Women in France

This book examines the contemporary situation of women in France and makes an essential contribution to the growing interdisciplinary interest in la condition féminine. It addresses both mainstream issues - such as women's paid and unpaid work, women in politics with particular reference to the current parity debates, leisure and contemporary women's writing - as well as under-represented areas, namely women in rural France, immigrant and exiled women and the situation of lesbians.Authors examine the problems facing women at home and at work and critically assess the policy initiatives to combat unemployment, occupation segregation and pay inequality. Despite their high levels of activity in employment, French women still shoulder the burden of domestic work, child rearing and care for relatives and there are many areas of political representation where they are notable for their absence. Leading experts survey leisure practices and language - fascinating indicators for social roles, power relations and gender differences - and provide us with new insights into the position of women, whether in rural France, the media or immigrant and exile communities.This interdisciplinary book is suitable for both specialists seeking information within a specific area of gender studies and non-specialists seeking a general overview of women's situation in contemporary metropolitan France and will therefore appeal to a wide range of readers across humanities and social sciences.

France and Women, 1789-1914 is the first book to offer an authoritative account of women's history throughout the nineteenth century. James McMillan, author of the seminal work Housewife or Harlot , offers a major reinterpretation of the French past in relation to gender throughout these tumultuous decades of revolution and war.This book provides a challenging discussion of the factors which made French political culture so profoundly sexist and in particular, it shows that many of the myths about progress and emancipation associated with modernisation and the coming of mass politics do not stand up to close scrutiny. It also reveals the conservative nature of the republican left and of the ingrained belief throughout french society that women should remain within the domestic sphere. James McMillan considers the role played by French men and women in the politics, culture and society of their country throughout the 1800s.

Claire Laubier brings together documentary and statistical material; extracts from newspapers and journals, literary texts, advertisements, manifestos, and personal testimonies. Each extract relates to the different experiences of women in France at work, in politics, at home and in the family. Together they offer a direct and thought-provoking chronological and thematic account of women's lives in post-war France.

France is the home of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, yet women did not vote until 1945, many years later than their peers in other countries. In a country where civil rights had long been a rallying cry, women were not second-class citizens--they were not citizens at all. In this fascinating and ground-breaking study, Paul Smith assesses why Frenchwomen were repeatedly refused the rights of citizenship and examines the political relationships established by French feminists in order to achieve their goal: one woman, one vote.

This history of professional women in positions of administrative responsibility illuminates women's changing relationship to the public sphere in France since the Revolution of 1789. Linda L. Clark traces several generations of French women in public administration, examining public policy, politics and attitudes, and women's work and education. Women's own perceptions illustrate the changing gender roles and relationship to the state. This study gives unique insights into French history and the history of women, and will interest scholars of European history and specialists in women's studies.

Gill Allwood explores theories of masculinity emerging from French feminist theories of gender and from French feminist practice concerning violence towards women, highlighting both the commonalities and the specificities of the French case.

This work represents the first book-length study of attitudes toward women during the French Revolution and the discrepancy between its principles of liberty and equality and the suppression of women's rights. Working from original source material produced in 18th-century France, Proctor traces the striking continuity between pre-Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary thought on the equality of women, and addresses such issues as the extent of support for a sexual equality movement and how the men of the Revolution justified the contradiction of personal rights.