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Well. Hmmm.
Mar. 29th, 2010 01:15 pmOver the weekend I read Olwen Hufton's The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe 1500-1800. In a lot of senses it was really interesting and informative and good but -
But.
I could not help but notice that in five hundred pages not one reference was made to any women of color living in Europe, enslaved, free, or indentured. You would think, from this book, that there were no such women in Europe between 1500 and 1800. (The only acknowledgement of any peoples of any colonized country is in the context of wealthy widows gone off to Canada to be missionaries. They don't appear beyond that one reference to them as the objects of mission.) But I know this is not true. It's a major flaw in the work. I kept expecting to come to at least a section on women of color and never ever did!
Jewish women are noted only in passing, and then solely in the context of the importance of women's role in enculturating women's roles, particularly in cultures under siege. While this is obviously vital, it can't at all be the only way in which Jewish women's lives differed from the lives of Christian women. I wanted to know more! But it's never followed up on. (Actually, coming back up to here, I think Jewish women might get mentioned again briefly in the section on widows and guilds, but I can't find it.)
( Queer women, crossdressing women, people who might have been trans men, and rape statistics historical and current behind the cut. )
I don't know what to say about it. In many ways it was a very good and interesting book. Her chapter on riots, women, and the French Revolution is particularly fantastic! I also really enjoyed the discussion of the different mechanisms for dowering. But these things concerned me deeply.
But.
I could not help but notice that in five hundred pages not one reference was made to any women of color living in Europe, enslaved, free, or indentured. You would think, from this book, that there were no such women in Europe between 1500 and 1800. (The only acknowledgement of any peoples of any colonized country is in the context of wealthy widows gone off to Canada to be missionaries. They don't appear beyond that one reference to them as the objects of mission.) But I know this is not true. It's a major flaw in the work. I kept expecting to come to at least a section on women of color and never ever did!
Jewish women are noted only in passing, and then solely in the context of the importance of women's role in enculturating women's roles, particularly in cultures under siege. While this is obviously vital, it can't at all be the only way in which Jewish women's lives differed from the lives of Christian women. I wanted to know more! But it's never followed up on. (Actually, coming back up to here, I think Jewish women might get mentioned again briefly in the section on widows and guilds, but I can't find it.)
( Queer women, crossdressing women, people who might have been trans men, and rape statistics historical and current behind the cut. )
I don't know what to say about it. In many ways it was a very good and interesting book. Her chapter on riots, women, and the French Revolution is particularly fantastic! I also really enjoyed the discussion of the different mechanisms for dowering. But these things concerned me deeply.
