Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

The thesis concentrates on the literary and feminist articles of Pavla Moudrá, which she published in the journals Ženská revue, Ženské listy, Ženský obzor and Ženský svět. An important part of the diploma is a complete bibliography of her texts issued in these periodicals. The analysis concentrates then mainly on articles connected to literature and "the woman question". It describes the author's opinions in their relationship with the peace movement, animal welfare, the anti-alcoholic movement and spiritualism. In all of these areas, she was involved as a promoter of spiritual values, leading to the spiritual revival of mankind, and for this purpose she also subordinated her journalism. She tried to thematise particular social problems, indicative of the decline of human morality, as well as writing more general texts, more metaphorical and strongly inspired by the theosophical movement. It influenced the way she perceived literature: she valued mainly the author's intention, which should be able to offer a positive example for the reader. She considered a poet, meaning a writer and an artist in general, to be a creature standing close to God and having the ability to see more than the average person. Also, a woman was, according to Moudrá, close to God: this relationship was given by the...

This dissertation is a social and legal history of one of Iowa's most controversial sex discrimination cases. The study examines the 1979 civil rights complaint of Linda Eaton, Iowa City's first woman firefighter--a white, working-class, single mother who did not consider herself a feminist. Eaton made national news and became the focus of an intense local debate when she was threatened with dismissal for breastfeeding her baby at the fire station. The president of La Leche League spoke out on her behalf, while the local chapter of NOW established a legal defense fund and spearheaded a year-long campaign of support. Mining the personal documents of community members, and using oral history interviews, manuscript collections, and legal documents, this study elevates the importance of grassroots action by demonstrating that local women's sex discrimination complaints and lawsuits were central to the dramatic transformation of workplace policies that began across the U.S. during the 1970s. This study foregrounds the relationship of Eaton's case to Iowa City's vibrant 1970s feminist community, and to national politics. The controversy over Iowa's breastfeeding firefighter reflected and contributed to national struggles over the meaning of gender equality, particularly the complex debates about affirmative action and the Equal Rights Amendment. Because she drew support from both the feminists of NOW and the maternalists of LLL, Eaton's case highlights the problematic intersection of paid and domestic labor in women's lives, especially those of working-class women. Eaton's case critiques the masculine ideal worker standard and makes a bid for working conditions that accommodate women's biosocial role in reproductive labor. This project draws upon previously unavailable records to offer an historical account of the first career women firefighters in the U.S. that identifies the resistance these women met as they encountered the masculine culture of firefighting in the 1970s. It highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of using law to eliminate sex discrimination in the workplace by constructing a vivid portrait of women's slow and painful struggle for full economic citizenship.

The subject of this thesis is the Swedish animal welfare movement, its origin and early development 1875-1920. The first national Swedish animal welfare society was formed in Stockholm 1875. It was soon followed by other associations for the protection of animals. The animal welfare movement grew rapidly in Sweden. Not until towards the 1920s did the membership decline. The material studied in this thesis consists of a broad variety of documents from the animal welfare societies, such as journals and books as well as children's stories and parliamentary publications. The aim is to study both the origins and early development in Sweden of societies for the protection of animals, wild and domestic, during the decades around the turn of the century. The Swedish debates on animal welfare laws are of interest as well as discussions about vivisection and slaughter. The aim is to provide a wider analysis by taking various ideas and groups of people, such as veterinarians, schoolteachers and women into account.

Drawing on a collection of interviews with Canadian feminists, this thesis explores the emergence of a ‘second wave’ of feminist organizing in Canada from 1965 to 1975. Using insights from poststructural feminism and critical race theory, I deconstruct the notion of ‘hegemonic feminism’ and examine how certain women came to inhabit a position of hegemony during the movement’s early years. I focus on key events in feminist organizing during the 1960s-1970s: The Royal Commission on the Status of Women and the founding of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women. Drawing on oral history interviews and a close reading of the report on the RCSW, I suggest that more nuanced approaches are needed to move beyond the binary thinking that inflects accounts of Canadian feminist history. I conclude with a series of feminist narratives which aim to complicate linear histories and offer an alternative reading of this movement.

Drawing on a collection of interviews with Canadian feminists, this thesis explores the emergence of a ‘second wave’ of feminist organizing in Canada from 1965 to 1975. Using insights from poststructural feminism and critical race theory, I deconstruct the notion of ‘hegemonic feminism’ and examine how certain women came to inhabit a position of hegemony during the movement’s early years. I focus on key events in feminist organizing during the 1960s-1970s: The Royal Commission on the Status of Women and the founding of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women. Drawing on oral history interviews and a close reading of the report on the RCSW, I suggest that more nuanced approaches are needed to move beyond the binary thinking that inflects accounts of Canadian feminist history. I conclude with a series of feminist narratives which aim to complicate linear histories and offer an alternative reading of this movement.

This paper explores the rhetoric and actions of Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir, and Indira Gandhi regarding feminism and their gender before they became prime minister. The paper finds that none of the leaders identified as feminists, and did not actively focus on women’s issues or elevate the status of women while in office. Yet, all of these leaders called for women to mobilize and pursue careers, either via their actions or speeches. Thatcher, particularly in the crucial period in which she rose to power, explicitly encouraged women to mobilize as voters and pursue work outside the home in her formal speeches, public statements, letters and interviews. Through their organized activities before they obtained office, Meir and Gandhi worked to mobilize women politically, although their rhetoric did not explicitly encourage women over men to participate politically. The paper explores nuanced ways that each leader associated with her gender and preached for other women to pursue careers. Looking ahead at one case study shows that women now are not necessarily averse to explicitly associating with their gender. Tzipi Livni, the candidate for the Kadima Party in the 2009 Israeli election, used her gender as a campaign tactic. Hopefully this paper helps lay the groundwork for future study on women candidate’s rhetoric and actions regarding feminism before they are elected.

<p>For a brief moment in feminist time, from 1968 to 1974, women's documentaries were influential in the emerging field of feminist film studies and for feminist activism. By the late sixties feminists had identified visual representation within popular culture, film, and the media as one of the central battlegrounds for women's activism. For feminist filmmakers, documentary, with its alleged superlative grip on truth and transparency, seemed to provide an ideal counterpoint to the perceived mis-representation of "real" women in dominant, narrative cinema. Within seventies feminist film theory, however, scholars elaborated a gender-specific take on the ideological critique of realism that disavowed women's documentary films as naïve, unsophisticated, and complicit with the ideologies of patriarchy and capitalism.</p> <p> In this project, I recast realism as an unruly and contradictory set of codes and conventions that generate oppositional and revolutionary political documentaries. In contrast to the dominant anti-realist reception of feminist documentaries in seventies feminist film theory then, I argue that these documentaries contain unacknowledged nuance and neglected visions of the political aspirations (however flawed) of second wave feminism. Key figures in feminist political theory, such as Nancy Fraser and Hannah Arendt, shed light on the political and subjective configurations brought forth in several feminist documentaries, including I Am Somebody (1969), Janie's Janie (1971), The Woman's Film (1971), and Joyce at 34 (1972), and Self-Health (1974), which depend rather on second wave aspirations of collectivity and agency, and the power of self-authorship and experience.</p> / Dissertation

This dissertation presents Lithuanian Catholic Women’s Organization (LKMD) in its ideological context, discussing how this organization involved unsophisticated women in society, enriching their lives and that of their communities while expanding civic involvement in Lithuania. As the limitations of Civil Society are still felt in Lithuania, it is worth paying attention to interwar public organizations in search of civil society structures during modern Lithuania’s first independence. The work was motivated by the rarity of studies on Lithuanian women’s activities. The first chapter features the emergence of feminism and Catholic social thought in Europe and their influence on ideas of Lithuanian Catholics. The second chapter covers the establishment of LKMD, Catholic women’s engagement in political life of independent Lithuania and cooperation with other organizations. The third chapter contains an analysis of how women’s role in their families, profession and society were understood in the Catholic women’s press. The fourth chapter investigates activities of LKMD, the development of its branch network, festivals and provision of care institutions. Catholic women’s social engagement shows an understanding of the necessity of civic activity in support of civil society. Raising attention, however cautious, to discrimination and women’s susceptibility to poverty highlights an awareness of pressures in society. Looking for cooperation not only with Catholic but also with liberal... [to full text] / Disertacijoje analizuojama Lietuvių katalikių moterų draugija jos ideologiniame kontekste. Nagrinėjama, kaip ši konservatyvi katalikiška draugija įtraukė eilines moteris į visuomeninį gyvenimą, padarydama jų ir jų bendruomenės gyvenimą įvairesnį, kartu sutankinant pilietinės visuomenės tinklą Lietuvoje. Šiandieninėje Lietuvoje, kai pilietinės visuomenės silpnumas aiškiai jaučiamas, yra aktualūs tarpukario visuomeninių organizacijų tyrinėjimai. Retos studijos, skirtos moterų istorijai Lietuvoje, paskatino imtis LKMD analizės. Pirmoje dalyje pristatomas feminizmo bei socialinės katalikybės atsiradimo Europoje kontekstas bei įtaka katalikių moterų judėjimui Lietuvoje. Antrojoje dalyje atsekamas draugijos įkūrimas, katalikių moterų pastangos įsitraukti į politinį gyvenimą, bendradarbiavimas su kitomis moterų organizacijomis. Trečioje dalyje analizuojama katalikių moterų spauda, susikoncentruojant į to meto moters vietos supratimą šeimoje, profesijoje bei visuomenėje. Paskutinėje, ketvirtoje, dalyje aptariamas praktinis organizacijos veikimas, atkreipiant dėmesį į organizacijos plėtrą, skyrių veiklą ir pastangas pagerinti moterų bei vaikų sveikatos priežiūrą. Katalikių atsargūs priminimai viešoje spaudoje apie moterų teisių suvaržymus, skurdo problemą liudijo, kad jos buvo aktyvios visuomeninių reiškinių stebėtojos. Pagaliau sąjungininkų ieškojimas katalikiškajai idėjai įgyvendinti ne vien tarp katalikų, bet ir tarp liberalių moterų rodė, kad katalikės, susiorganizavę į LKMD... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Disertacijoje analizuojama Lietuvių katalikių moterų draugija jos ideologiniame kontekste. Nagrinėjama, kaip ši konservatyvi katalikiška draugija įtraukė eilines moteris į visuomeninį gyvenimą, padarydama jų ir jų bendruomenės gyvenimą įvairesnį, kartu sutankinant pilietinės visuomenės tinklą Lietuvoje. Šiandieninėje Lietuvoje, kai pilietinės visuomenės silpnumas aiškiai jaučiamas, yra aktualūs tarpukario visuomeninių organizacijų tyrinėjimai. Retos studijos, skirtos moterų istorijai Lietuvoje, paskatino imtis LKMD analizės. Pirmoje dalyje pristatomas feminizmo bei socialinės katalikybės atsiradimo Europoje kontekstas bei įtaka katalikių moterų judėjimui Lietuvoje. Antrojoje dalyje atsekamas draugijos įkūrimas, katalikių moterų pastangos įsitraukti į politinį gyvenimą, bendradarbiavimas su kitomis moterų organizacijomis. Trečioje dalyje analizuojama katalikių moterų spauda, susikoncentruojant į to meto moters vietos supratimą šeimoje, profesijoje bei visuomenėje. Paskutinėje, ketvirtoje, dalyje aptariamas praktinis organizacijos veikimas, atkreipiant dėmesį į organizacijos plėtr��, skyrių veiklą ir pastangas pagerinti moterų bei vaikų sveikatos priežiūrą. Katalikių atsargūs priminimai viešoje spaudoje apie moterų teisių suvaržymus, skurdo problemą liudijo, kad jos buvo aktyvios visuomeninių reiškinių stebėtojos. Pagaliau sąjungininkų ieškojimas katalikiškajai idėjai įgyvendinti ne vien tarp katalikų, bet ir tarp liberalių moterų rodė, kad katalikės, susiorganizavę į LKMD... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This dissertation presents Lithuanian Catholic Women’s Organization (LKMD) in its ideological context, discussing how this organization involved unsophisticated women in society, enriching their lives and that of their communities while expanding civic involvement in Lithuania. As the limitations of Civil Society are still felt in Lithuania, it is worth paying attention to interwar public organizations in search of civil society structures during modern Lithuania’s first independence. The work was motivated by the rarity of studies on Lithuanian women’s activities. The first chapter features the emergence of feminism and Catholic social thought in Europe and their influence on ideas of Lithuanian Catholics. The second chapter covers the establishment of LKMD, Catholic women’s engagement in political life of independent Lithuania and cooperation with other organizations. The third chapter contains an analysis of how women’s role in their families, profession and society were understood in the Catholic women’s press. The fourth chapter investigates activities of LKMD, the development of its branch network, festivals and provision of care institutions. Catholic women’s social engagement shows an understanding of the necessity of civic activity in support of civil society. Raising attention, however cautious, to discrimination and women’s susceptibility to poverty highlights an awareness of pressures in society. Looking for cooperation not only with Catholic but also with liberal... [to full text]