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Full-Text Articles in History of Gender

Redefining Femininity: American Women In Paris In The 1920s, Lauren O'Neill, Michael Gonzalez Phd, Kathryn Statler Phd Aug 2022

Redefining Femininity: American Women In Paris In The 1920s, Lauren O'Neill, Michael Gonzalez Phd, Kathryn Statler Phd

Research Month

Abstract: During the interwar period, from 1918 to 1939, the roles of women experienced change as the traditional gender stereotype of male dependency shifted to female independence and power. Much of this shift can be attributed to the women who found refuge in Paris during this time. Of the many women who realized their independence during the 1920s, Americans Gertrude Stein, Josephine Baker, and Zelda Fitzgerald stand out as trailblazers and examples of those women who reimagined the female role. Coming out of World War I, most of the Western world valued conformity, patriotism, and tradition, however, the "Lost Generation" …


Reconstructing The Confederate Widow: An Analysis Of The Wives Of Fallen Confederate Soldiers And Their Response To Reconstruction And The Post War Era, Christian Beasley Apr 2022

Reconstructing The Confederate Widow: An Analysis Of The Wives Of Fallen Confederate Soldiers And Their Response To Reconstruction And The Post War Era, Christian Beasley

Campus Research Day

This study provides an analysis of how the post-civil war era and Reconstruction affected the financial, social, and political lives of the wives of fallen Confederate soldiers. Because men were the head of families and traditional breadwinners in the South, the widows of the 258,000 fallen Confederate soldiers had to reintegrate themselves into society and support their families without the assistance and comfort of a husband. Although this integration may seem straightforward, these widows struggled to overcome the economic and social difficulties laid before them, including the patriarchal traditions, mourning expectations, severe droughts, and unemployment that plagued these women. This …


“Madam” Elizabeth: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley’S Sisyphean Attempt To Join The “Cult Of True Womanhood”, Bella Biancone Apr 2022

“Madam” Elizabeth: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley’S Sisyphean Attempt To Join The “Cult Of True Womanhood”, Bella Biancone

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Nineteenth century notions of femininity and etiquette were governed by strict societal standards. “True Womanhood” was defined by four fundamental virtues– piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. However, there was another pre-requisite for joining this revered cult¬: whiteness. No matter how pious or domestic a woman of color was, she could never hope to be considered a proper lady by Victorian standards. In discerning what it meant to be a member of that “cult of True Womanhood,” Black women were used to determine the boundaries of white womanhood; a “True Woman” was to be the antithesis of the stereotypical sexual and …