131-032 Contesting Genders: 1792 to the 1950s

Usually 25 points of first year history, see Prerequisites, or first year gender studies, see Prerequisites.

This subject examines the history of the women's movement in the West and Australia from 1790 to the 1950s, and the key influential texts that shaped activists' ideas. Through the works of writers such as Mary Wollstonecraft, John Stuart Mill, Frederick Engels, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Simone De Beauvoir, the subject explores the contribution of liberal, socialist and radical feminists to the politics of the women's movement. Students will encounter the challenge of postcolonial critiques to the eurocentric character of the women's movement and, on completion of the subject, should be able to evaluate the ways in which Europeans in Australia received and modified ideas on gender within a colonial context.

Class participation, and written work totalling 4000 words.

A subject reader will be available.