The Pocket: A Hidden History of Women’s Lives, 1660–1900

Author(s):  
Jessica Harpley
Keyword(s):  
Itinerario ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Francis R. Bradley

Abstract This article examines five wars that occurred on the Malay-Thai Peninsula in the period 1785–1838 and the deep impact they had upon women's lives during and after the conflicts. Constituting the majority of surviving refugees, women rebuilt their lives in the wake of war through business and trade in Malaya, as Islamic teachers in Mecca and Southeast Asia, and as servants and slaves in Bangkok. In each of these settings, women encountered new forms of agency and newfound challenges, shifting cultural values that regulated decisions and actions, and evolving perceptions of the qualifications for leadership. Focused upon the political demise of the Patani Sultanate, a state with a long history of female rule, this study is of particular relevance to scholarly debates concerning women in contemporary warfare because of its transnational focus with keen attention to women in a variety of Islamic spaces and contexts, its aim of dispelling the pervasive notion of Muslim women as lacking agency, and as a point of comparison for the present armed conflict still raging in Southern Thailand that has claimed more than five thousand and continues to impact women and gender dynamics in the region.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
Talia Schaffer

In May 2017, the annual City University of New York (CUNY) Victorian Conference addressed the history of Victorian feminist criticism. Our conference coincided with the fortieth anniversary of A Literature of Their Own and the thirtieth anniversary of Desire and Domestic Fiction, affording us a chance to think about the legacy of these groundbreaking texts. Elaine Showalter, Martha Vicinus, and Nancy Armstrong spoke about their struggles to establish and maintain Victorian feminist work in the twentieth century, often against outright hostility. We also heard about issues in twenty-first-century Victorian feminist practice: Alison Booth spoke about digital-humanities codification of Victorian women's lives, Jill Ehnenn discussed queer revisions, and Maia McAleavey explored new theories of relationality, while I gave a response to Armstrong's talk. Meanwhile, Carolyn Oulton's discussion of the ongoing struggle to canonize Victorian women writers spoke to the continuous work required to make Victorian women's writing familiar to the field. It was an emotional day, for we all recognized that this might be one of the last times that the founding generation could be together to share these stories.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadaf Alipour ◽  
Hadi Rashidi ◽  
Khadije Maajani ◽  
Marzieh Orouji ◽  
Yas Eskandari

Abstract Background Health status and perception can be assessed by general or disease-specific questionnaires, the latter are more sensitive. Considering the importance of breast health in women’s lives and the lack of any pertinent questionnaire, we performed this study to develop a valid and reliable short BH questionnaire (BHQ); and then use it for the assessment of participants. Methods We first designed and developed the instrument, followed by measurement of inter-rater agreement IRA, content validity including content validity index (I-CVI) and scale content validity index (S-CVI), and reliability (through internal consistency and test-retest). We then included eligible women with normal breasts and benign breast disorders who attended our breast clinic. Results The IRA index (78.6%) showed optimal relevance and clarity of the questionnaire. The content validity was acceptable; with an S-CVI of 87.35 and 84.42 for clarity and relevance, respectively. One question was eliminated (I-CVI < 70%). The internal reliability was high (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.93). For external consistency, three questions were eliminated (intraclass correlation coefficient < 0.7), the rest of the questions showed good and excellent reliability. In the next step, BH in the 350 eligible participants showed an overall score of 55.86 ± 11.57. Among different variables, age was the only one that showed a significant direct relationship with BH. A history of breast surgery for benign lesions and a family history of breast cancer did not affect BH. Conclusion This study introduces a valid reliable 11-item BHQ. We propose its use in various conditions throughout breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment; and in the assessment of BH in various physiologic and reproductive situations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 223-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena M Obermair ◽  
Kirsten J McCaffery ◽  
Rachael H Dodd

Objective In 2017, the Australian National Cervical Screening Program changed from two-yearly Pap smears between ages 18 and 69, to five-yearly human papillomavirus screening between ages 25 and 74 (the “Renewal”). This study investigated attitudes towards the changes, among individuals previously affected by cervical abnormalities/cervical cancer, personally or through a friend/relative. Methods We conducted a thematic analysis of comments expressing personal history or a family/friend history of cervical abnormalities/cervical cancer as a reason for opposing changes to the cervical screening program. The comments were taken from a 20% random sample of 19,633 comments posted on the “Change.org” petition “Stop May 1st Changes to Pap Smears – Save Women's Lives” in February–March 2017. Results There were 831 (20.8%) commenters who reported that they were concerned about a change in screening due to: feelings of increased personal vulnerability to cervical cancer due to their own personal history of cervical abnormalities; comparison of extended screening intervals and later age of first screening to their own experiences; and a perception of increased personal risk due to family history. Conclusion Women previously affected by cervical abnormalities or cervical cancer, personally or through a friend/relative, expressed concern about changes to cervical screening due to perceived increased risk and feeling vulnerable due to personal history.


1992 ◽  
Vol 28 (109) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret MacCurtain ◽  
Mary O’Dowd

In the last twenty years women’s history has emerged as a major field of scholarly inquiry. An extensive literature has accumulated on the history of women in western Europe and North America, and the contribution which women have made to many different aspects of western society has been rediscovered. New areas of study have been developed as the gender differences in men’s and women’s lives have been recognised and researched. The expanding secondary literature has also led to a lively debate about the purpose, methodology and theory of women’s history. A central focus of discussion has been the relationship between women’s history and mainstream history. Initially research on the history of women tended to work within the parameters of traditional history: to be fitted into its ‘empty spaces’. But dissatisfaction with the male-centred and patriarchal nature of the predominant historical discourse has led women historians to seek out new methodologies and to argue that consideration of history from the perspective of women, as well as of men, is a major challenge to the whole nature of historical inquiry. As Gerda Lerner, a pioneer of women’s history in the United States, put it, women’s history challenges the traditional assumption that man is the measure of all that is significant, and that the activities pursued by men are by definition significant, while those pursued by women are subordinate in importance. It challenges the notion that civilization is that which men have created, defended, and advanced while women had babies and serviced families and to which they, occasionally and in a marginal way, ‘contributed’.


Author(s):  
Gertrude Mianda

This examination of the history of women’s situation in Central Africa from the late colonial period of the 19th to the early 21st century sheds light on women’s experiences by highlighting their agency in confronting the changes they faced. The colonizers’ introduction of cash crop production and forced labor in the late 19th century to modernize the economy impacted the sexual division of labor, transforming the organization of the work within the family and community. In the post-independence period, traditional gender expectations continued to shape the lives of the majority of women, but a small number were able to take advantage of social mutations in the domains of education, politics, and work to become leaders. Transformations brought about by postcolonial armed conflict in three Central African countries profoundly affected women’s lives.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-313
Author(s):  
Laura Chevalier

Abstract This article plumbs the spiritual life writing of two twentieth-century single female evangelical missionaries, Lillian Trasher and Dr. Helen Roseveare, for evidence of the church. It rests on concepts of feminine spirituality and the history of women and mission. The historical analysis traces the women’s lives from their early formation through their mission work and looks at six themes of the church on mission that emerged from their writing. It argues that they served as mamas of the church in their contexts by nurturing life through their acts of compassionate care. Their small but deliberate acts of sacrifice and service continue to pose missiological invitations and challenges to the church. Therefore, the article also builds an initial “mama theology” of the church on mission by examining where images in Isaiah and impulses in mission today intersect with the themes in the women’s writing.


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