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Full-Text Articles in History
A Widow’S Will: Examining The Challenges Of Widowhood In Early Modern England And America, Alyson D. Alvarez
A Widow’S Will: Examining The Challenges Of Widowhood In Early Modern England And America, Alyson D. Alvarez
Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
While English women in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had different social and economic circumstances, many were able to gain autonomy and power in their widowhood. Widows who were able to gain autonomy faced a number of challenges as they attempted to live and function in a patriarchal society. One of the factors that affected the challenges of a widow was her social standing. In this thesis I argue that widows of all means encountered a challenges from the patriarchal society in which they resided. The number and severity of difficulties that a widow confronted depended on several factors. I …
Death Became Them: The Defeminization Of The American Death Culture, 1609-1899, Briony D. Zlomke
Death Became Them: The Defeminization Of The American Death Culture, 1609-1899, Briony D. Zlomke
Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Focusing specifically on the years 1609 to 1899 in the United States, this thesis examines how middle-class women initially controlled the economy of preparing the dead in pre-industrialized America and lost their positions as death transitioned from a community-based event to an occurrence from which one could profit. In this new economy, men dominated the capitalist-driven funeral parlors and undertaker services. The changing ideology about white middle-class women’s proper places in society and the displacement of women in the “death trade” with the advent of the funeral director exacerbated this decline of a once female-defined practice. These changes dramatically altered …