Directed Reading #1

February 2, 2004

Women’s History in Perspective

“Women’s History”

1. What is Scott’s main argument in this chapter?
2. What do you understand by “gender”, “woman as subject”, and “politics”?
3. What have been the different approaches to constituting women as historical actors?  What are their main risks?  What does Scott offer as an alternative?
4. To your understanding, why bother studying gender and the history of women at all?

“Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis”

1. What are the main arguments in this piece?
2. Are “gender” and “sex” the same thing?  Explain.
3. How does Scott define “gender”, and why does she find it a worthwhile tool?
4. What do you think are the implications of Scott’s argument that gender is a social construction and therefore relative?

“’How Could She?’ Unpalatable Facts and Feminists’ Heroines”

1. What are the authors’ main arguments?
2. The question of doing women’s history seems to be one of finding both conscious and unconscious/hidden meanings.  How do you think we can go about doing that?  What are the pitfalls we face as historians in attempting such a reading of meanings?
3. Why is placing the subject in his/her historical context such an important “must” for the historian?

“Women’s Voices, the Early Modern, and the Civilization of the West”

1. What is King’s main argument here?  What is the purpose of her essay?
2. In her opinion, why is the Early Modern an especially significant period in the history of women?  What makes it different from the periods preceding and following it?
3. According to King, in a nutshell, what have scholars learned about early modern women?  What needs to be further studied?
4. What strikes you about King’s essay?  How would you describe it?