Till Divorce Do Us Part American Gender History Through the Lens of Divorce History

Julia (Di Long) 龍荻History DepartmentUniversity of Georgia

What are the Major Issues in American

Gender History?The development of women’s citizenship and rights overtime (defined by marriage mainly, facilitated by public policy and law)

The concept that Women’s experience has been shaped by categories gender, race, and economic development.

The popular notion that women have been shaping historical experience and historical discourses.

The gendered power relation between men and women.: How did patriarchal power fall, and how did women respond to changes in the power dynamics of gender relation?

Images of American Women

from Colonial era to 1960sFrom Goodwives to Hippies

Women in Colonial Era

Colonial White Housewives

Slave Girl Native American Women

Republican Mothers (Motherhood)

Abigail Adams

Victorian Wives and Separate Spheres

Women belong to the private sphere, they were expected to make the home a harmonious place for husbands and Children.

Men belong to the Public sphere, they were expected to make money and to be bold in their quest for success in both career and women.

Flappers

Zelda Fitzgerald

Women’s Suffrage Movement and 19th Amendment

Rosie the Riveter in WWII

Women on the home front

Women in the 60s

Suburban Housewives, Secretaries, Activists, etc.

Marriage and Divorce

Women and men’s citizenship has long been defined and shaped by marriage. Common-Law tradition of Coverture: Married women as feme covert.

Family is the single unit that founded the society. Politicians and lawmakers constantly make analogy between the society and family: Revolution and Divorce.

Divorce marks many conflicting issues of gender relations in marriage.

Why New York?

History of divorce in America. Fault BasedHistory of divorce in New York. New York has the strictest divorce law in the nation, and its legislature was the last one of this country to pass no-fault divorce law in 2010. Sources.

Divorce CasesWalker Divorce Case of 1852

DIVORCED

Peaches Browning Case

DIVORCED

Rockefeller Case

DIVORCED

Tentative Summary

Catholic Church was the strongest opponent of divorce law reform in New York.

Women did not have much bargaining power in 19th century. But things changed in 1920s.

Trends in Gender History and Books I like