
McMillan, “Feminist Betrayals,” and Meyerowitz, “Beyond the Feminine Mystique,”
April 4 – Beyond Domesticity, II.
On Blackboard, read Sklar, “A Call For Comparisons,” Kerber et al, “Beyond Roles,
Beyond Spheres.”
FINAL PAPER DUE TO HISTORY DEPARTMENT BY 2 PM ON APRIL 11.
3