Questions tagged [women]
For topics specifically concerning women, female rights, issues, and status.
92 questions
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Were any women from the First Estate at the Estates-General of 1789?
Famously, women of the Third Estate were not invited to participate in the Estates-General of 1789. This led to their petition to the King, and later the March on Versailles.
The situation for the ...
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Which pre-modern societies have had significant non-domestic roles for women? [closed]
In the modern world, the place of women in society has shifted due to the Suffragettes, labour demands of the World Wars, and other specific, relatively recent influences.
In earlier societies, it is ...
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Were there any female soldiers in the Soviet army who partook in the mass rapes in Eastern Germany?
Were there female Soviet soldiers that partook in the mass rapes in Eastern Germany?
The only source I found on any reaction of female soldiers on the mass rapes was in a testimony of a veteran:
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What is/are the earliest first-hand account of a sex worker?
I was just reading Hell's Belles: Prostitution, Vice, and Crime in Early Denver by Clark Secrest. I can't find the part now (it's not that important), but he comments that we have no surviving diary ...
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Did the influence of women in the Paris Commune affect future women's movements?
There is a lot of evidence that shows that women played an instrumental role in the Paris Commune of 1871 following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. However, I do not seem to find any information ...
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What were women's social conditions in early 19th century Russia?
In "White Nights", one of Dostoevsky's masterpieces, the narrator meets Nastenka, the young girl with whom he falls in love, during a night walk.
My question is: from an historical point of ...
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Why did the status of women in India decline?
If one looks at the present dynamic structure of Indian society one can see that though constantly changing, it still has in its heart many socio-cultural elements that can be traced by or said to ...
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What was Bess of Hardwick’s net worth?
Bess of Hardwick was said to be one of England’s wealthiest women of her time, perhaps second only to Queen Elizabeth I. Do we know how wealthy she was? How does her wealth compare to the richest ...
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What historic documents do we have supporting women wearing veils as historically continuous since Assyrian law?
The documentation of Assyrian law is given in the answer to this question.
What is the earliest history of Middle Eastern women wearing veils for modesty while in public?
What historic documents do we ...
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What is the earliest history of Middle Eastern women wearing veils for modesty while in public?
The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh, Christian Old Testament) recorded women wearing veils as early as Rebekah in Genesis (Breshith). See Judaism stack exchange
However, there is debate over whether women wore ...
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Did a significant number of women drive in late 1950s/1960s USA?
During lockdown, I have become addicted to old 1950s/60s Perry Mason series. I am struck by the number of women, from all walks of life - waitresses to wealthy matrons - who owned and drove their own ...
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Why do Eastern European countries have the greatest female-to-male ratio?
I'm taking a Data Analysis class where we go over some data samples. Today we went over the world population data from 1950 to 2015.
We noticed that the proportion of females to males was the highest ...
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Can you help me identify this Italian Royal Army Uniform?
1These are three silver gelatin photograph, each measuring 9 x 6 3/4 inches. I have a total of five photos: three different images, two are repeats. In two of the images, the subject is posing with a ...
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What were Russian empresses' position and policy regarding women's role in society and their rights?
There are 4 empress regnants (Catherine I, Anna, Elizabeth, Catherine II) in Russian history, all of whom ruled during roughly the same historic period (18th century). 3 of them (Anna, Elizabeth, ...
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What proportion of women died in childbirth before modern times?
I am researching the life of a woman whose mother died in 1615 when her daughter was aged four. I am wondering how likely it is that the mother died in childbirth.
Is there any general information on ...
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Is the famous painting of Kösem Sultan breastfeeding authentic?
Kösem Sultan was a woman of the Ottoman harem who served as Haseki Sultan (chief consort) and then Valide Sultan (queen mother) to several rulers. Given the youth and/or weakness of the sultans she ...
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Did ordinary people during Hatshepsut's reign know she was a woman?
Queen Hatshepsut is probably the most famous female ruler of Ancient Egypt after Cleopatra.
Officially, she ruled jointly with Thutmose III, who had ascended to the throne the previous year as a ...
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Were union disputes the only reason for low female employment in WWI German factories?
While giving a lecture on the end of WWI, Prof. David Stevenson mentions a disparity in female employment between the Allies and Germany. The relevant portion is here.
The British army is not short ...
user42241
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What happens to the women left behind by polyandry? [closed]
I'm asking specifically about the practice of polyandry in Himalayan civilisations, such as Bhutan. But I'd welcome insights from other polyandrous societies too.
It's often been said that, however ...
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How were the ladies of the Mughal harem titled and styled?
The ladies of the contemporaneous Ottoman harem were, for most of its history, organised as follows:
The sultan's mother, under the title of Valide Sultan, stood at the apex of the hierarchy.
Next ...
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Were any congressmen or senators concerned that women’s suffrage would result in anti-war votes?
Suffragist organizations at the onset of WWI held varying views on the war. Carrie Chapman Catt of NAWSA felt that women would be viewed as reliable and patriotic if they supported the war effort. But ...
user42241
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Are there 15th or 16th century English sources that exemplify Empress Matilda as an impediment to having a Queen Regnant?
I'm reading Alison Weir's 'Elizabeth of York', and she makes claims as to why Elizabeth of York couldn't succeed to the throne after Richard III which are not supported by evidence. Legally, there ...
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Was the issue of women's suffrage debated during the drafting of the 1809 Instruments of Government?
The Kingdom of Sweden had a limited vote for women between 1718 and 1772, during the Age of Liberty, which was based on the 1719 Instruments of Government. This was only the case in two of the four ...
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Beliefs on the Fragility of Ruling Class Women in and Around the 18th and 19th Centuries
One thing that has always struck me as bizarre when reading the likes of Austen or the Brontes, for example, is how pathetically fragile they make ruling class women. Get caught in the rain or go a ...
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Are there contemporary records of why flappers used cosmetics to create thin, upturned eyebrows?
What were young women trying to express when they applied cosmetics in this style? The cartoon character Betty Boop has a similar look, which could convey any number of things: hesitation, girlishness,...
user42241
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Were women in 17th century France as cloistered as suggested here?
I am reading some books by/about Sr Helen Prejean, and in one, came across the following assertion regarding the founding of her religious community, The Sisters of St Joseph, in France, circa 1650:
...
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Did Muslim women in colonial India before 1939 have to become Christian to divorce?
Muslim Law in India in 1939 did not accept a women's right to divorce before the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939.
Prior to the enactment of this Act, 1939 (DMMA), conversion of either spouse ...
user27618
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Why did Roman women have no praenomen?
In a recent question it was noted, as is well known, that Roman girls were not given praenomen, but took the feminine form of their father's gens - eg Valeria, Cornelia. I have even read the assertion ...
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When did UK working class women shift away from home birth?
In urban areas of the UK when did it become more common or usual for working class women to give birth in a hospital or maternity clinic rather than at home?
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Who was the first woman to be made a god by Rome's senate?
Cleopatra, consort to Julius Caesar was worshiped in Egypt as a living embodiment of the Egyptian goddess Isis, but she was never recognized as such by the Senate of Rome.
Julius Caesar was ...
user27618
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Are there sources that record ancient women in patriarchal societies' thoughts about patriarchy?
Are there any sources describing what women in ancient patriarchal societies (like Greece, Rome, etc.) thought about the patriarchy? I've heard of feminist movements throughout history; this ...
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What were women doing at the Battle of Dorylaeum during the First Crusade?
I have just been watching The Crusades
Dr Thomas Asbridge BBC 2012, in which he states that "... girls, delicate and noble...", went into their tents to put on their best clothes, in the hope of ...
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Why is Madame Roland considered a heroine during French Revolution?
I'm working on an assignment about Madame Roland and Olympe De Gouges, and a question says:
What is their common position on the political regime in France? Which ones do they support? Which party ...
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Where did poor London women give birth in the latter half of the 19th century?
I have a personal reason for asking this question. I'm researching my family tree and I have some ancestors who lived in Mile End Old Town, London between 1850 and 1900, but gave birth in Mile End New ...
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Have there been any great female military commanders?
From Alexander the Great to Saladin, from Muqali to Horatio Nelson, from Napoleon I to Winfield Scott, history is loaded with great male generals.
Have there been any great female generals? Warfare ...
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How were noblewomen named/titled in Medieval France, c. 11th century?
I was reading through some articles on Wikipedia and long story short I ended up reading about 11th century dukes of France. I noticed that a lot of their wives had names such as, e.g. Adelaide of ...
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What's the correct term for a waitress in the Middle Ages?
How was a waitress called in the Middle Ages? Handmaid, waitress, maid, ...? And is there a different name for the ones who did this kind of job inside a castle, in contrast to the women doing this ...
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Can anyone identify this woman’s uniform?
Found this photo in a box of family pictures from England. Most photos were prior to WW1
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Women in the Iranian revolution
Iranian women are now always portrayed as oppressed in the media and social media compared to the 1970s. I expected their situation to be similar to that for women in Saudi Arabia but after reading a ...
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Did men and women feast together in early medieval East Francia?
I am interested in important feasts of the upper classes (nobility), e.g., Easter or the baptism of important heirs, in the Eastern Frankish kingdom around 900 AD, specifically the Duchy of Saxony.
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Was it possible to organize a women's uprising or feminist movement in the Middle Ages? [closed]
Women in Europe endured thousands of years of gender inequality, culminating in the Middle Ages. Women in the Middle Ages had few rights and were treated like minors and properties, yet they did very ...
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What's the most ancient known example of a woman challenging feminine gender roles?
One example of that would be the goddess Inanna from Sumerian pantheon. She rejected to live as her culture felt a woman should live, namely, bear and raise children, do the housework, etc. In most ...
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What was the condition of women in "primitive societies" around the world?
In Book I, Chapter IV of "An Essay on the Principle of Population" (6th edition, 1826), Thomas Malthus states how terrible the condition of women was among "savage societies" (to which he meant ...
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How do we know baroque art depicted obese ladies because of a different ideal of beauty?
I've often heard that the obesity of women in baroque art signs that such women were the ideal of beauty. How could we know that? And how could we know it wasn't just "cultural rationalization" of a ...
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What were the typical arguments against women's higher education in XIX century Germany?
I have been reading about the life of Emmy Noether. A problem that she was faced with in her youth was that, at that time in Germany, women were not allowed to study at universities.
At that time, ...
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Has women's suffrage ever decided an election?
I'm curious whether women's suffrage has ever changed the direction of an election. Polls often show differences between men and women, but they are often fairly highly correlated, so I wonder if ...
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How did Thomas Jefferson's time in France influence his views of women?
Jefferson seemed to believe for some time that women were consigned to domestic duties while men were tasked food, shelter, protection, public debate, and politics. He went so far, in 1816, to declare ...
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Did Jeanne d'Arc really tell a woman that she couldn't serve on the battlefield?
When I was browsing TV Tropes today, I came across this interesting tidbit of information on Jeanne d'Arc's Useful Notes page:
"Also, Joan has been attributed with feminist and/or populist views, ...
user29390
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Before 1800, were there major schools of Islamic thought that relaxed behavior rules for women on the Hajj?
It is my understanding that most comprehensive works of Islamic thought (past and present) do the following:
(a) Give rules or guidelines for behavior, some of them specific to women;
(b) Give rules ...
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Was it customary for young upper-middle class women to chew gum in public in German-speaking Europe?
I'm writing a fiction work and there is a scene about a young, well-educated, but stormy woman, willing to stretch the boundaries of what's allowed. I'm thinking about making her chew gum in public. ...
user23839