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Women's history is a term that can refer to two things:
RIGHTS AND EQUALITY Women's Rights refers to the social and human rights of women. One of the first women's rights declaration was the " Declaration Of Sentiments ". From women's involvement within the Abolition Movement s, women became aware of the male dominance and oppression. From then on women struggled for equality. The History Of Feminism reaches far back before the 18th century, but the seeds of the feminist movement were planted during the latter portion of that century. The advent of the reformist age during the 19th century meant that those invisible minorities or marginalised majorities were to find a catalyst and a microcosm in such new tendencies of reform. The earliest works on the so-called "woman question" criticised the restrictive role of women, without necessarily claiming that women were disadvantaged or that men were to blame. In The UK, The Feminism Movement began in the 1800s and continues in the present day. In the early 20th century, Simone De Beauvoir wrote a detailed analysis of women's oppression. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Sexual Revolution substantially changed the condition of women in the Western world. The trigger for the revolution was the development of the birth control pill in 1960, which gave women access to easy and reliable contraception. SEX AND REPRODUCTION In the History Of Sex , the social construction of sexual behavior - its taboos, regulation and social and political impact - has had a profound effect on women in the world since prehistoric times. The History Of Abortion dates back to ancient times and has impacted men and women in a variety of ways in different times and places. Historically, it is unclear how often the ethics of abortion (induced abortion) was discussed. In the later half of the 20th century some nations began to legalize abortion. This controversial subject has sparked heated debate and in some cases even violence. Women have been exposed to various tortuous sexual conditions and been discriminated in various fashions in history. An example are the Comfort Women , women who were forced to work as sex slaves in military brothels in Japanese-occupied countries during World War II (but is not addressed fully in Japanese History Textbooks , according to some). CLOTHING The Social Aspects Of Clothing has been related to the traditions regarding certain items of clothing intrinsically suited different Gender Role s. In particular, the wearing of skirts and trousers has given rise to common phrases expressing implied restrictions in use and disapproval of offending behaviour. For example, ancient Greeks often considered the wearing of trousers by Persian men as a sign of an effeminate attitude. Women's clothing in Victorian Fashion was used as a means of control and admiration. Reactions to the elaborate confections of French fashion led to various calls for reform on the grounds of both beauty (Artistic and Aesthetic dress) and health (dress reform; especially for Undergarment s and Lingerie ). Although Trousers for women did not become fashion items until the later 20th century, women began wearing men's trousers (suitably altered) for outdoor work a hundred years earlier. In the 1960s, André Courrèges introduced long trousers for women as a fashion item, leading to the era of the pantsuit and designer jeans and the gradual eroding of the prohibitions against girls and women wearing trousers in schools, the workplace, and fine restaurants. Corsets Also Have Long Been Used for fashion, and body modification, such as waistline reduction. There were ,and are, many different styles and types of corsets, varying depending on the intended use, corset maker's style, and the fashions of the era. The Status of Women In The Victoria Era is often seen as an illustration of the striking discrepancy between the nation's power and richness and what many, then and now, consider its appalling social conditions. Victorian Morality was full of many contradictions. A plethora of social movements concerned with improving public morals co-existed with a class system that permitted harsh living conditions for many, such as women. There is an apparent contradiction between the widespread cultivation of an outward appearance of dignity and restraint and the prevalence of social phenomena that included prostitution. In the Victorian era, the Bathing Machine was developed. It was a device that flourished in the 19th century to allow people to wade in the ocean at beaches without violating Victorian notions of modesty. The bathing machine was part of sea-bathing etiquette that was more rigorously enforced upon women than men. RELIGION The Christian Views Of Women vary considerably today and have varied even more throughout the last two millennia, evolving along with or counter to the societies in which Christians have lived. When some women have Interreligious Marriage , or Marriage (either religious or civil) between partners professing different religions, they seldom can do so without disobeying both of these religions. Women In Islam , equal before God with men, have been exposed to various restrictions. These have been placed on girls and women in many countries, regarding their civil rights, education, dress code, professional lives, marriage, divorce, and legal status due to cultural influence, the Sharia , and lack of proper Islamic knowledge. The role of women under Sharia, the Islamic law, classically draws no distinction between religious and secular life. Theologically, there are many differences in legislation regarding women. The earlier Madhhabs tend to be more conservative, while modern schools have varied from modern Liberal Movements Within Islam to Wahhabism and Salafism, both of which are much more traditional. FIGHTING AND COMBAT Women Have Participated In Warfare in a variety of ways in different times and places. Women have played important roles and have influenced the outcomes of many wars. Female involvement has been official and unofficial through out history and in modern civilizations women's involvement in the military been both voluntary and mandatory. IMPACT Despite it's relatively short life, Women's History has had a rather significant effect on the general study of History . Since the 1960s , when the initially small field first achieved a measure of acceptance, it has gone through a number of different phases, each with it's own challenges and outcomes, but always making an impact of some kind on the historical discipline. Although some of the changes to the study of history have been quite obvious, such increased numbers of books on Famous Women or simply the admission of greater numbers of women into the historical profession, other influences are more subtle, even though they may be more politically groundbreaking in the end. Within the Profession According to historian Joan Scott, conflict occurred between Women's History Historians and other historians in a number of ways. In the American Historical Association , when Feminist s argued that female historians were treated unequally within the field and underrepresented in the association, they were essentially leveling charges of historical negligence by traditional historians. Notions of Professionalism were not rejected outright, but they were accused of biased. If the virtues of the historical profession failed to appreciate and include the work of female historians, what kind of effect did those same virtues have on the history men were writing? Supplementary History The construction of Women's History as “ Supplementary ” to the rest of history had a similar effect. At first glance, a supplement simply adds information which has been missing from the greater story, but as Scott points out, it also questions why the information was left out in the first place. Whenever it is noticed that a woman found to be missing from written history, Women's History first describes her role, second, examines which mechanisms allowed her role to be omitted, and third, asks to what other information these mechanisms were blind. If a human being can be left out entirely, what else has been missed as a result of the established practices of the historical profession? Gender Theory Finally, the advent of Gender Theory once again challenged commonly held ideas of the discipline, including those scholars studying Women's History. Post-modern criticism of essentialising Socially Constructed groups, be they Gender groups or otherwise, pointed out the weaknesses in various sorts of history. In the past, Historian s have attempted to describe the shared experience of large numbers of people, as though these people and their experiences were homogeneous and uniform. Women have multiple Identities , influenced by any number of factors including Race and Class , and any examination of history which conflates their experiences, fails to get an accurate picture. SEE ALSO The following is a list of links either about women's history, or containing relevant information, often in a "History" section. Lists
General
Sexuality
Research Other
EXTERNAL ARTICLES AND REFERENCES
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