History of Gender Commons^™

Juveniles In Early Modern Jewish-Italian Communities Between Family Control And Kabbalistic Piety, Roni Weinstein

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

The presentation discusses conceptions of childhood, youth, and marriage in Italian Jewish Culture.

The text reproduced is an excerpt from a mid-seventeenth century work by Pinhas Baruch Monselice.

The Role Of Marriage And Marital Sexuality In Lurianic Kabbalah, Lawrence Fine

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

The presentation situates the development of Lurianic Kabbalah in its context of sixteenth-century Safed. Focusing on two texts by Hayyim Vital, Lawrence Fine discusses sexuality and marital relations in Lurianic Kabbalah and among the Kabbalists themselves.

This presentation is for the following text(s):

• Ta'amei Mitsvot, Parshat Bereshit (Reasons for the Commandments concerning “Be Fruitful and Multiply”) by Hayim Vital (1570s)
• Sha'ar Kavvanot (The Gate of [Contemplative] Intentions, Concerning Sabbath Eve) by Hayim Vital (1570s)

“The First Duty Of Nature Is To Preserve Life” A Jewish Woman’S Plea For Divorce In Late 18th-Century Trieste, Lois Dubin

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

The presentation discusses a letter from Relle [Rachele] Morschene (1770-1844) of Trieste to Chief Rabbi Raffael Natan Tedesco, written in the throes of her three-year long effort to extricate herself from her marriage to husband Lucio Luzzatto (1755-1801). From 1793 to 1796, Morschene pursued separation and civil divorce through the Habsburg courts at the same time as a Jewish religious divorce. Indeed, she was one of the first European Jewish women to seek and obtain a civil divorce. Her legal situation was novel because Jews in the Habsburg Monarchy were among the first to be subjected to civil marriage regulation …

The Woodstruck Deed The Documentation Of Accidental Defloration Among The Jews Of Early Modern Italy, David Malkiel

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

The “woodstruck” (mukat ets) deed, a Hebrew document that officially records the accidental defloration of a young girl, appears in sixteenth-century Italy, in a block of deeds recorded by Jewish notaries in Rome, in a rabbinic responsum and in the record book of the Padua community. Prior to that, there is no record of such an instrument anywhere in Jewish history and literature, despite the fact that the frequency of accidental defloration must have been a constant. Moreover, the registers of the Jewish notaries of sixteenth-century Rome contain over a hundred such deeds for the sixteenth century alone. The appearance …

Jewish Women And Economic Encounters With Christians, Debra Kaplan

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

R. Yair Hayyim ben Moses Samson Bacharach (1638-1702) is well-known for his knowledge of halakha and Kabbalah. Over the course of his lifetime, he served as the rabbi in several locations in the Holy Roman Empire. In these two responsa, Bacharach deals with one of the halakhic problems surrounding women’s trade with non-Jews. Such trade inevitably caused women to enter into seclusion (yihud) with non-Jews, especially since according to Jewish law, the presence of the non-Jew’s wife did not alleviate the prohibition of seclusion with a non-Jew.

This presentation is for the following text(s):

• Havvot Yair, Responsum 66
• Havvot Yair, …

Unequal Opportunities The Economic Possibilities Open To Jewish Women In 18th Century Poland-Lithuania, Adam Teller

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

The following texts present an image of economic opportunities, and gender roles in Jewish society in eastern Europe. The first text is an 18th-century supplication by a Jew, Bunim Szlomowicz, against his wife; the second is a 1751 decree by the Council of Lithuania regulating women's roles in trade.

Marriage And Networkbuilding, Claudia Ulbrich

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

In eastern France Jewish marriages are well documented in the eighteenth century. Following a decree by Louis XIV in 1701 that Jewish marriage contracts had to be deposited with notaries within 15 days of marriage, these documents were registered with increasing frequency in the entire French-German region. Registration became generally obligatory in that time, so that we have large amounts of documents both for Christian as for Jews. Historians have never fully analyzed these files. Jean Fleury, who was prompted by genealogical interests, surveyed the 8500 items in the Metz archive, and compiled 2021 marriage contracts from the seventeenth and …

Pinkas Shamash Altona (1766-1767), Elisheva Carlebach

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

Elisheva Carlebach's presentation discusses excerpts from the Pinkas Shamash Altona, providing a glimpse on an aspect of Jewish life that usually remained obscured--illegitimate children born to Jewish domestic servants, and the servants themselves, held very marginal status in the community. One of the pertinent issue was death. If they died the responsibility for buying them was contested between many different parties.

This presentation is for the following text(s):

• Pinkas Shamash Altona (1766-1767)

Click here for a video presentation.

Jewish Marriage In Christian Eyes, Yaacov Deutsch

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

This presentation deals with a Christian description of early modern Jewish marriage rituals. The text is a translation of a chapter on Jewish marriage from Johannes Buxtorf's "Synagoga Judaica" or "Jewish Synagogue" (1603).

This presentation is for the following text(s):

• Synagoga Judaica (The Jewish Synagogue) by Johannes Buxtorf (1603)

Ordering Early Modern Marriage, Elisheva Baumgarten

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

In this presentation, Elisheva Baumgarten discusses marriage rituals as recorded by a seventeenth-century Jewish author of a book of customs (sefer minhagim), which became popular in the early modern period. Baumgarten compares Yuspa of Worms' work with materials from the medieval period. She also places Jewish marriage rituals within the context of non-Jewish cultures of the time.

This presentation is for the following text(s):

• The Custom book of R. Juspa of Worms (17th century)

Click here to view the video

Emw 2006: Gender, Family, And Social Structures, Emw 2006

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

The 2006 Early Modern Workshop on the topic of “Gender, Family, and Social Structures” addressed a spectrum of topics about the transformation of the concept and form of family in general, and of Jewish family in particular in the early modern period.

The workshop took up questions of: marriage rituals, as represented by early modern (Elisheva Baumgarten) and Christians (Jacob Deutsch), and marriage contracts (Ruth Lamdan), responsibilities of the Jewish community to women and out-of-wedlock children (Elisheva Carlebach), challenges to marriage and marital propriety (Debra Kaplan on rabbinic responses to Jewish women’s encounters with Christian men; David Malkiel and Kenneth …

Treading Water In A Sea Of Male Politicians—Women’S Organizations And Lobby Activities In Historical Perspective, Danelle L. Moon

Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Naccs 33rd Annual Conference, National Association For Chicana And Chicano Studies

NACCS Conference Programs

Linking Local and Global Struggles for Social Justice: Transnational Chicana and Chicano Studise
June 28-July 2006
Hotel Fénix and Hotel Morales

Gender Mainstreaming And Integration Of Women In Decision- Making: The Case Of Water Management In Samari-Nkwanta, Ghana, Nana Ama Serwah Poku Sam

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

Water, as a natural resource, is a basic necessity of life. In recent years, it has been recognized that community participation, especially by women, is essential to the success of water and sanitation projects in poor communities of developing countries. This research therefore focused on an assessment of how the conscious consideration of gender issues has affected the outcomes of the Samari-Nkwanta Water and Sanitation Project (SWSP) in the South-western part of Ghana.The study revealed that the involvement of women and men from the initial stages of project to the end helps to enhance more equitable participation and responsibility sharing.

Editorial, Zdenka Kalnicka

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

No abstract provided.

A Gender Perspective On Water Resources And Sanitation, Marcia Brewster

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

Women are closely connected to and affected by use of, access to and control over water resources, including water supply and sanitation facilities. Drawing on case studies from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia, this article: analyses the central role women play in providing, managing and safeguarding water resources and sanitation services; examines the issues of concern to be addressed in order to implement a gender-sensitive approach to water management and sanitation; and makes recommendations for strategies to mainstream gender perspectives in the field of water resources and sanitation management.

“The Place Of Cool Waters”: Women And Water In The Slums Of Nairobi, Kenya, Chi-Chi Undie, Johannes John-Langba, Elizabeth Kimani

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

n this paper, we explore how women and young girls in two informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya, are affected by water in its various forms. We analyze sixteen focus group discussions with women, girls in school, and girls out of school, focusing on their unique water experiences and concerns. Drawing on the strengths of qualitative data, we thickly describe how women navigate the water challenges prevalent in the urban slum context.

Narcissuses, Medusas, Ophelias… Water Imagery And Femininity In The Texts By Two Decadent Women Writers, Viola Parente-Capkova

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

My concern is the way in which women writers whose work can be characterized as Decadent and/or Symbolist used the figures of Narcissus, Medusa and Ophelia, as well as the imagery of femininity and water. When analyzing this aspect of their work, I am looking at the ways in which these writers created and co-created the Decadent imagery, what strategies they adopted in their representations of woman and the construction of female subjectivity.

The Heart Of Undine: The Im/Possibility To Love Under Water, Ulrike Hugo

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

This short story plays upon the myth of the water nymph, who out of love for a man gives up her previous existence and becomes mortal. Traumatized women, especially, often experience love in this tension of devotion and self-sacrifice. The text plays with a metaphorical language bordering lyricism and kitsch, it plays with exaggerated notions of love and projections and culminates in an ending which is predictable yet deviates from the myth.

Images Of Water And Woman In The Arts, Zdenka Kalnicka

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

Archetypal connection of woman and water is ambiguous: it includes the connection of water and woman with life as well as with death. The paper explores the ways, how two sides of this connection were depicted in the artworks created by women and men artists, focusing on their gender differentiated approach (Albín Brunovsk_ and Germaine Richier, Edward Burne-Jones and Edith Rimmington). As an inspiration for reconsideration of the relationship between Life and Death, the potential of old symbol of the frog as the symbol of birth, death and re-birth is examined (Susan Makov).

The Ladies Of The Water: Iemanjá, Oxum, Oiá And A Living Faith, Cláudia Cerqueira Do Rosario

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

The orishas Iemanjá , Oxum and Oiá are related to the forces of salt and fresh waters, and to the storms, and are objects of living worship not only in Brazil but also in parts of Africa - where they came from - and Americas. Based on their archetypal representations, this paper will be a reflection on the archetypes of the relationship woman/water and its symbolic implications, both in “sacred” and “profane” ways, still alive in contemporary culture.

The Changing Role Of Women In Watermanagement: Myths And Realities, Nandita Singh

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

Women and water are linked in several ways, an important pragmatic linkage being their role in water management. Several continuous efforts at positively transforming this role have been made during the last three decades, ranging from their improved role as domestic water managers to eliciting their greater participation in water management initiatives at community level. Studies tend to indicate that the anticipated ends of such exercises are universally achievable, in isolation of the prevailing social and cultural contexts where the women are placed. This paper seeks to unfold the realities underlying the universalistic claims regarding a transformed role for women …

How Beneficial Has Water Technology Been For Rural Nepalese Women?, Bhawana Upadhya

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

This paper aims to explore the effect of irrigation technology on women of rural Nepalese terai communities. This is done by looking at the effect of technological change on rural women of three different classes in terms of their absolute and relative access to income, food consumption and workload. The article also explores how technology adoption helps enhance rural women's bargaining power and how division of labor is gendered. Case study approach together with other participatory rural appraisal techniques had been used to gather field information.. The study reveals that even in a small social setting, gender identities prevail over …

Mmatshilo Motsei, Hearing Visions Seeing Voices, 2004, Jacanamedia, South Africa. Isbn 1-919931-51-1, R139.95, Pp. 189., Mechthild Nagel

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

No abstract provided.

Women, Water And The Reclamation Of The Feminine, Colleen Kattau

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

This paper examines the relationship between water and women particularly in terms of representative cultural expressions that underlie women's recovery of water as a fundamental human right, and explores how deep knowledge and trust of earth's bounty sustains viable and effective social change campaigns such as the right to water movement. Drawing principally upon the sociocultural analysis of ecofeminist thinkers such as Vandana Shiva and Carolyn Merchant, as well as William Marks's work on water, I critique the nature-culture dichotomy underlying approaches to water as a 'resource', and try to undermine the accepted hierarchy of 'power over nature' which by …

Symbols Of Water And Woman On Selected Examples Of Modern Bengali Literature In The Context Of Mythological Tradition, Blanka Knotkova-Capkova

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

Woman-water homology appears in modern Bengali literature (namely poetry) in various aspects: as the archetypal symbol of creation and destruction, symbol of the womb as the beginning and end of life and rebirth (connoting both physical womb and eternal womb), and also of the womb as dark mysteriousness; a symbol of the continuation, preservation of life, symbol of transience and elusiveness, traditional male written poetic symbol of charm and beauty. In the demystifying, subversive (not only female) poetic imagination, it may also construct the symbol of eternal unity with the female principle, articulate a specific concept of female identity.

Review Of Silvia Federici Caliban And The Witch: Women,The Body And Primitive Accumulation (2005, Autonomedia,Nyc), Ann Fergusun

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

No abstract provided.

Adolescent Fears And Anxieties: A Comparative Analysis Of Parents' And Teachers' Perceptions Of Adolescent Differences, Carolyn B. Miller

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of the study were 1) to compare parents and teachers and students perceptions of students' fears and anxieties, and 2) to determine if there were differences in students' fears and anxieties based on grade level or gender. This study was quantitative in nature. Four hundred eighty-six middle school students in a five through eight configuration, and their parents and teachers were included in the sample. Two surveys were given: The Middle Level Survey was created by the researcher, and the Comprehensive Assessment of School Climate is a National Study of School Evaluation (NS SE) product created by Kelley, …

The Role And Effect Of Advertising On Women During World War Ii, Laura Elizabeth Francis

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Advertising had an overwhelming effect on women during World War II; many women were influenced by advertising in the media to behave a certain way, buy certain products, and also support the war effort in a variety of ways. In the 1940s while many American women’s husbands, fiances, boyfriends, brothers, and sons were going off to fight in the War abroad, many women were fighting a war of their own on the home front. While men could prove they were active patriotic citizens by fighting in the military and taking government positions, female’s roles were re-written to show what they …

Looking At Lesbian Feminism 1970-2005: Conversations Across Generations, Polly Thistlethwaite

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

What has become of lesbian feminism? Over 100 activists, scholars, and writers convened at the CUNY Graduate Center on Friday, October 28, for intergenerational discussions about lesbian-feminism. Activists from the first 'organized' lesbian movement paired with lesbian activists who came out post-lesbian-feminism to talk about lesbian-feminism and the body, culture, sex, and movement building. Together with a moderator, participants in the four featured discussions shared convictions and experiences about class, race, transgender politics, misogyny, privilege, dating strategies, sexual styles, and liberation struggles.