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The present study explores representations of the female reproductive body in medieval written sources, with an emphasis on the figurative language that was used to describe pregnancy, childbirth, menstruation, and lactation when these phenomena take place in the female body and, symbolically, in male bodies. This examination of what are herein labeled “maternal metaphors” in men, that is a comparison between a male subject and an attribute specific to women’s reproductive bodies, reveals how anatomical and physiological characteristics exclusive to the female reproductive body were used to convey descriptive meaning, and considers why and in what contexts such comparisons were made. This study looks at ancient and medieval medical writing, biblical and medieval Christian religious sources, and various other texts taken from medieval secular and popular literature, where maternal metaphors were used to describe other anatomical and physiological phenomena that were not specific to women, physical and behavioural characteristics of male subjects, and intangible qualities of divine persons. This thesis argues that the female body was the site of diverse conceptual associations in medieval medical and religious traditions, and that, as a result, it proved to be a significant source for figurative analogies that could convey similarly wide-ranging meanings. When pregnancy, childbirth, menstruation, and lactation were used metaphorically to describe male subjects, the variety of connotations that were transferred reflects the range of possible meanings; however, the complexity is not transmitted. Maternal metaphors in men convey meanings that are either good or bad, or occasionally neutral, depending on the context and subject.

The present study explores representations of the female reproductive body in medieval written sources, with an emphasis on the figurative language that was used to describe pregnancy, childbirth, menstruation, and lactation when these phenomena take place in the female body and, symbolically, in male bodies. This examination of what are herein labeled “maternal metaphors” in men, that is a comparison between a male subject and an attribute specific to women’s reproductive bodies, reveals how anatomical and physiological characteristics exclusive to the female reproductive body were used to convey descriptive meaning, and considers why and in what contexts such comparisons were made. This study looks at ancient and medieval medical writing, biblical and medieval Christian religious sources, and various other texts taken from medieval secular and popular literature, where maternal metaphors were used to describe other anatomical and physiological phenomena that were not specific to women, physical and behavioural characteristics of male subjects, and intangible qualities of divine persons. This thesis argues that the female body was the site of diverse conceptual associations in medieval medical and religious traditions, and that, as a result, it proved to be a significant source for figurative analogies that could convey similarly wide-ranging meanings. When pregnancy, childbirth, menstruation, and lactation were used metaphorically to describe male subjects, the variety of connotations that were transferred reflects the range of possible meanings; however, the complexity is not transmitted. Maternal metaphors in men convey meanings that are either good or bad, or occasionally neutral, depending on the context and subject.

This study of single women in the British Columbia context reveals the importance of marital status as a distinct category of analysis for women’s lives. Marital status fractures the gender of women into identities that are deeply structured by relations of power and privilege, creating some fundamental separations between the married woman and the never-married (‘ever-single’) woman. By taking marital status into account, we can learn more about the historical intersections between women, gender, and society. By setting the heterosexual dyad aside, we can delve more fully into the varied life-sustaining relationships that women forged, especially with other women. We can more thoroughly reconstruct the social contexts of feminist ideas, and the roots of a female citizenship based on a direct rather than deflected relationship to the nation. We can also trace the nascence of an ‘individual’ female subjectivity based in self-reverence rather than self-effacement. And we can decentre the conjugal family, especially the heterosexual dyad, as the essential unit of the Canadian past and the only legitimate site for women’s sexuality. The ‘borderlands’ of British Columbia before the Second World War are an excellent place to examine the lives and identities of ever-single women, given the astonishing number of (ever-)single women present in unique demographic and economic conditions that would seem to militate against singleness. This project looks at four themes: survival, status, relationships, and identity. Material conditions of income and household composition offer us some of the strategies of survival single women employed. Looking at the discursive boundaries of certain social groups emphasizes the centrality of single women to (all levels of) society and the leadership that single women bring to both crafting and policing the borders of status groups. The patterns of relationships that ever-single women built and their voices on being single offer important models for thinking through women’s affective lives that do not privilege the heterosexual dyad. And the emplacement of the ever-single woman as ‘outside heterosexuality’ suggests some ways though the bind of the heterosexual/homosexual dichotomy in thinking about women’s lives and especially the hybrid nature of their autobiographical voices.

This study of single women in the British Columbia context reveals the importance of marital status as a distinct category of analysis for womens lives. Marital status fractures the gender of women into identities that are deeply structured by relations of power and privilege, creating some fundamental separations between the married woman and the never-married (ever-single) woman. By taking marital status into account, we can learn more about the historical intersections between women, gender, and society. By setting the heterosexual dyad aside, we can delve more fully into the varied life-sustaining relationships that women forged, especially with other women. We can more thoroughly reconstruct the social contexts of feminist ideas, and the roots of a female citizenship based on a direct rather than deflected relationship to the nation. We can also trace the nascence of an individual female subjectivity based in self-reverence rather than self-effacement. And we can decentre the conjugal family, especially the heterosexual dyad, as the essential unit of the Canadian past and the only legitimate site for womens sexuality. The borderlands of British Columbia before the Second World War are an excellent place to examine the lives and identities of ever-single women, given the astonishing number of (ever-)single women present in unique demographic and economic conditions that would seem to militate against singleness. This project looks at four themes: survival, status, relationships, and identity. Material conditions of income and household composition offer us some of the strategies of survival single women employed. Looking at the discursive boundaries of certain social groups emphasizes the centrality of single women to (all levels of) society and the leadership that single women bring to both crafting and policing the borders of status groups. The patterns of relationships that ever-single women built and their voices on being single offer important models for thinking through womens affective lives that do not privilege the heterosexual dyad. And the emplacement of the ever-single woman as outside heterosexuality suggests some ways though the bind of the heterosexual/homosexual dichotomy in thinking about womens lives and especially the hybrid nature of their autobiographical voices.

This thesis analyses women's contribution to the development of a progressive middle-class identity in the period 1830 to 1860. Using Leeds as a case study, it argues that the ideals of civic virtue, service and the 'civilising mission' lying at the heart of this identity played an important role in the lives of women as well as men. The study begins by summarising the historiographical debates over women and the middle class, and the importance of gender in the construction of the 'public sphere'. Chapter Two sets out the historical background within the town of Leeds itself, concentrating on the emergence of 'middle-class' institutions and identifying the particular groups who were the driving force behind them. The remaining chapters systematically explore the activities of middle-class women in the public life of their town, concentrating on the subjects of education, philanthropy, politics and civic culture. Chapter Three looks at the idealisation of women's social and public roles in educational literature, before considering women's relationship to educational and cultural institutions. Chapters Four and Five reconsider philanthropy as an arena in which class and gender identities were constructed and played out, and through which civic-minded women could find an outlet for reforming impulses. In particular, chapter five analyses the importance of women's committees in the creation of independent space for female initiatives, despite male attempts at containment. Chapter Six examines women's activities in local and national politics, analysing the key role of the press in the interpretation of female political activities. Chapter Seven looks at the way in which elite women were able to claim public space as part of the audience at public rituals and ceremonies, returning to the importance of press explanations of this participation through the use of chivalric metaphors which portrayed women as the guardians of civic virtue.

This thesis examines the existence, contribution and recognition of Scottish gardening women for the period 1800 to 1930. The focus was conceived in response to the lack of attention given to female Scottish gardeners in traditional narratives of Britain’s, and more specifically, Scotland’s gardening history. Despite evidence to suggest that women have participated in gardening since the development of the earliest gardens, canonical narratives reveal a preoccupation with white, male, often elite plantsmen, many of whom were Scottish, that pay little or no attention to female involvement. The study begins by considering the degree to which Scotland’s gardening men were successful by unpacking their role and influence, how they were able to make a contribution to gardening and the ways in which they were recognised. This is followed by an assessment of the relative invisibility of women within historical gardening narratives. The recent emergence of feminist studies concentrating on the work of women gardeners has helped to correct this imbalance, but their primary focus on English women has highlighted the disparity between the growing awareness of female gardeners in England and the continuing obscurity of their Scottish counterparts. At the heart of this research is an in-depth biographical analysis of thirteen gardening women, which uncovers their work and contributes to an understanding of the history of women gardeners in Scotland at a time when gardening was dominated by men and undergoing a period of growth and professionalisation. The thesis demonstrates that the women went beyond the confines of their own gardens and achieved within the wider, public sphere of horticulture in Scotland. Some made significant collections of seeds and plants, whilst others used their skills as nurserywomen to cultivate them and, in so doing, they played a part in our knowledge and understanding of plant taxonomy. The transition from amateur gardener to professional status was also achieved and, based on the evidence found within this study, some women were instrumental in pioneering women’s entry into professional gardening. However, few were recognised by the horticultural establishment either during their lifetime or posthumously. This thesis sets the women within their cultural context and addresses the impact of factors such as social class, education, family obligations and gendered prejudice on their ability to achieve and the extent to which their work was recognised in comparison to that of their male contemporaries. As a result, it fills the gaps in our knowledge and understanding of Scotland’s gardening women and provides evidence on which to refute the suggestion that their elision from traditional narratives of Scottish garden history is justified.

Diese Dissertation bietet eine Darstellung und Analyse der Handlungsfelder serbischer Frauen. Dabei werden die Frauenbildung, das Engagement von Frauen in sozialkaritativen und patriotischen Frauenvereinen, sowie ihre Teilnahme an den zwischen 1876 und 1918 geführten „Befreiungskriegen“ thematisiert. Das Problemfeld von Nation und Geschlecht ist für Serbien fast völlig unbearbeitet. Die vorliegende Untersuchung geht den folgenden Fragen nach: Wie partizipierten Serbinnen am Prozess der Nations- und Nationalstaatsbildung? Welche Weiblichkeits- und Männlichkeitsbilder wurden im Nationsbildungsprozess verwendet? Auf welche Art und Weise partizipierten sie an den Kriegen und unterstützten das Militär? Wie wirkte sich der „Große Krieg“ auf die Geschlechterordnung in Serbien bzw. Jugoslawien aus? Da die für Frauen zentralen politischen, kulturellen und ökonomischen Wandlungsprozesse im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert in der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft der Städte stattgefunden haben, konzentriert sich auch diese Darstellung auf den städtischen Raum und seine Bewohnerinnen. Das bäuerlich-ländliche Frauenleben wird nur kurz angerissen. Die Arbeit nimmt den weiblichen Gruppenbildungsprozess in den Blick, der innerhalb einer schmalen bürgerlichen Schicht stattfand. In den westeuropäischen Ländern entstanden die ersten Frauenvereinigungen am Ende des 18. bzw. zu Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts. Serbien, dessen Bevölkerung mehrheitlich lese- und schreibunkundig war und von einer ländlichen Subsistenzwirtschaft lebte, folgte mit einer zeitlichen Verzögerung von mehreren Jahrzehnten. Um 1900 war in allen diesen Ländern ein dichtes Netz unterschiedlichster Frauenvereine anzutreffen. Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts stieg auch in Serbien die Zahl der Frauenvereine, die sich in einem Dachverband zusammenschlossen. Dieser Bund trat den internationalen Frauenorganisationen bei.

In the cultural upheaval of the 1920s, Canadians became particularly invested in looking at and debating women???s images in public. This dissertation looks at how English-Canadians debated, accepted, and challenged modernity through public images of women. In analysing the debates over cultural rituals of looking it seeks to show how the discussions about images reveal the power of vision in ordering and understanding modernity as well as social and cultural changes. Through five case studies on the flapper, the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation, two beauty contests, an art exhibition including nudes, and the relationship between film and automobiles this study reveals how important images of the body were to the cultural developments and debates on the post-World War One modern world. By the 1920s urban visual culture was dominated by various images of women and an analysis of those images and the debates around them reveal underlying tensions related to gender, class, age, social order, and race. Anxieties over changes in these areas were absorbed into the broader concerns over the pleasures and perils associated with being modern. This dissertation looks at Canadian visual culture in terms of what it can reveal about modernity and the problems, perils, and pleasures associated with it.